Teen Unemployment on the Rise

Eric Shoemaker has been working at the Rave Movie Theater at Jefferson Pointe for over two years. He's now home from college for the summer and says he's very lucky to still have a job to come back to.

“I feel very lucky. I tell my parents that all the time. It's just nice to have a job coming back” says Shoemaker.

Jonathan Dalman feels they same way. He heads off to St. Francis University in the Fall and is saving up to pay for tuition. He says he doesn't know what he would do if he didn't have a job.

“It's extremely important and I plan on working through college, too, to pay for it. And  I wouldn't make it if I didn't have at least one job” says Dalman.

But for many teens, not having a job has been the harsh reality. Last month the unemployment rate for teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 was at 22.7 percent; that's up 3.8 percent from last year.

“A lot of my friends from school don't have jobs and they had jobs here before” adds Shoemaker.

Rave Movie Theater General Manager, Patrick Kolbe, says the number of applications they receive daily has nearly doubled compared to last year.

“We are getting a lot more; I'd say almost double” says Kolbe.

The theater employs close to 60 teenagers.  Lately they've been getting between 10 and 25 applications per day. So how can you stand out from the stack?

First: dress for the part.

“We have a lot of teenagers that come in that don't look like they want the job and they aren't dressed for the job” says Kolbe.

Next, when you turn in an application, ask to speak with a manager to introduce yourself.

Kolbe says it's always a good idea to talk to the manager yourself and put yourself out there.

And lastly, it's key to do follow up.

“A lot of times the people that get interviewed are people that are persistent” adds Kolbe.