Scores of Applicants Seek Holiday Jobs at Mall : Thousand Oaks: A state employment official says fewer professional adults among the mostly teen-age crowd at the center could indicate an improving economy.

Dan Schlett has been jobless since April, 1991, when the management at the Connecticut steel mill he worked for was ousted in a corporate takeover.

Schlett, who was the mill’s purchasing manager, has since traveled the country looking unsuccessfully for work.

Monday found the 36-year-old Schlett vying with teen-agers and a few other hard-pressed adults for $5-an-hour holiday jobs at The Oaks Mall in Thousand Oaks.

“I’m applying anywhere and everywhere. I’ve been out of work for too long,” Schlett said.

He had come to apply for one of about 400 jobs, most of them seasonal, with the mall’s five big department stores and about 70 smaller merchants.

Within the first 90 minutes of the job fair Monday, 91 people had applied for jobs. Applications will also be taken Nov. 23 and 24.

The first day of this year’s fair, on Nov. 2, brought a record 197 applications.

Dolores Brun of the state Employment Development Department said the number of applicants this year could break last year’s record, when 660 people applied and 288 were hired. This is the sixth year the employment agency and the Conejo Youth Employment Service have sponsored a job fair at The Oaks.

Most of the jobs are for salesclerks, stockers and restaurant workers, but some managerial positions also are available.

And yes, Brun said, the mall needs four Santa Clauses.

“Applicants should have some physical attributes of a true Santa, maybe a beard or a low voice or a paunch,” Brun said. Santas pay better than most mall jobs at about $7 per hour. The only drawback is that a Santa doesn’t have much chance of year-round employment, while a seasonal salesclerk at a department store could work up to a full-time job.

The state agency is also taking job applications at the Buenaventura Mall in Ventura, said Annette Sparks, manager of the agency’s Ventura office.

Applications for about 60 positions will be taken from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

About 60 people applied last weekend.

In Thousand Oaks, Brun pointed to the rows of applicants who were waiting for interviews and noted the few adults seated there among the teen-agers. That could be a sign of an improving economy, she said.

“Less professional people are looking for a job, which to me says ‘oh, good,’ ” said Brun. “When half the seats over there are filled by a professional man in a suit . . . it should be a younger person sitting there.”

For some younger applicants, the economy hasn’t improved enough.

“I just need a job,” said Christine McNees of Thousand Oaks. She has been searching for one since she turned 16, four months ago.

“I’ve put in applications everywhere. They either tell me I’m not old enough or I don’t have enough experience,” she said.

Brun sent the Newbury Park High School student to Miller’s Outpost and J. C. Penney for further interviews.

Russell Best, 23, also passed the initial stages and will have a job interview Monday with J. C. Penney for a maintenance position.

The salary can’t come close to what he is used to, but it’s better than nothing, Best said. As an electrician’s apprentice, he earns union wages of more than $13 an hour. But the poor construction market has left him without work.

Best said he would rather work than collect unemployment benefits.

“It’s better than staying home,” he said.

Patti Steiner, a part-time travel agent, said the travel business is in the doldrums because few can afford to travel in the current economy.

“I work on commission. I make zip, because nothing of nothing is nothing,” she said.

She was referred to interviews for managerial positions.

Some job-seekers hurt their own causes. One woman became indignant when Brun said she should go home and change out of her blue jeans before going to interview at a department store.

“These are little jobs. They’re not that important anyway,” the woman said before storming off.

But there were some happy endings.

Dan Schlett’s cross-country job search ended when May Co. hired him on the spot.

Today, the former purchasing manager for a steel mill will report to work--selling chinaware.