it's freaking hard to find a job in the summer@!

<p>Even with the summer youth program by the stimulus package, it's still hard! I've been applying to over 15 places yet received none calls back!
So how do you land your summer job this year? Anywhere how to find one?</p>

<p>Oh! I have a job! Like, I was gonna waitress but now I’m getting one downtown in the court houses as an assistant (it’s paying 10 and an hour and it’s easy work!). Okay, you know those federal unemployment offices? Well they have this student program and they give students that qualify for welfare/medicaid/etc a job and I got luckily (my mom knows a woman) picked for one in the court houses. </p>

<p>I feel like that’s what your talking about with the “summer youth program by the stimulus package”. Now a lot of things with jobs comes down to who you know. Like, beside this I was about to be a waitress at this nice restaurant but I only ended up being considered because of my brother. Also how many interviews? Because whenever I walk into a place looking for a job I don’t leave till I shake a managers hand and schedule an interview some time that week or next week. Interviews at things where it barely requires a high school education are basically on likability. Just try to be nice, smile, be kinda funny, laugh at the jokes he/she tells. They want to hire somebody they figure won’t cause drama and everyone will be okay with.</p>

<p>Really, my only advice is to walk into stores and ask if they’re hiring and if they say “yeah, well kinda” say you really like the store and would love to work there and if you could please schedule an interview. A lot of the time they won’t be hiring but it’s summer and many are because more people are out right now buying stuff. Don’t mention that you’ll maybe be quitting when summer ends for school unless they say “well, this is more or a temporary job, is that okay?”. And just ask around your family and friends if there was a place they worked at and did well they can give a reference and again, most jobs are based on connections. </p>

<p>And if all else fails try at local community centers like the YMCA or boys and girls club because they usually need helpers but the pay is barely minimum.</p>

<p>oh thank you lucky star. Yeah I feel you were mentioning the program too. The problem is lots of places don’t hire people under 18 except for few like that program. Well I basically try everywhere but what do you put on the applications? Do people just get picked based on their names and all those stuff?</p>

<p>Yeah, luckily, I got a job at a law firm through the school guidance dept.</p>

<p>well, supermarkets should be hiring right now and they really aren’t looking for talented and skilled adults, more like anything with two legs, the work can get repetitive but it’ll pay (like HEB if you’re in TX). I think I first put my english teacher for a recommender and then my brother on certain jobs (my brother worked at so many places and it actually helps). Early in high school I was working at a community center (I was younger than 15 and it paid minimum wage for 5 hours a week so I’d walk away with $36 and felt cool) and it turns out a lot of community centers are really hooked up with companies in the city, so there was this program called Get2Work and I signed up and now they always right a referral for me and it seems to mean a lot. I got lucky with that one really. The only activity I regularly write is Stage Manager of theater, people really seem to like that one and I have horror stories on the crazy nonsense I had to put up with. Is this your first job? Usually that’s the hardest to get because everyone prefers someone with even a little bit of experience, even if it was sucky experience, so on interviews just try to prove you know what working really is (I think that’s why stage manager helped, because it’s a lot like waitressing in a busy restaurant) also having a referral from someone who was fine with paying you to work helps. So usually on my applications I just put all my previous work experience (I’ve had about 4 different long lasting jobs), a list of skills (I include typing at whatever speed, mental math, experience with technology, cooking, cleaning, ability to work with children, people skills, whatever, usually they ask what you mean “by this” and that’s when I explain more). Also they don’t care at all what your SAT score is, I remember a kid at school putting that on his application to McD for management and he didn’t get the job, not because he put it but I feel like he thought it would change something and it really doesn’t.</p>

<p>I’m actually over 18 and I think that has more to do with that one job because they probably want only adults at the court house. Also, I mean it was kinda like a your name was put through a system of lists till there was an availability somewhere but this woman at my moms’ work had a sister that is the secretary that picks from this list over at the court house. Like, right as I walked out of signing up for the program I had to call my mom so she could tell her friend so she could call her sister and get my name out before the spot was filled. Yeah, connections. I mean, I can usually get a job easiely now that I have more experience but I kinda want the good ones that are either lazy work or really good pay or very flexible hours and those kind of jobs come down to luck, connections, and personality? Like, I got a job at a comic book store but maybe that was just being a girl more than personality.</p>

<p>I’m in the same boat.
Back to the old standby: babysitting.</p>

<p>Lifeguarding = Almost guaranteed job tbh</p>

<p>^you have to be able to swim well, I kinda just float around but I could not be expected to save a life. But lifeguarding is the coolest summer job if you can swim well.</p>

<p>How do you know Im in Texas? Well, I did apply to HEB 3 months ago but they didn’t call me. I’m 4 months short of 18 and yeah I suck at writing applications I must admit since this is my first job. Is it true that you should put full time or available from Mon-> Sat even though you are not and then you can negotiate later with them cuz I got this advice from several of my friends who actually had a job but Im not sure if it’s true? And I’m an immigrant too and none of my family members work except for my aunt, a pharmacist. I have 14 people living in the same roots including myself and people been saying the recruiters will not pick someone with a hard name to pronounce. Should I write my english nick name like John or Mark on the application instead of my “asian” name?</p>

<p>I worked last summer and the summer before that. This summer, I didn’t bother seeking employment, and will instead be attempting to earn an income by playing the stock market, collecting grad presents, and playing poker at my friend’s house. </p>

<p>I have the line for Gamblers Anonymous in my phone. Just in case.</p>

<p>lol, but would anyone look at the post earlier by me and tell me if its true?</p>

<p>lol I applied to like every fast food place in town, and McDonald’s interviewed me about a fortnight ago, but did not hire me :/</p>

<p>Lol, I didn’t know if you were in TX, it’s just that I am in TX and everyone gets their first jobs at HEB because EVERYONE works at HEB at some point (I almost worked there, hah). If you’re in San Antonio I can give you some hook ups but now that’s just unlikely that you are also in SA.</p>

<p>And yeah, put available mon-sat and then negotiate later. It’s a lot better, and if you speak spanish that’s a bonus you need to put on every application. Hmmm, I don’t know about asian names but every I know with a hard spanish name just keeps it the same (then again, I don’t think spanish names are that hard). I can’t imagine recruiters turning you down for something like that but if you have a nick-name, it helps to mention that. Like after your first name in “__” put the easy-to-say nick-name.</p>

<p>Are you in a smaller city or big? Cause if it’s big then just keep going into random restaurants and stores and never leave without having an interview. Smaller, well I imagine smaller towns are harder to get a job in.</p>

<p>^
Yep, I’m from Texas and I currently work at HEB. Well, actually, I work at Central Market which is a higher-end HEB. You’re right…it seems like half the people in my school are working at some HEB in the Houston area</p>

<p>It all comes down to networking. See if your friends’ parents’ employers are hiring summer help. Have your parents ask around too. And lastly, go out into your town hall or community center to see if there is any youth program. </p>

<p>Find jobs is all about networking.</p>

<p>well Im from Houston, and I live in a Vietnamese- Mexican neighborhood. I tried to apply to fast food stores and even HEB( its record indicates I applied within the last 6 months). Problem is, even my friends, who are Latinos, told me they hardly hire Asians. So yeah lol</p>

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<p>I think you meant “recession”. But yes, if you want a job for the summer, you must apply in early spring, because everyone else your age is also looking for a part-time job for the summer. You might get lucky, though.</p>

<p>I tried applying for a job at Caribou Coffee and McDonalds a couple months ago and still haven’t heard back. That’s so irresponsible.</p>

<p>I’ll contact them again…but I dont think I cant work @ Caribou coffee atm since it’s kind of for older people (ive seen hs srs from my school work there so why not?) & my friend told me at Mcdonalds they’re kinda disorganized so you’d have to call them and bother them regarding the job.</p>

<p><em>sighs</em></p>

<p>But I’m going to be leaving next month for vacation so I don’t need a summer job :)</p>

<p>I don’t think the recession has actually hit TX that bad. Odd. I mean, housing is stable and the jobs aren’t that bad, the gas is reasonably compared to others, not so much inflation. I mean, it’s not because of the governors (more like, despite him). I think it’s more that TX people aren’t the kind to fear economy and we kept faith in it (kept buying and producing and investing) and further we have a TON of illegal immigrants that work cheaply and basically hold it all up (and ours are allowed to work, not so much in AZ and Cali from what I hear).</p>

<p>What’s odder is that I actually don’t see a lot of asians employed at like, HEB and simple stores like that, huh. I just figured there aren’t a lot of asian in SA (there are, I just found out they live on another side of town). But maybe it is that nobody cares to hire asians? I mean, mexicans are the staple hard workers out there so we’re hired a little quicker. Asians are the staple smart guys, so I don’t know. Maybe people just don’t equate asians with workers at food places and such so it’s not who they’d hire.</p>

<p>Well most asian parents dont let their kids do summer work at like McDonalds because they feel that their kids should be studying or doing internships at corporations and laboratories. </p>

<p>Stores dont hire asian kids because so few of them apply. I mean seriously, how many asian kids (already a tiny proportion of the population) apply for summer jobs at hardware, electronics, or fast food stores?</p>