JOB PROGRAM MAKES A CAREER OF PLACING YOUNG PEOPLE - FOR FREE.

Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer

When 18-year-old Jose Abdelwahab pounded the pavement earlier this summer in search of a job, he was discouraged at first.

``I had problems finding a job I liked,'' the Newbury Park High School student said. ``You look for the `help wanted' signs, and they're mostly for fast-food restaurants or for, like, the market, and I really didn't want to do that.''

But with some help from the Conejo Youth Employment Services, Abdelwahab is now working at a job he does like at Rhodie Automotive Repair in Newbury Park.

``I started out cleaning up and then doing oil changes, and now they've got me doing stuff like taking apart things,'' the teen-ager said. ``I'm really learning a lot.''

For 31 years, the nonprofit Conejo Youth Employment Services has been referring young people such as Abdelwahab to such diverse jobs as cleaning houses to working in corporate offices.

Although the unemployment rate averages 5.5 percent in Ventura County and job growth accelerated in 1998, many young people still need a helping hand.

``A lot of the kids that come in don't know how to fill out an application,'' said David Morgan, executive director. ``Basically, we work with them and do that with the counselors we have here.''

The program works with applicants from start to finish, on how to look for work to how to improve their skills if they don't land the job sought.

``We are taking them brand-new and giving them instructions on what to expect, how to approach an interview, and then if they have a problem they can always come back,'' Morgan said. ``And if we refer them and there's no job, they can come back and discuss it with us. Maybe they are saying the wrong things.''

The employment counselors also give advice on how to dress appropriately for a job interview.

``If they come in with short-shorts or raggedy old clothes and you send them out for a job they have to know how they are expected to look,'' he said. ``A lot of them come pretty sloppy. A lot of them dress the way their group dresses and not the way business does.''

Conejo Youth's program targets ages 14-22, from valedictorians to school drop-outs to college students. It refers close to 3,000 applicants a year, half of whom are repeats from prior years.

A job development specialist surveys the job market and finds a range of potential employers, at companies as Amgen and Target or baby-sitting a child in his parents' home.

``The advantages for them is, No. 1 they get kids who are prescreened - it's the kind of (job) kids want and are capable of handling,'' Morgan said. ``And we do this for free, no cost to the youth or employers.''

Abdelwahab couldn't be happier with the program.

``It's great and it works,'' said the youth, who plans to keep his job through the school year. ``I stopped in, and 30 minutes later I was out looking for jobs.

``It totally worked and no hassling,'' said Abdelwahab, who was hired within an hour.

Fourteen- and 15-year-olds who are often too young for corporate America are directed to house-related work like gardening and moving furniture, he said. Those taking baby-sitting jobs first must attend Youth Conejo's training class, a 1-1/2- to 2-hour program that teaches the basics.

Morgan said jobs they find for young people pay up to $10 an hour but the average hourly wage is $8.

The busiest time at the agency is late April to July, when 20 to 25 applicants a day come in to look for a summer job. That number has declined now to about 10 a day.

The agency receives the bulk of its funding from the cities of Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village and Agoura Hills, Morgan said. It also holds several fund-raisers throughout the year.

``We are steadily growing,'' he said.

Some new seminars the agency is devising include those on developing resumes and dressing properly for the workplace.

The agency also is working to secure grants to expand its job-referral program to an apartment complex at Conejo Creek, a neighborhood where officials have been working to improve what had been a high crime rate. Morgan expects the program to be operating this fall.

Elizabeth Espinoza, 22, of Simi Valley was working at a job she hated. Then she learned about Conejo Youth Services through a friend.

``It's a great help for everyone out there,'' she said at her new job at Test & Repair Services in Newbury Park, where she is a secretary.

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Photo

PHOTO (Color) Jose Abdelwahab works at Rhodie Automotive Repair this summer, thanks to Conejo Youth Employment Services.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News