Career Start : Pinpointing Where the Jobs Are : Opportunities: Best bets are where recession has hurt the least, such as discount retailing. Steady gains are also predicted in the health care, education, transportation and public utilities fields.

Fortune 500 companies have become lean and mean. Temporary-service agencies can place only a fraction of applicants. And the want ads are ever so thin.

Telemarketers seem to be the only companies hiring these days.

But depressed as the economy is, entry-level jobs are still out there. Even now, many employers are sounding the call: “We always need good help.”

This fall, forecasters see steady job gains in the health care, education, retail, transportation and public utilities sectors. Even in those areas, though, the field will be competitive. Best bets are where recession has hurt the least.

For example, with more shoppers looking for better values with discount retailers, a job seeker might have better luck at an outlet mall or discount store rather than at Newport Center Fashion Island or the Sherman Oaks Galleria.

“The problem, of course, is to find something that pays above minimum wage,” said Eleanor Jordan, a labor market analyst for the state Employment Development Department in Anaheim. “In the good old days, you used to be able to walk right in and work on the automobile assembly line. Those days are over.”

As a result, an increasing number of job seekers caught between high school and a four-year college degree are taking job-training classes to enhance their skills in everything from cashiering to laser technology.

Record numbers of students waited for hours at the North Orange County Regional Occupation Program last month to get into free health-related classes. In greatest demand were certification courses for nursing assistants and emergency medical technicians.

The reason? A pool of available jobs and the steady growth of health-related companies in Southern California. The increasing popularity of health maintenance organizations has also created a demand for computer and clerical staff.

Earlier this month, Kaiser-Permanente Medical Care Program in Anaheim had openings for about half a dozen clinical assistants and two dozen clerical receptionists and administrative assistants in Orange County, spokeswoman Amy Baker said. The company has never had a blanket hiring freeze.

And at FHP Healthcare, an HMO based in Fountain Valley, “we always have a need,” spokeswoman Ria Carlson said.

Those in the health field also say there is room for advancement.

Mark Whyman, a clerk who stocks medical equipment at Kaiser, is taking courses at Cypress College to become a chemical abuse counselor to adolescents. Kaiser has a tuition reimbursement program, and the health care provider “has been very supportive as far as working around my hours.”

“You get a lot of self-gratification when you help someone who needs help,” Whyman, 36, said of his pending new job.

Some people are willing to put off long-term career goals to take such jobs for the short term.

Last month, Kelly Krajacic of Buena Park waited in line for hours to get into a basic computer training course and an emergency medical technician class. Although neither field is where she hopes to find her long-term career, she says, she thinks the training will be an asset when she takes a ski-patrol job this winter.

“I want to be a sports psychologist,” said Krajacic, 18. “But when the economy gets bad, who do they cut first? You think about it. When a recession hits, what is the first to go? All the extra stuff.”

But be forewarned: Some private hospitals do have hiring freezes.

“Private practitioners and private hospitals are hurting,” said Grace King, a labor market analyst for the North Orange County Regional Occupation Program. “People have been laid off, and the health insurance isn’t there. They come in only when they are acutely ill. But I don’t think it’s going to last.”

Even so, health care has weathered the recession better than other industries have. Analysts point to an aging population, which is in greater need of health services. The increasing number of senior citizens has helped other fields as well.

“These people who have retired, who made their money in the ‘80s, they’re spending in the ‘90s,” said Kim Mcgonigal, president of Kimco Temporary Services in Irvine.

As an example, Mcgonigal cited Fleetwood Motor Homes in Riverside, one of the few heavy manufacturers that has been calling recently for temporary workers from his company. And senior citizens aren’t the only ones buying RVs. Families are opting for road trips rather than expensive vacations in exotic locales.

“You’d think, being a manufacturer, they’d be doing just terribly,” Mcgonigal said. “But they’re doing very well.”

The same money-saving attitude has helped some retail outlets as well. Clothestime, the Anaheim-based women’s discount apparel chain, plans to hire about 300 Southland residents in the next three months.

About two of every three openings are for entry-level jobs, such as sales clerks and cashiers, as well as clerical office staff at the company’s main headquarters. The company also provides its own training.

Clothestime provides plenty of opportunity to move up through the ranks--and quickly, said Seamus Owen, Clothestime’s director of human resources. The company plans to add as many as 1,000 stores nationwide in the next five years.

The retailers that are suffering most are those that sell big-ticket items: couches, ovens and pianos.

Department stores, which are also hurting, might take on additional help for the holiday season, analyst King said, but “I wouldn’t give you two cents for it. You’ll only get temporary help.”

Elsewhere, entry-level jobs are scattered. Additional commuter trains could mean more employment at transportation companies. Greater use of cellular phones might add jobs in telecommunications. And even schools, although tied to tight budgets because of state cuts, could nevertheless be looking for classroom aides and crossing guards.

For those seeking work, the Regional Occupation Program and the state Employment Development Department offer services that match applicants with jobs. But that won’t take the place of setting your own goals and doing your own research.

“Go with what the road map tells you,” King said. “Especially in this economic downturn, you’ve got to be sure of your career path.”