Getting That First Job : As the Recession Continues, Inexperienced Teen-Agers Find That Landing an Entry-Level Position Is Proving Increasingly Difficult

By next spring, Mike Patterson, 18, hopes to be swinging his bat on the baseball diamond at Cal State Northridge. But for now, the Reseda High School senior readies himself for college baseball by sending line drives into the chain-link fences at Castle Batting Park, a batting cage in Sherman Oaks, where he has worked after school and on weekends as an attendant for two years.

“I’m usually in there for five rounds twice a day,” said Patterson, who specializes in playing left field. “Working here allows me to get some practice in and it’s fun. I get to work with the public, trouble-shoot some of the machinery and handle paperwork. I can work around my schedule, and I like being outdoors.”

Finding work isn’t easy for anyone, let alone a teen-ager whose only work experience may be cutting lawns for the neighbors or baby-sitting. The Los Angeles Unified School District estimates that 40%, or more than 50,000 of its senior high school students, have after-school or weekend jobs, but there are also many who would like a job and can’t find one.

Even the traditional first jobs at stores and fast-food restaurants are harder to come by. “We’re getting more applicants over 18,” said Carlton Char, manager of an El Pollo Loco outlet in Sherman Oaks. “These are often people with experience elsewhere who don’t need much training.”

“You have a lot of these entry-level jobs being taken by adults because of the economy,” said Alan Weiner, career adviser at Van Nuys High School. Weiner maintains a bulletin board in the school’s Work Experience Center where job opportunities are posted. “I’ve been involved in this field for 15 years, and I’ve never seen such a lack of jobs for kids starting out. Many places now only hire people older than 18, since they have so many applicants they don’t have to hire someone with no job experience.”

Every public high school maintains a career or work experience center, and experts say this is probably the best place for a student to begin a job search. “These centers generally have information on jobs within the private sector, as well as city, county and federal jobs that are available through programs for students from low-income families,” said Patrick Delaney, a work experience education adviser for the Los Angeles Unified School District. “They’re also able to get work permits there, which are required if the student is under 18.”

“We’ve had about 175 requests from students here at Van Nuys High School, I think it’s a sign that a lot of kids are trying to help out their families during the recession,” Weiner said. Students who have family incomes at or below the federal poverty guidelines--$16,980 for a family of four, $9,990 for a family of two--are eligible for an assortment of public service jobs.

“The Youth Employment Training Program places kids in positions in the school, and other qualifying students can get jobs with the city,” said Delaney. “These positions are in various areas, require little or no experience and pay more than the minimum wage of $4.25.”

The city’s Summer Youth Employment program annually draws about 9,000 students from ages 14 to 21 who meet the federal poverty guidelines. They’re placed in a variety of city, county, state and federal jobs, ranging from janitorial to child-care positions, from July 1 to Aug. 14, working five to six hours per day at $4.25 per hour. “Students can get an application at the state employment office near their home,” said Jane Dawson, director of the program.

Students who are having academic problems could be eligible for the Youth Service Academy. Besides a job with a Los Angeles city department that starts at $5.25 per hour, the student gets 10 elective credits toward a high school diploma. He or she also must take a concurrent class with the academy that stresses career planning, and each student is assigned a city employee who functions as a mentor, helping with problems on the job or in school.

Those who can’t take advantage of one of these programs can check out job listings posted by First Break, a program sponsored by the school district. “We solicit job openings from businesses, then notify the high schools near the job location, which post the openings at their work experience center,” said Lynne Friedman, coordinator for the program.

First Break finds jobs in a number of fields, including clerical, retail and food service. “We’re able to enlist a wide range of businesses, large and small, which are interested in hiring teen-agers for job openings,” Friedman said.

Brochures on how to apply for a job, what to expect at a job interview and how to create a resume also are available from First Break. “We’re dealing mostly with 15- and 16-year-olds who haven’t worked before and who need some guidance on how to present themselves for a job,” Friedman said.

Everyone wants a fun job that requires little or no experience, although these have never been plentiful. The experts say finding one is a matter of luck and persistence. “Take an area you’re interested in and meet some of the people who do work in that field,” Delaney said. “It’ll give you a good perspective on what’s required and what you need to get a job like theirs.”

Getting that first job often means being in the right place at the right time. “Persistence really does pay off in the end,” said Delaney. “If you can present yourself well, a prospective employer will notice you. You’ve just got to keep trying.”

The Southern California dream job of being a lifeguard is available to fewer local youths this summer because Los Angeles County has enough people to fill the 640 part-time positions needed to watch over the beaches and bathing suits from June to September. Potential applicants are being told to come back next spring.

But there are some opportunities for teen-agers looking for their first job.

Those who like to spend their evenings listening to music and getting paid for it can be a part of the Hollywood Bowl ushering crew. Getting paid minimum wage for helping people find their seats and the restrooms, this year’s ushers will hear the sounds of Ella Fitzgerald, Tchaikovsky and John Williams, among others, while they work.

“Most of our ushers work two to four hours per night, two to three nights per week,” said Virginia Sadler of the Hollywood Bowl operations office. “They’re all about 16 to 18, and they have a good time with their job. They get to meet a lot of other kids, and there are usually quite a few summer romances that go on.” For information on jobs at the Bowl, call (213) 850-2060.

For those interested in a position that’s less social but just as cultural, the Los Angeles Public Library maintains a staff of about 200 messenger clerks at its branches throughout the city. “Their duties include shelving books and getting books and periodicals from storage,” said library spokesman Bob Reagan.

Although a city hiring freeze has kept the library from employing new clerks, Reagan said, those interested in the $8-per-hour positions can call the library personnel office at (213) 612-3324 for an application and information on when the library will be hiring again. “These jobs often expose the young person to library work for the first time,” Reagan said. “Many of our librarians started as clerks and liked the field enough to make it a career.”

Once a popular and fun way for teen-agers to earn money during a vacation, working as an extra in the local entertainment industry isn’t as easy as it used to be. “There are many more people than there are jobs for extras today,” said Bunky Segimoto, who co-owns the Encore Talent Agency in Studio City. “You have more kids trying to get involved, and more phony agencies taking their money.”

Segimoto advises young people to stay away from talent agencies that want an upfront fee, or that insist on using their photographers to take head shots. “They make their money off the people who come in and want to work. A legitimate talent agency won’t ask you for a fee or to use a particular photographer.”

Being an extra for films, television or advertising often means spending long hours on the set. And the pay is significantly less than the actors or models the cameras focus on. “When the Screen Actors Guild takes over our union in July, extras will get around $65 per day,” said Jeff Lawrence, business representative for the Screen Extras Guild. “This is better than what extras get in non-union productions, which is about $40 per day, but it’s not great when you consider how much time is spent on the job.”

The first step in finding extra work is to have some 8-by-10 black-and-white glossies taken of yourself and send them to casting and talent agencies. “Call to see if the agency will even look at your shots and send them around,” Segimoto said. “It’s important for a young person to have an attitude that this is just something fun, that they’re not going to rely on being an extra to make a lot of money.”