For the first time, RochesterWorks! and the City of Rochester successfully joined forces and combined resources to help local teenagers prepare for summer jobs.

In February RochesterWorks! Summer Youth Employment Program and the City of Rochester Summer of Opportunity Program released a single application and offered job readiness workshops, parent orientations, and pre-screen interviews to interested youth. The two entities also provided funding to local partners for summer jobs and programs.

Together, RochesterWorks! and the City expect to connect approximately 1200 youth to summer employment opportunities while preparing even more through participation in the application process.

In the past, teenage job seekers and their advocates applied to the City program and to RochesterWorks! Each program conducted its own promotion and recruitment, often at different times, and it wasn’t unusual for confusion to airse. 

John Premo, Youth System Manager for RochesterWorks! says it was not uncommon for youth, parents, or employers who should have been calling the City program to call RochesterWorks! and vice versa.

“This year’s inaugural effort is the beginning of a partnership that makes sense.”

"Each of us, RochesterWorks and the City, has unique internal processes and/or criteria or elgibilities," added Premo. "For subsidized jobs, funding may stipulate income requirements or that the applicant be a City resident. Jobs pledged by a local employer may require certain academic performance and/or career interest. However, not every job has these stipulations and our goal is to work together and grow this initiative to create a truly seamless process to connect youth to existing opportunities."

“We want to attract youth interested in learning about what it takes to prepare for and find a job, and to build partnerships with local employers able to hire these youth. Next year we will need to create more job connections if we are to grow this effort."

Just as more youth need to work, challenging economic times are limiting opportunities for summer jobs.

"Youth who completed the summer employment application process have demonstrated a sincere commitment to work," noted Premo. "Each learned the basics of creating a resume and portfolio, completing a job application, interviewing, positive workplace behaviors including communication and dress, and available resources to further assist them in our community."

"Parents and guardians also demonstrated their support by attending a session that provided tips and pointers to help them increase their childs' success in employment. It is not unusual to hear parents comment on how things have changed since they sought their first job."

At the end of the process, each youth is provided with a pre-screen interview to demonstrate what he or she has learned. Each participant receives constructive verbal and written feedback from the interviewer. The intent is to provide the young person with a safe situation to interview and ease the transition to the real thing.

Premo said RochesterWorks! and City staff are talking with school personnel and youth service agencies to consider making this a year-round offering so that teens who are serious about getting a job will have a resource to assist them.

It’s a partnership that makes sense.

PHOTO
Coren McLaughlin, a student, meets Denise Smith-Oquendo, Program Director for RIT's Summer Computer Science Camp on Mock Interview Day. Thirteen employers volunteered to do interviews. They represented Wegmans, Kodak, Xerox, Delphi, Nazareth College, ATT/ACC, Retired-Rush Henrietta Administrators, Retired-RCSD Teachers, CEO-Brooks Financial Services, and RIT.