Leah Sakamoto’s first summer job was at a Macy’s cosmetics counter. She’d just graduated from high school.
Leah Sakamoto’s first summer job was at a Macy’s cosmetics counter. She’d just graduated from high school.
“It was intimidating,” Sakamoto, now 28, recalled. Her coworkers and customers were much older than she was. And even though Sakamoto was on her way to completing beauty school, she remembers not being taken seriously because of her age.
But she also remembers rising to the challenge as she navigated the realm of customer service.
“You kind of go with the flow,” Sakamoto said. “You either adapt, or you don’t.”
These days, Sakamoto is the store manager for skate-surf shop Zumies in the Prince Kuhio Plaza. The store is geared towards a younger crowd, and as summer break approached Sakamoto said high schoolers were coming in daily asking for applications.
It’s not easy to land a job when you’re under 18. In Hilo, high school students are often competing against college students — and the more flexible schedules of college students — for work. There are additional work permits to be secured (kids under 15 are required to have a Certificate of Employment, while those 17 and under need Certificates of Age).
Then again, as one 16-year-old pointed out, work isn’t a given for people of any age.
“It’s hard to get a job, period,” said Joseph Lee. Joseph Lee got his job at the Maku‘u Farmers Market thanks to his brother, who held his food-prep position before. Lee’s happy to have the work.
“It’s fun,” he said.
“Your first job, you learn to be dependable, to come in on time,” said Debbie Arita, adminstrative assistant at the KTA Super Stores Puainako. At KTA, high schoolers usually start as courtesy clerks or stock clerk.
“They bag the products, help customers with their wagons,” Arita said. “All kinds of things. It all gives you an experience.”
During the last fiscal year (July 2013 to June 2014), the state Department of Labor issued 514 Certificates of Age and 93 Certificates of Employment in Hilo.
Not all summer jobs require certificates, though.
Simone Tincher, 15, babysits for two regular clients throughout the year, working between three and nine hours per week. Erica Cecil, 16, said she also has regular babysitting jobs for her mother’s friends.
“You get them through parents, (or) teachers mention places, or Key Club will,” said Quinlan Metabishop, 16.
Keaau High School Principal Dean Cevallos said in an e-mail that although the school does not have a dedicated jobs program, it does outreach through the National Park Service’s summer programs, as well as Alu Like. Many students at the school have familes that are farm owners or work on farms, Cevallos said, and find jobs that way.
Sakamoto’s first high school hire of the season was due to start this month. She recommended that people interested in a job show up in person with their resume.
“I want to see your face,” she said. “Everybody looks the same on paper, but if you come in, you make an impression.”
E-mail Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.