Finding the Perfect Job

By Olivia Cobiskey

Before school ended on May 18, 16-year-old Tiara Willard was already filling out applications.

Willard, a junior at Gibbs High School, said she and her friends don't "hang out" during the summer. They don't have time. They usually have summer jobs. The money she earns isn't pocket money either. She's saving for school clothes in the fall and helping her mother with bills.

Regardless of their motivation, teens are looking for jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 43,000 youth in the Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater areas were employed in 2003 and more than two-thirds of all teens work during the school year.

While Tiara was looking for a job, the hood of her car unlatched and flew up, smashing her windshield. But that didn't deter her. The car was just one more thing that needed money, so she got up earlier and used public transportation or walked to interviews.

"I filled out applications every day," said Willard. "Three or four a day."

Then she would wait a week, phone and check on the status of her application.

"To make sure they knew I took the extra initiative," explained Willard, who also always asked to speak with a manager when she finished an application.

Several weeks into Willard's job search, her mother, Tammy Green, found a flier for a job fair at Pinellas Technical Educational Center (PTEC).

The career fair, offered by WorkNet, provided teens and young adults with workshops to prepare for entry into the workforce, said Deborah Green, director of educational services.

The two-day event on May 26 and 27 was at the St. Petersburg campus of PTEC. The first day was devoted to preparation for an interview, providing the participants with workshops on everything from how to fill out an application to the proper attitude for an interview to how to write a successful resume.

The participants were guests at a fashion show in which models walked down a runway with caps turned backwards and jeans that sagged to their thighs—examples of what should not be worn to an interview. At the end of the day, there was a motivational session to get the participants excited about the interviews the next day.

Willard and her mother agreed the career fair gave participants an advantage over youth who hadn't attended the workshops.

Twenty-three employers from the service and retail industries came to the career fair and the youth came "dressed to impress," WorkNet's Green said. Potential employers included: Kash n' Karry, Special Data Processing, Publix, First Advantage and Goodwill Temporary Staffing.

Of the 150 youth who participated, no one left feeling as if they'd wasted their time, Green said. Most left with at least an interview, and many left with a job offer, she said.

"That job fair has been a huge success for us," said John Spano, corporate director of human resources for Muvico Theaters, Inc., one of the employers. "We've successfully hired six employees and are still interviewing."

Typically, said Spano, the movie theaters have a strong relationship with schools in the area, recruiting heavily from the teen job pool. Seventy-two percent of the theater's part-time workforce is between the ages of 16 and 24, he said.

According to Spano, the summer and the winter holidays are the largest moviegoing seasons. The BayWalk Theater has an average of 100 employees and usually hires an extra 20 employees during peak movie-watching seasons.

When looking to hire youth with little or no experience, Spano looks for students with extracurricular activities in sports or clubs, he said.

"Outgoing, not shy," said Spano. "[It's] important that the young person coming into our work environment has that outgoing personality."

The theater also gives potential employees a personality profile questionnaire.

The test is to determine how compatible the youth is with service industry jobs such as those at the theater, Spano said, where verbal skills are critical.

(Click here to see sample questions from the industry questionnaire, on the sidebar at right.)

Youth do a lot of written communication, such as text messaging, Internet chat rooms, and blogging, Spano said, but verbal skills are not second nature to them.

"We feel obligated to give them that skill set," said Spano. "We do extensive training on how to deal with customer issues."

Willard started working at McDonald's when she was 14, the legal age to work in Florida.

"Fourteen is a good age for a first job," said Willard's mother, Green. "It helps her be more responsible with her money."

Willard has already learned the idiom "all work and no play." After paying her bills and fixing her car, any extra money she earns she plans to use to treat herself—getting her long braids done and a manicure, she said.

A lot of Willard's free time is spent with her boyfriend, Chris Thinn, 18, whom she's been dating for two years. They are an affectionate, playful couple who toss movie lines at each other between giggles and smiles. They rent a lot of movies, rattling recent titles off in rapid succession, which was serendipitous.

Willard finally got that coveted phone call and started work on Monday, June 14 at the Muvico Theaters, Inc. at BayWalk.

Click here to view a PDF of this article, designed by Alberto Rigau (268 KB).

Job-Hunting Tips for Teens

• Do your research; check out the company website.
• Understand more about what the job involves.
• Have detailed questions for the interviewer.
• Dress appropriately: wear clean, pressed, conservative clothes, no ostentatious jewelry.
• Wear comfortable dress shoes.
• Have a neat appearance: combed hair, clean nails.
• Most importantly, bring your personality with you.

To find more tips on employment for teens visit the Department of Labor web site.

The true-or-false test on youth compatibility with service industry jobs asks questions like:

• Do I usually get to school or work early?
• When I join a group, am I typically one who stands out as a leader?
• I get a lot of satisfaction with helping people?

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