Teens go to work

By Sara Lin
Advertiser Staff Writer

Jessica Watanabe, 16, facing camera, is in her fourth year as a student leader in a Summer Fun program at Manoa Community Field. She says her volunteer job teaches her how to handle responsibility while giving her a sense of freedom. Photos by Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

Part of Jessica Watanabe's volunteer job involves being with children during free time, helping them learn such things as limbo dancing.

Back on dry land, Bryce Fukunaga is filling water glasses and bringing chips and salsa to customers at Compadres Bar and Grill. Down the street, Shannon Miwa is darting from one clothing rack to another at an Old Navy store, looking for stretch capri pants that ride at waist-level and not below. Jessica Watanabe, meanwhile, is struggling to keep track of 35 rambunctious 12-year-olds as they spill out onto the playground at Manoa Valley Field.

As different as their duties may seem, all have one thing in common: For all these students, these are summer jobs.

Whether they're waiting tables or diving off the deep end, all five students are happy to be working in a weak economy where even college graduates are having a tough time landing entry-level positions.

"Pretty much all of my friends who wanted a summer job came here," said Kara Otineru, 16, a junior leader in the Manoa Valley Field Summer Fun program.

Summer jobs are what you make of them — not always easy to find and not always exactly what you want.

But for these students, each found the silver lining in their seasonal duties:

Tyler Salvo, Kaimuki, 20: Every morning at 6:30, Salvo climbs into a big white van loaded with 20 air tanks and picks up a dozen passengers from Waikiki before driving out to the Wai'anae harbor. Salvo has been a certified diver for three years. He spent previous summers as a commercial diver on a fish farm and as a research diver.

"The pay isn't that good, but I work a huge amount of hours," Salvo said. Becoming a diving instructor was no easy task. It took Salvo more than a year to earn the six certifications needed to be an instructor. He's also working toward his art degree at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.

"It's great. I get to dive every single day," Salvo said. "My friends know every one of my jokes. Here, every day I get to tell my jokes to new people." At the end of the day, Salvo heads to Anna Bannanas with his drumsticks for open-mike night.

Thomas Palmer, Kaimuki, 18: This is Palmer's second summer at Charley's Grilled Subs. Last summer, he earned minimum wage and manned the toaster for a month, watching 250 loaves of bread pass through a small oven. He graduated to frier, deep-frying frozen french fries in a tub of oil, spent two weeks as a topper, laying cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and mayonnaise onto sandwiches, and finally got a pay raise and a spot in front of the grill.

"I like it here. I get to fool around," Palmer said as he flipped a spatula into the air again and again. "It feels like you get to do something. Plus, I like to cook." Palmer had a hard time deciding between majoring in psychology or culinary arts. He'll do a little bit of both when he enrolls at Kapi'olani Community College in the fall.

Bryce Fukunaga, 'Aiea, 20: Sometimes, summer work means taking the jobs that no one else wants. Before Fukunaga started busing tables at Compadres, he spent three summers working on Bellows Air Force Station as a housekeeper and groundskeeper. Last summer, he unclogged public toilets at Bellows beach as part of his job.

He likes his new position much more.

"People tended to ignore me," Fukunaga said of his past jobs. "I learned humiliation and humbleness doing a job that no one else wants to do or think about."

It's not unusual for someone to find summer work unrelated to their career aspirations. Branching out is even advisable, according to some outplacement firms.

"I never really thought of my summers as being school-related," said Fukunaga. "Just learning about other people is career-related."

A pre-med student at Washington University, St. Louis, when he's not busing tables, he volunteers at Hale'iwa Family Clinic. He'll carry the lessons of his summer jobs with him even as a doctor. "I think it's just understanding where other people come from, not looking down on them," he said. "Half of medicine is just listening."

Shannon Miwa, 'Aina Haina, 17: Miwa views her summer sales job at Old Navy as a useful learning experience.

"For me, it's just having a work experience, knowing what it's like to have responsibilities like that, to work with other people and talk to customers."

Miwa applied in the middle of May and was hired within two weeks. She also applied to Carousel Candyland and T&C Surf.

"I know a lot of people that want jobs but don't have a chance to have them," she said.

Jessica Watanabe, Palolo Valley, 16: For Watanabe, earning extra spending money at her summer job was not an issue. This is her fourth summer volunteering as a junior leader at the city-run Summer Fun program at Manoa Valley Field. Sitting cross-legged and munching on lunch with kids sitting on either side of her, she said, "I want to be a teacher. This has taught me patience. ... A lot of patience."

While all five students interviewed were hired as seasonal workers, many business owners say work doesn't have to stop when school starts.

At Charley's Grilled Subs, Palmer's supervisors are always looking for people. "We have a lot of graduates, from high school and college, but people come and go. Sometimes other jobs come up. We're always looking for people," said training supervisor Aster Zamora.

State officials do not track teenage summer employment numbers, but according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, July unemployment rates for Americans ages 16 to 19 are on the rise, from 13.4 percent in 1999 to 14.8 percent in 2001 and 17.7 percent last year.

"The economy hasn't really come up to par yet. So as a result, employers are a little more cautious about hiring. Not only that, you also have people coming in as college interns, who will work for cheap or free," said Naomi Harada of the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

In May, Hawai'i's unemployment rate was 3.8 percent, well below the national average of 5. 8 percent.

"Hawai'i's unemployment is slowly improving, but businesses are still a little cautious. They're just getting on their feet," Harada said. "Even those people who want full-time permanent jobs are having a hard time."

Since January, the Hans Hedemann School of Surfing has received 30 to 40 applications a week from young people, said Aki Tago, an account executive there. This year, he hired two high school freshmen to help clean boards and manage bike rentals.

The Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park in Kapolei added 100 teenagers to its regular staff of 125 to work as cashiers, ticket sellers and food servers. The park received more than 500 applications for summer work, according to administrative supervisor Deanna Smith.

At Van's Triple Crown store in Ala Moana Center, manager Nicole Sakai received more than 100 applications for summer positions — three-fourths of the applicants were 18 or younger.

"Everyone wants to work here. It's a fun place. But we try not to hire temporary workers just because it's hard to keep training new people," said Sakai.