SOME JOBS GO BEGGING; IN TODAY'S MARKET, WORKERS CAN AFFORD TO BE CHOOSY; JOB APPLICANTS HOLD UNUSUAL ADVANTAGE.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - While Ventura County enjoys a consistently low unemployment rate, help-wanted signs are popping up all over as businesses hope to fill positions with those few job seekers out pounding the pavement.

The signs generally come out before the holidays, as stores search for seasonal workers for minimum-wage jobs. But they're filling the windows of minimarts, fast-food restaurants and retail shops long after the holiday season is over, as the local unemployment rate hovers around 4.8 percent, officials said.

``There continues to be a large number of job openings, and there aren't enough applicants for employers to make choices,'' said Linda Dever, site supervisor at the Simi Valley Job Service office. ``So there were a lot of unfilled job openings and it's no surprised there are a lot of signs out there.''

Dever said the state Employment Development Department office receives approximately 600 job listings a month to place on CalJOBS, the California Job Order Browsal System.

She said the EDD no longer tracks the number of people who get jobs through their employment service because the job openings are listed on the Internet and seekers are self-referred. But the number of positions available tends to remain high.

On Thursday, the CalJOBS web site had 75 managerial and administrative positions, 64 service jobs, 113 clerical and administrative support jobs and 239 professional and technical jobs available in Ventura County.

Amy King, manager of Office Depot in Simi Valley, is looking to find people to join her 30-person staff. She is one of those who put up a help-wanted sign to attract applicants.

She said she has had applicants come in with more than 20 years of professional experience who suddenly found themselves out of a job.

Taking the job offer often means a cut in pay, she said, yet many applicants will take the lower paying position and start at the bottom with the expectation of moving up in the company eventually. But others will not.

``There are a lot of people out there still looking for a job, but there are a lot of people looking for a lot of money,'' she said. ``I'm at the lower end of the scale, and people are looking for more money. But there is a career path here that you can move up.''

Some employers said the applicant's unwillingness to do certain tasks further complicates the job search.

Subhash Mantri has had a help-wanted sign in the window of his Shell gas station on Los Angeles Avenue for nearly two weeks, and he is only now considering making an offer to an applicant.

Although he is not having difficulty getting people to come in to apply for the job, he said he is having a lot of trouble finding qualified applicants.

``I've had people come who are qualified, overqualified in fact, for some things,'' Mantri said. ``But some people, they don't want to do certain things.

``I have certain priorities; (the job duties) include not only being a cashier, but cleaning and maintaining stores,'' he added. ``If that's not what they want to do, maybe this is not the job they should be doing. They should be working in an office.''

Employment counselors said a job hunter's freedom to say no to a job offer more readily than in the past is a symptom of the low unemployment rate creating a job-seeker's market.

``The labor market has been good for the job seeker and employers are getting used to that,'' Dever said. ``We hope it continues, for the sake of California economy.''

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Photo: (color) Some local stores report job applicants are not interested in the positions they offered them.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News