Job prospects appear better this year for teens

Last summer, Bishop Gorman High School senior Tyler Tucky turned in at least 10 job applications at places all over town.

"I couldn't even get an interview," he recalled.

This year, Tucky began his summer job search in mid-March and, just a few days after filing an online application with The Mirage, was called in for an interview.

So, Tucky, who plans to attend Marquette University in the fall, will spend his last summer at home working as a guest pool attendant at The Mirage.

His experience suggests the summer job picture for high school students may be at least slightly better than last year. But it also pays to note that last year was abysmal for teen job seekers.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the monthly June-through-August unemployment rate for people 16 to 19 years old averaged about 26 percent last year. For the same three-month period, that was an increase from about 25 percent in 2009, about 20 percent in 2008 and about 16 percent in 2007.

Clearly, the effects of the recession have been filtering down to high school-age employees-to-be. His own good luck notwithstanding, Tucky hears friends say that they're "having a real hard time" finding jobs for this summer.

Gorman senior Kassie Beltran, 18, recently landed a job with Tilly's, a clothing retailer. "It took me a long time," she said. "I started going and filling out applications in January."

Beltran, too, struck out completely last summer, receiving "no callbacks, not anything."

This year seems to be an improvement. "Some of my friends have been looking for jobs, too. They've been lucky as well and have gotten callbacks. So I think it's a little bit better," she says.

Julia Lopez, 18, a senior at Northwest Career & Technical Academy, will work at the YMCA this summer, but that's because she has been working there since April. She estimated it took her five months to find the job.

"I applied at different places, but they never even called me back," she said.

Another indication that this summer's job picture is a little brighter comes from the job bank operated by the Clark County School District. Stan Hall, the district's director of career and technical education, said the number of positions submitted to the bank by employers has increased during the past few weeks.

David Philippi, community partnership coordinator at Northwest Career & Technical Academy, said that, compared to last year, "we're looking at at least a 20 (percent) to 30 percent increase in the number of jobs that have been added."

Among the most active industries with requests for high school-age workers, according to Philippi, are lifeguarding, entertainment -- jobs in movie theaters and amusement centers, for example -- food service and clothing retailing.

Laurie Davenport, district manager for Old Navy Southwest, said the apparel chain will hire its latest contingent of seasonal employees during the next several weeks.

"We really start hiring in June, but we like to see kids come in and interview before then for summer positions," she said.

Yet, Davenport, who oversees five stores in town and one in Primm, said she is surprised that, given the state of the economy, she hasn't seen more applicants than she has.

Valley Jamba Juice outlets also are ramping up for summer hiring. "Across the system we'll hire 2,500 or more team members" this summer, noted Janice Duis, the company's senior director of corporate communications. "Summertime is a busy season for us," she added, mostly because of longer store hours and increased customer traffic.

The city of Henderson this year hired about 200 lifeguards for city pools and about 120 people for its youth enrichment and summer camp programs, or about the same as last year, said Kim Becker, communications and marketing supervisor for the city's parks and recreation department.

Typically, lifeguard recruitment begins in January "because we need to have our staff in place by the time pools open on Memorial Day," Becker said. But, she added, "there probably will be a few positions available at this point for lifeguards."

Meanwhile, Las Vegas city spokesman Jace Radke said there are 35 openings for lifeguards, pool managers and swimming instructors at city pools.

Nancy White, program director for Project 5000 Kids, which places teenagers in jobs as an incentive for them to stay in school, agreed that there seems to be a "loosening" in the job market for this summer.

"It's not like two summers ago, when we were able to put a lot of kids to work," she said. "But I do think we'll put some to work."

High school-age job seekers probably will find that landing work in this economic environment will require a few alterations in their job-hunting strategies.

For instance, casting a wider net. Beltran said she sent out about 40 applications this year, about twice the number she sent out last year.

Job seekers this summer will have to be less selective about the jobs they'll consider. Lopez said that while she loves her YMCA job -- which, she noted, meshes well with her studies in Northwest's child development program -- she did reach a point during her job hunt where "I just wanted a job and I didn't care what the job was."

And, this summer's job seekers will find that the number of openings will shrink because those who do have jobs will be hanging on to them.

"Students are staying in jobs longer," Philippi said. "In the '90s and 2000s, I saw a lot of movement, and I had (students) working three or four jobs in one year. They knew they were highly employable and there were a lot of jobs out there."

Then, if a boss annoyed them, "they'd leave," he said. "Now, maybe they have to stay on and work things out."

Just like last summer, this season's high school-age job hunters will face competition not only from fellow teens but from adults who have lost their own jobs, college students and returning summer employees.

Debbie Soares, who owns two valley Baskin-Robbins franchises, said she just about doubles her work force during the summer months. But, she added, those additional spots this summer will be filled by veteran employees, some of whom started working for her when they were in high school.

When Soares opened the stores in 2004, "kids just scoffed" when she told them they'd make $5 or $6 an hour. Their feeling was, "I'll just go next door at the pizza place and make $12," Soares recalled.

"Now, the last couple of years, things have shifted, and I have mothers of some of my kids working for me."

Soares has received "a glut of applications" this summer. But, she noted, "I've been blessed with the fact that kids who have been working for me all through high school are coming back from college."

That's good news for Soares, because it provides her with proven employees who don't require training. But, she said, "it's sad for them. They'd like to get jobs related to their field, and they come back to this job."

There is another reason why even a small improvement in the job market is good for teens, White said.

"We hear of kids who (work to) pay for their schooling," she said. "But, in this economy today, a lot of kids are working because they're helping to pay the light bill at home. They're contributing to their family income and helping their families.

"That's the hardest part, when we hear of a kid who actually needs a job because he may be the only one in the family who can get a job."

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.