Summer Jobs:"Be willing to do anything, really,"

EVANSVILLE — University of Evansville junior Travis Guffey has chilling advice for students still searching for that perfect summer job.

"Be willing to do anything, really," the 20-year-old said. "If you're going to be picky about it you really don't want a job that bad."

But Guffey also counts himself among the lucky ones. He hasn't had to go out and find a summer job for the last five years. He has worked at Walther's Golf & Fun in Evansville since high school, where he works part-time during the school year. He then shifts to full-time in the summer when the facility extends its hours after Memorial Day and he is out of school.

"I've got tons of friends from school who are struggling every summer to find a job," he said. "I'm just thankful I got this job while in high school and it's always there."

During the duration of Guffey's stint at Walther's, one of the area's largest seasonal employers, Holiday World and Splashin' Safari, has seen a general shift in how people view their summer employment since the economy started to tumble a few years ago.

Holiday World spokeswoman Paula Werne said many workers, who had only been working part-time for extra spending money, now want more hours. That has allowed the park to hire about the same number of workers, even though the park has expanded.

"People are really taking summer jobs seriously because some are helping out at home or some are saving for college or a car," she said.

About 248 Vanderburgh County residents and 148 from Warrick County make up a part of the approximately 2,100 seasonal workers employed by the park. In order to make Holiday World a more of an option to those looking for work from the area, the park started offering transportation to and from the park in Santa Claus, Ind., from those two counties a few years ago. Similar busses are also available in Daviess and Hancock counties in Kentucky. Werne said applications haven't spiked significantly, and the park continues to hire the same traditional "mix of ages" it has for several years.

But a study released earlier this year showed it was more difficult for Indiana teens to find a summer job in 2010 than even in 2009.

According to the Washington, D.C.-based Employment Policies Institute, more than one in four teens looking for work failed last summer. But the economy was not the only factor, according to researchers. The increase of the minimum wage to $7.25 in July 2009 also adversely affected the chances of job-seeking teens.

Fewer teens and young adults worked nationwide last year as well. According to the Bureau of Labor, just 49 percent of 16-to 24-year-olds had a job in July 2010 compared to 62 percent just three years before.

While Werne said it hasn't been that big of an issue at Holiday World, students are also now contending with out-of-work adults, recent retirees or those looking to make some extra cash with a second job.

While he was unsure of the extent, Philip Parker, director of career services at the University of Southern Indiana, said that was undoubtedly occurring in Evansville as well.

"There continues to be challenges for finding part-time work at least for that teenage to early 20s-age group simply because there are still economic challenges and some of those jobs have been taken by people in other age groups," he said "I would say that's a continuing trend that they are continued to be a squeezed out."

Kara Grangier, the director of operations at Walther's Golf & Fun, said there also seems to more older college students returning to work for her than before. Normally she said those students would be pursuing an internship in their future career. For the summer, Grangier said she has about 10 college students and 50 high school students working at the facility, but only 10 of them are workers that have never worked for Walther's before. For those open positions, Grangier said she received about 160 inquiries.

One of the new hires last summer, 17-year-old Chase Coy, admitted he got some help in making sure his application was at least seen. His grandparents, who took the Central High School senior-to-be to Walther's as a child, are friends with the Walther family. After a year on the job, Coy said he's glad he's enjoying his first taste of employment, though some of his peers wouldn't say the same about their first, or current, jobs.

Despite the current market and the chance of disdain once they get one Coy said he believes there's openings for teens truly searching for a job right now. But what it will probably takes some initiative and flexibility.

"If you're wanting to work somewhere you should probably learn a little bit about that place and about the people that work there," Coy said, "and put yourself in a situation where you could get hired."