Opportunities for youth are available if they know where to look, like the Center for Employment Training in Oxnard, above, and a Youth Job & Resource Fair, below, in Paso Robles. Courtesy images
Variety of training, placement programs are available for youth if they know where to look
By Frank X. Moraga / Amigos805
Monique Marquez recalls when she was 16, in high school and went looking for her first summer job.
“I remember that computers were big back then. Everyone wanted a job to fix computers,” said Marquez, who then talked to a youth summer job adviser. “If I would have taken a course fixing computers and then worked on them for a lot of years I would have hated it. But they knew me better than I knew myself. They said I liked to talk with and help people and so my first summer job was working for the Boys and Girls Club. I found my passion there and knew that I wanted to teach.”
Now, Marquez is a recruitment and admissions adviser for the Center for Employment Training in Oxnard and spends her time going out and talking to youth about career opportunities.
The job-hunting season is well under way with the month of May a crucial time for teens to get those last available jobs for the summer season.
Teens face a tough summer job market with businesses hiring fewer employees and older displaced workers competing for low-wage jobs as the nation continues to recover from the aftermath of the Great Recession.
Statistics show how tough the job market really is for young people.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the youth unemployment rate (ages 16 to 24) in the United States was 14.5 percent in March 2014, down from a peak of 19.6 percent in April 2010. However, the rates don’t account for those who have given up looking for work due to lack of jobs.
In comparison, total U.S. unemployment was 6.7 percent in March 2014, peaking at 10 percent in October 2009.
As a result of the tough job market, youth have to be prepared before beginning their job search. The days of walking into a potential employer’s office dressed in their scruffy jeans, chewing gum and casually asking, “Got a job?” are long gone.
To help teens overcome these challenges, a variety of training programs are available in the Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo region, along with opportunities to practice their skills at job fairs and other events.
Marquez said she learned first-hand about the challenges of dressing for success as a teenager.
“I remember practicing for my first job interview,” she said. “The adviser said come into the interview really pretty. So I came in with a shocking red dress and bright red lipstick. When you are 16 pretty means pretty clubbing.”
The adviser said ‘You look pretty but now you got to work on your interview look so you look pretty and professional,’ ” Marquez said. “They then chose clothes for me” so she could look more professional during interviews.
The Center for Employment Training helps people 18 years and older to get training for and find jobs in construction, health care and other industries. It provides services for an average of 120 youth (ages 18-24) per year out of the average total of 4,300 people who come to visit and tour the Oxnard location each year.
Many of its students have come from other teen training programs, Marquez said.
“We recruit them from a network of other agencies who work with foster care or help people who have just got out of jail, students who have overcome barriers,” she said.
Marquez said youth employment programs help instill positive values in the youth and better prepare them to plan for their future career choices; that is why CET also makes presentations at those programs.
She touted one local success story of a young man who had to leave his home when he was 18 and ended up homeless and living in his car.
“He came to CET and graduated from our construction program and now he is making more money than his dad, has moved back home and is now the primary breadwinner,” she said.
For young people throughout the tri-counties area, another places they should check in with is the local Workforce Investment Board.
Ventura County
Youth face a more challenging task finding summer jobs due to government cuts in many programs.
“In this county there is not summer job program as such. There was in the past,” said Richard McNeal, one of four administration managers for the Workforce Investment Board of Ventura County. McNeal specializes in youth services. “When we had extra money we did have summer programs.”
The lack of summer youth training programs comes at the same time that competition for jobs is fierce.
“It’s difficult for young people because they are competing against older people who have lost their jobs. They’ve got to be aggressive about it, use social media,” McNeal said. “(For my first job) I walked into a grocery story where my parents frequented and got a job. They’ve got to be clever about it now.”
However, that doesn’t mean there is no help available for youth.
WIB Ventura County works with three contract organizations through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) to provide job training services to youth: The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme’s Youth Employment Program (http://www.positiveplace4kids.org/programs/youthemployment.htm), which serves the Oxnard Plain; PathPoint, which provides Youth Networked Services to at-risk youth who meet the WIA eligibility requirements and are ages 16 to 21 (http://www.pathpoint.org/ventura-county/) and Ventura Adult and Continuing Education (http://www.tdctraining.com/technology.html) for those 18 to 21 years of age.
“They have different functions and service different parts of the county,” he said of the programs that primarily serve low-income youth. “We encourage people to go to our website as a means to find out about jobs for the future.”
Information on WIB Ventura County can be found at http://portal.countyofventura.org/portal/page/portal/WIB/YouthCenterOverview.
The site offers a simple yet direct message for youth: “You want more—a job with a future. Getting ready now is a smart move to make it happen. The first step is to stay in school. The second is to check out career ideas and make a plan.”
Youth can then click on the graphic “A Job with a Future” at http://www.vcjobswithafuture.org to learn about skills and leadership options at their schools, afterschool programs, tips on choosing their careers and determining the fastest-growing jobs in the region and information on completing high school, college, university or on-the-job training options.
Like other WIB operations statewide, WIB Ventura County has a Youth Council that meets once a month and includes representatives from nonprofit organizations, labor and other agencies.
“It is an advisory to the WIB and its job is to oversee the youth program at WIB,” McNeal said.
Santa Barbara County
The Workforce Investment Board of Santa Barbara County’s Youth Program serves Workforce Investment Act-eligible youth between the ages of 17 and 21 through year-round programs. Programs available include the Youth Corps, which is operated by the Community Action Commission. The program helps youth with life-skills training, education and work experience. More information is available at http://www.cacsb.com/low-income-assistance/youth-corps
Santa Barbara County also had a strong summer youth training and placement program at one time for 300 to 400 students, said Luis Servin, business services coordinator for WIB Santa Barbara County. However, funding for that program was eliminated.
“After that we went to a year-round youth program, but the bulk of the employment for youth is still during the summer because that is when they have time available to work,” he said. “The program is for high school students, high school drop outs, college students. They have to be eligible and suitable for the program.”
Youth have to be Santa Barbara County residents, meet low-income eligibility levels, meet work requirements including providing a valid Social Security number, register for the Selective Service and face any one of a number of barriers to success, which include not having a job for a set period of time, being a runaway, being part of a foster care program, being a single parent or having a low grade-point average.
They also have to capable to taking part in an intensive training program to help them prepare for the workforce.
WIB Santa Barbara County has 230 youth in its caseload, Servin said, but could serve much more if additional funding was available.
“If we had the funding we could hire more staff,” he said. “In the mid-county and north county there is a big need for this kind of program for youth. When there are no jobs some do drugs or hang around with the wrong crowd. We could certainly be serving more people and more youth.”
As part of its efforts to help youth and others find jobs, a number of job fairs are held during the year, Servin said.
The next one, presented by WIB Santa Barbara County and the California Employment Development Department, will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday, June 12 at the Veterans Memorial Building, 313 W. Tunnel, Santa Maria. Open to all job seekers, the program provides training and career information, résumé critiques and other opportunities. For more information, call Nichole Applegate at 805-614-1216.
WIB Santa Barbara County and other groups most recently held the annual Lompoc Job and Resource Fair on May 1 in Lompoc that drew about 350 job seekers, with 30 employers represented, along with nearly a dozen resource agencies, Servin said.
The event was presented by the WIB in partnership with the Employment Development Department, Allan Hancock College, the City of Lompoc, Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce, Goodwill Industries, Excel Personnel Services and other local government agencies and private organizations.
“Last year it was youth-focused but this year, because of the high unemployment, we wanted to open it up to all job seekers,” he said.
Like Ventura County, WIB Santa Barbara County also has a Youth Council; information is available by calling 805-681-4453.
Another option available in Santa Barbara is the Youth Experience Program (WEX) where participants get meaningful work experience in a real-world job environment and acquire basic skills in employment standards, ethics, teamwork, leadership and initiative, according to the website. About 450 youth have taken part in the program since 2009, with many successfully moving into the labor market, officials reported.
San Luis Obispo County
The Workforce Investment Board of San Luis Obispo County provides information on its website on the Youth Division of Cuesta College. The division provides training, services and work experience opportunities for local youth age 16-21. Clients meet eligibility criteria tied to low skills, in-school or out of school and/or at-risk of dropping out of school.
The WIB San Luis Obispo County and Cuesta College will be providing youth with information on local jobs and career opportunities at the “Youth Job & Resource Fair” from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 7 at Hidden Creek Community Center, 80 Cary St., Paso Robles and at the Youth One-Stop, 191 So. Oak Park, Grover Beach.
Youth Employment / Career opportunties:
• For general information on career and training options, visit the Workforce Investment Board of Ventura County at http://portal.countyofventura.org. For youth services, visit http://www.vcjobswithafuture.org. Call 805-477-5306 for more information
• In Santa Barbara, contact the Workforce Investment Board of Santa Barbara County by visiting http://santabarbaracountywib.org and then click on to the “Youth” link. For more information, call 805-681-4453.
• In San Luis Obispo County, contact the Workforce Investment Board of San Luis Obispo County by visiting http://sloworkforce.com/wordpress/ You can also get information on the Youth Corner by visiting http://www.youthemploymentslo.org
• The Center for Employment Training provides help for those 18 years and older who want to learn a skill and find a job. Financial aid is available. Visit http://cetweb.org for more information. CET is at 761 So. C St., Oxnard (8050487-9821) and at 509 W. Morrison Ave., Santa Maria (805-928-1737)
• Also visit http://www.americasjobcenter.ca.gov and type in your zip code to find Job Centers in your region.