High school and college students in the Wabash Valley are searching high and low for summer jobs and, for many, without much luck.
Students, like Jackie Butler of Indiana State University, say they're facing a lot of competition. "Basically because everybody's looking for a job right now 'cause everyone wants to save money during the summer to spend during the school year."
Jennifer Berg, also of ISU, adds, "Probably because we expect to get paid more and the hours that we want, and places aren't wanting to pay that much."
According to Anita Crane, owner of Express Personnel Services, she's right. Employers don't want to pay students the higher wages, but even more, they don't want to waste time and resources on them. "I think it's different for college-age students to get employment, because companies don't want to invest training money in a person that's only going to be with them for a couple of months."
She says there are jobs out there, though, they just may not be exactly what you're looking for.
Employers and people in employment agencies say that for a number of reasons younger people are most likely to find jobs in places in the fast food industry, because it's more suitable for the workers and the business.
Crane says, "Fast food seems to lend itself well to students simply because of the flexibility in the scheduling."
Ron Kiernicki, a shift leader at Brazil's Pizza Hut, adds, "Of course you've got high school, so you can't really work the hours people need you to work and other situations, so fast food is about the way to go if you're in high school."
Besides availability, they also say insurance and liabilities play a big role, if you're under 18.
But experts give advice to those who are willing to put in the hours. Crane advises, "If they're a student from the local area, if they're willing to work part time once the school year starts back, that's going to make an employer more interested in spending time to train them."
So students who are set on finding something other than the traditional summer jobs, may have to go the extra mile.
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