At this point, our ears are used to hearing about the lagging job market and how difficult it is to get a job. Working adults have lost their jobs and recent graduates are scrambling to find their first jobs out of college, using all possible resources available? But what about high school students?
It’s easy to forget that when you were in high school you probably had a job, too. It was important to start working early on to gather the work ethic needed later in life. Also, having a good amount of pocket cash for nights out with your friends or new outfits you wanted was always a bonus. Though the job might have been small requiring very little from you, it was a job none-the-less. What if you weren’t able to find one back then? Especially in these hard economic times, many teenagers depend on their own income to purchase things that they want or even to help their families out financially. The job market has been tough on everyone and that includes teenagers.
Thankfully, an Arlington Heights, Ill. high school senior is making moves to combat the struggle teenagers face when trying to find a job. Saint Viator High School senior Greg Cerabona is commissioner on the Arlington Heights’ Youth Commission and came up with the idea of holding a job fair for teenagers in his area. “During the summer I noticed that a lot of my friends did not have summer jobs and were trying to find jobs,” he said in the Trib Local. “A lot of them did not know where to begin the job search.”
Whereas before there may not have been as much competition for the types of jobs teens look for, today there is much more competition. Not only do they have to compete with other teens, but they now have to compete with adults that lost there jobs and are trying to find anything to pay the bills. The job fair Cerabona is organizing will help put teens in contact with employers while also giving them interview tips and techniques that will better their chances of getting a job. “We’re just making it all around easier for everyone: For the businesses looking for employees and for the teens applying for the jobs,” Cerabona said.
This story is a reminder that the weak job market is in fact effecting everyone, but there is always something we can do to work against it and come out on top.
SOURCE: Trib Local
IMAGE: Princeton Library
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