HOW TEENS CAN CRACK THE SUMMER JOB MARKET

When Samantha Brauer wanted a summer job, she headed over to The Video Place, a small business inside Payless Foods in Freeland. A savvy job hunter, Samantha learned about the position from her mother, a member of the Payless Foods staff, and used her inside information and her mother's recommendation to land the job.

"It was easy," she said. "I heard about the job opening, filled out an application and started right away."

That was June 2007. Job searching was easier back then.

Samantha, now 18 years old and poised to graduate from high school, continues to enjoy her steady, hourly position. She switched over to the grocery store service counter when The Video Place closed its doors in February and plans to stay on the payroll while attending college in the fall.

This year, teenagers looking for summer employment are facing tougher odds. According to a recent survey by SnagAJob, an online job board for hourly workers, 49 percent of managers responsible for summer staffing will not hire new seasonal workers in 2008.

They blame the economy. Thirty-one percent say they don't have the budget this year. Eighteen percent point to slower business volume.

"This is a significantly harder summer for kids," said Jeffrey Stein, founding executive director of YouthForce in Seattle. "Teens usually apply for the lowest level jobs, the ones that are the last to hire and first to fire."

In order to save money, some businesses slash low-level positions from the payroll, eliminating the jobs completely, or finding unpaid interns to fill the void. They also decrease expenses by restricting their hiring practices to people who will work beyond the summer months.

"The notion of the summertime hire is almost mythic, it's from the past," said Stein. "Except for seasonal businesses such as theme parks, ice cream stands and similar industries, there is no value in a company hiring someone in July to work through August. Companies don't want to hire, train and manage someone who is leaving in two months."

Another consequence of a slower economy involves competition for existing jobs. Even with Snohomish County's relatively low unemployment rate, teenagers are forced to compete against more experienced job candidates, such as senior citizens returning to the work force, employees laid off from other companies and older teens or young adults applying for the same positions.

But despite the dragging economy and competition, businesses rely on good workers. They need strong, dedicated personnel to ensure their profitability. For this reason, many supervisors actively seek out responsible, enthusiastic teenagers to fill their seasonal and long-term staffing needs.

"When we meet kids who have a strong work ethic, we are happy to work around their school and summer schedules," said Tom Brown, general manager of Payless Foods on Whidbey Island. "We try to find young people who are reliable and friendly, with a professional appearance. If they fit the bill, we'll hire them from May to August, or all year long."

The seasonal job market may be slimmer than it was in previous years, but kids who need cash over the summer can still find hourly employment. Companies post positions online and in newspaper classified ads, and they typically welcome teens who stop by the business and ask about job openings.

For teenagers focused on obtaining practical career experience, rather than a standard hourly paycheck, there are several local resources that offer job searching, skill development and placement services.

YouthForce, based in Seattle, provides coaching, leadership development and hands-on work opportunities for low-­income and minority teens. It's Web site is www.teenjobs.org. To date, it has connected 540 kids with over 110,000 hours of paid internships at top local companies such as Amazon.com and ZymoGenetics. Many of the internships transition into staff positions, benefitting businesses as well as employees.

The Center for Career Alternatives (CCA) oversees a variety of employment support programs, including the WorkSource organizations in Everett and Lynnwood. It's Web site is www.ccawa.org. In a recent three-month period, they delivered job search and career planning services to nearly 2,200 residents who dropped by for career planning and other job-related services.

The career alternatives program extends mentoring and placement services to kids seeking career-building experience in specific fields. The jobs start out as paid temporary positions, and are only available to youth without prior work history. The placements often develop into long-term staff roles with local businesses.

"My goal was to work in child care," said 19-year-old Michelle LaBorn from Bothell. "I went to CCA to get help with my resume, and to research jobs. They told me about an opening at Housing Hope (in Everett) that turned into my first paid job."

LaBorn added: "Because I knew them through CCA, they hired me even though I didn't have all of the right certifications. I'm in school now, and I'm going to keep at it until I get my degree in childhood development."

Angel Lopez, Snohomish director for career alternatives, understands that kids are facing added pressure in 2008. "This year, kids need money because their parents need money," she said. "The harder parents have it, the harder kids have it."

And while he is realistic about the economy, he makes it a priority to present youth with a powerful, optimistic message. Through his coaching and mentorship programs, kids learn that economic turbulence "is just a trend. It may be a rainy day, but it's not going to be rainy all the time."

"Kids need to see work as a positive growth experience, not something to be afraid of, or something that they expect to fail."

LaBorn's confident outlook can be attributed to the work experience program, and yet she knows that job searching has been tricky for some of her peers.

By taking advantage of community resources and the opportunities they gave her, she found a way to overcome the challenges of landing a first job. On the upswing of a successful career, she offers tried-and-true advice to other kids: "When you find something you're interested in, go for it. Don't ever give up."

Eve Nicholas is a Whidbey Island freelance writer who writes a column for job seekers for The Herald that appears in the Business section each Wednesday.