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Megan Tessmer
Megan Tessmer loves her new summer job as a carhop waitress at Sonic Drive-In in Oklahoma City, and she’s happy she was able to find the gig easily despite the grim job market.
“This was the second place I drove by,” said Tessmer, who will be returning to school at the University of Central Oklahoma in the fall to study chemistry. “We’re actually still hiring.”
The job market for temporary summer jobs for high school and college students has yet to revive to pre-recessionary levels, but the picture is brighter than many think it is, depending on the industry. And for those who’ve remained on the sidelines because of dire forecasts, it isn’t too late to score a temporary gig as July, the typical peak for summer hiring, approaches.
There are still jobs available for the hot days ahead, and many of the openings are in clothing stores, manufacturing and fast food outlets.
During the last two summers, Sonic has increased its overall hiring, said Anita Vanderveer, the vice president of people for the company.
“We are hiring,” she said, for everything from servers to positions at the company’s headquarters. “We have a clear strategy to ramp up prior to summer, but we’re always looking for people.”
Indeed, there are tens of thousands of jobs still available on Summer Jobs+, a government program set up earlier this year to help low-income youths get jobs this summer, said Jason Kuruvilla, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Labor.
Many companies went into the summer employment season ready to hire. Nearly 30 percent of employers had planned to hire workers this summer, up from 21 percent last year, according to a May CareerBuilder forecast. And among the industries looking to add summer jobs, manufacturing topped the list with 45 percent, followed by hospitality with 44 percent, retail with 34 percent and finance at 31 percent.
"Confidence is up among the employers we most closely associate with summer hiring,” said Brent Rasmussen, president of CareerBuilder North America.
Last month, a host of sectors typically related to summer hiring, saw increases in job openings including clothing stores and eating establishments, according to jobs website Snagajob.
“Even though May’s job numbers from the BLS were disappointing overall, there were bright spots in what are considered typical areas for seasonal employment,” said Courtney Moyer, a spokeswoman for Snagajob.
The overall unemployment rate for May was still a disappointing 8.2 percent, with few increases in most industries, other than health care, transportation and warehouses, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
But there have been other pockets of opportunities for temporary summer work, Moyer pointed out, “clothing stores, food and beverage stores and restaurants all had gains. Government numbers also showed that 4.39 million teens ages 16 to 19 were employed in May (seasonally adjusted), which is an improvement over last year’s 4.26 million, a 3 percent increase. Also, already this season teens are doing better than last year’s peak summer employment, which typically comes in July and was also recorded at 4.26 million.”
Don’t expect to get rich on the popular summer jobs though. According to Snagajob, retail sales jobs pay about $12 an hour and cashier positions at food outlets pay $9.73.
If you are just starting your summer job search, Moyer offered some tips:
- Young people cannot apply to five jobs and think that that’s going to be enough. Snagajob recommends, especially at this point in the season, that seasonal job seekers put in upwards of 25 applications. Consider areas that are strong in seasonal hiring such as retail, restaurants and leisure/arts and entertainment.
- While you should apply to a job following a company’s preferred procedure – online, paper application, etc. – we recommend following up in person no later than a week after applying.
- Use referrals. Help yourself get out of the application pile by using a personal connection. Maybe you have a friend who has already been hired by a company who can ask that a manager review your application. Lean on parents, friends and neighbors by asking them if they know of any companies that are still hiring.
Bottom line, Moyer stressed, “there is hope.”
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Leave a Comment:
"there's still hope" the hope that you can land a temporary minimum wage job at a fast food place.... total freakin joke.
I need something part time preferably, weekend work to supplement my full time job and there is nothing. Not only that but everywhere they want you to apply online. Everyone's website is different. So, I'm unable to do that. Also, when you call the company to get help they either can't or won't help with their website in applying for a job. If they want to sell you something and you have trouble shopping online, they always help you then.
"Everyone's website is different. So, I'm unable to do that."
Huh? I think that acts to screen you out of the job pool.
If someone can't figure out how to use a website, in this day and age, chances are they are not going to be very helpful to the company.
Almost every job today, even minimum-wage service jobs, require that you be computer literate.
When you call them and say, "I can't figure out your website" that is all they need to know about you.
Talk about not even bothering to try very hard!
WOW....I am gonna go land a $9.73 job for my new career. That definitely will enable me to pay a water bill or a telephone bill. Everything else will have to wait though since I have to use the rest for some fast food for survival. Will also have to remember to buy a new tarp to put under the tree so I can have a roof over my head.
James - maybe that is all you are WORTH.
Sorry, but reality may appear "harsh" but it is in fact, value-neutral.
Just because you think you DESERVE a certain amount of money doesn't mean you are going to GET it.
The labor market is chock full of unskilled people.
And yet, jobs are waiting for people with skills in demand.
Just a crazy thought here, maybe acquire some marketable skills?
Nah! Easier to blame Obama. Good plan!
"Everything else will have to wait though since I have to use the rest for some fast food for survival."
Eating fast food is not really an economically sound choice, either. The five to eight bucks you spend on one meal at Micky-D's will pay for three meals you make at home.
Sorry, but you need to stop feeling sorry for yourself. No pity party from me....
some people just dont seem to understand. minimum wage is not supposed to be a wage that we live and support a family of 5 on. But democrats with their wealth of knowledge and understanding seem to think that is exactly what it should be. No wonder we are all dependent on foodstamps and such to make it through life.
me, i did it the old fashioned way. I got a job, learned a trade, and now make enough money to continue paying on my home, my sons education (aint putting him in a public school, even though my taxes help pay for them). the key to me has always been that I want to be able to make enough money that I can simply have ONE full time job that pays all my bills. so far its working out.
good luck with that minimum wage plan though.
James....did yuo ever have a summer job, not the timeframe, as a teen that paid more than minimum wage on average? We are talking teens here, not career adults. No one is going to make 50K a year working at McDonald's, Burger King, Sonic or places like movie theaters which is where most teens work..OVER THE SUMMER. Even as a lifeguard and swimming instructor when I was in college only paid $1.00 over minimum wage.
lol @ minimum wage is not supposed to be able to sustain argument.... what are people with bills and family supposed to do when they can't find anything else?...
Alot of people don't take these jobs because you can work 8+ hours a day and still be in the same spot you were before... not be able to pay your bills and feed yourself even when its just you..... and lets just face it... most teens that don't have to work rather have the time having fun and doing things in summer instead of part time peanuts. If people are not taking the jobs they are not paying enough.... basic supply and demand economics.
I make well above minimum wage and its getting harder and harder to get my family by because everything is going up but people's pay.... when considering price/rent inflation, minimum wage is alot less than it used to be 2-4 years ago.
Mire.......Yeah, but you'll never get the Obama backers or the one percenters to agree with that, even though it is the truth. That's one thing that both of them will stand shoulder to shoulder on and not budge from. Yeah, get your a$$ out there on a p t min. wage job and spend all you make on gas!
I would like to know where these suplus of summer jobs are. I live 5 miles south of Joliet, Illinois and have not been able to get jobs for my 17 or 18 yr old children.
Is that because you are going on the interviews with them?
You aren't looking hard enough. Besides shouldn't they be looking for work? Geez. Stop spoiling your lazy kids.
CJ- Lots of jobs in Joliet- go to the golf course on caton farm and 59 work as a caddy, greens care, with Plainfield and Shorewood right there, there really isn't an excuse, too many businesses right there
In upstate NY you are not going to find anything over 7.50 an hour. I wish I was getting 12 an hour. I might actually be able to have some money in my pocket at the end of the week.
Amen to that. I know people that are retail MANAGERS and aren't making $12/hr in Florida.
Yeah, but that communist left wing media will continue to spew that "everything is hunky dory" $hit till obama is re-elected or the lead starts flyin, whichever comes first.
Does this article totally refer to physical signage -- or also to bogus virtual signs stating things like "Work from Home for $100 per hour"?
Am I crazy or did MSNBC just run an article a couple of weeks ago about how summer jobs for teens would be hard to come by this summer? Which is it?
I expect wages for a teen part-time summer job to be low. They've always been low. But, most teens don't need to make a living wage as they don't have many expenses. A lot of teens work to pay car, food and clothing bills - and also to have work experience on their resume and college applications. I don't really feel bad if they make $7.50 an hour.
Problem is , is that they are competeing with the 8o yr olds and the illegals and there's just not enough entry level jobs to put everyone to work whether they are willing to work or not.
There is a problem with the system. Everybody agrees.
It should never be a better option for an unemployed worker to stay unemployed rather than take a low-paying job.
But a mix of factors makes this true.
In an ideal economy, there should never be unfilled job positions AND unemployed people in the same city.
But people don't want to take a pay cut, especially professionals who were making good money before they got laid off. Usually the money from Unemployment is still much higher than any job they could take, so why would they take the job and lose the unemployment? That decision would make no sense.
But it makes little sense to eliminate the safety net of unemployment altogether for a skilled worker who is out of work for no fault of their own.
But it also makes little sense for society to pay their bills while they contribute nothing, while positions around them go unfilled.
I'm wondering if it would be better to make a rule that people on unemployment must work part-time, if such positions are available, in order to stay on unemployment. If there are no positions available, then they should do volunteer work every week.
It's better for them to be contributing something -- anything -- to society than nothing. And a part-time job should allow them plenty of time to job-hunt in their chosen profession. They should receive their full unemployment benefits as well as their money from the job so they don't feel that they are being penalized for working.
But I don't want their time in a low-paying, unskilled job to be mark against their career. I don't want future employers to see "Burger Boy" on their job history and not hire them on that basis. This needs to be addressed. Perhaps any job worked while on unemployment could be legally omitted from a resume if the worker chooses.
I agree with you whole heartedly in the subject of receiving unemployment. We are cash strapped, can't afford to keep or hire workers, and yet we are paying for unemployed people to do nothing. I know of quite a few people who do not even plan on looking for a job until the unemployment runs out. In order to qualify for unemployment you should have to account for a 40 hour work week. When not engaged in seeking employment report to a work pool to fill out your 40 hours in order to be paid.
The way most people see it now, you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. And by golly it's true. So, they'd rather just DON'T.
Good for Ms. Tessmer. She seems happy to have a job. A lot of young people view work as a four letter word unless accompanied by an inflated wage to make it "worth their while." There are not many entry level jobs at the top of the wage scale.
Good to see the minimum wage jobs are unaffected....unfortunately, unless we want to live in trailers, we need jobs that can pay an American cost of living.
Dude, a damn trailer will be considered a royal luxury by the time these greedy mo fo's are finished. The old card board shanty might be alright in a mild dry cliamate though. Get used to it or get ready to fight.
$12 per hour for retail? $9 and change for food service?!?
Where are THESE wages at? Here in Florida, you're working your way up to reviews and promotions just to get to $8 an hour!
Really, and out here on the left coast the pay is still the same but the cost of living is way the hell higher. You take a pt min wage job 20 mi. from home and you spend what little you make on gas to get to work! It's still close to $4 gal out here. Welcome to the new greedy a$$ communist turd world AmeriKKa.
Summer jobs?
I thought these were the new "American Dream" jobs that we are supposed to be so lucky to have.
Take a good look, this is the future of our middle class, burger flippers and cheap goods peddlers.
Yeah, well it's all gonna come to a head soon enough, and when she blows it's gonna be one ugly mo fo.
No such jobs in AZ. Illegal aliens have all the low income jobs, many because they will work for under the table pay. And don't bother applying unless you are bilingual, gotta cater to the criminals. Its not like this is America. We are but a welfare program for Mexico.
i visit cody wy a couple of years ago and all the workers were mexicans on work vesas. i was talking to the owner and he had told me he worked with a law firm out of denver that provided mexicans with visas to work for service companys. it was summer time and i ask him where all the school kids were towork for the summer. his response was what is becoming a common theme they want big bucks but dont want to due anything for it or their just to damn lazy because mommy and daddy will support them.
The positions are already filled year round with cheap foreign labor. There are no jobs to apply for. Convenient excuse but it does not mesh with reality.
Exactly, they are so full of $hit their eyes are brown. No jobs available to apply for because they are bussing illegals in here to fill them. The revolution is upon us, and I can't wait, you greedy bastards!
Don't be talking jobs to the Occupy crowd. You might as well be talking Bubonic Plague as to mention the notion of WORK as a way of life.
See, everybody? The private sector IS doing fine. Lol
Yeah, what a freakin joke. Huh?
Joe, Obama has deported more illegals in three years then Bush did in eight.
That's the problem. They let all of you fox noise worshippers vote and you have no idea what's truly going on in politics. Throw any lie at ya and you'll suck it up and Fox and Koch know that.
Penelope.....Go suck Obamas big black COCK!
You can get a job if you can pass your credit report. Trouble is everytime you look for a job your score goes down and gets inquired. That's not going to say you have to pass the homeland security check. Then you have to deal with your over qualified or under qualified. So many discriminating options for the employer, whatever happend to equal opportunity employment or even better, the old help wanted sign in your front window.
I can envision an hilarious scenario in my mind of the 80 yr olds and the 15 yr olds locked in mortal combat over a part time min wage job with granny whacking them over the head with her cane. I'll split your head wide open you little whipper snapper, I need this job worse than you!!! LMFAO, what a sad, sick joke this nation has become.