At 3 p.m., sophomore Mary Catherine Ball was walking out of the doors of the school at the end of the day.
As she walked to her car, her phone rang. It was a manager at the new Nike store in the Asheville Outlets that opened recently.
The manager wanted to conduct a phone interview with Ball, who had applied for a job at the new business. She was not sure how a phone interview would go, but he asked questions about sports, easy questions for an athlete like Ball.
A few days later, she got another call. The manager wanted to interview her in person. When she walked into the interview, she was surprised to find out it would be a group interview. This was different because she had never been in an interview with three people asking her questions and looking to see if she was good interacting with people. After all the interviews, Ball got the job.
The opening of the new Asheville Outlets and an improving economy have created a number of jobs for students looking for part-time summer employment.
“It’s a wonderful world out there. There are a lot of opportunities,” said Pat McCall, acting manager of the Hendersonville branch of the N.C. Employment Security Commission. “The best thing about my job is that sometimes we get in this mindset that there are certain jobs that we will do. but there are millions of opportunities, some that we would never think of. The best thing you can do is as you go on with school you will figure out what you enjoy doing, and if you can ever find a job that you enjoy doing, it will be great.”
On May 1, the Asheville Outlets brought 60 new stores with more than 800 jobs to our area. Eventually, the shopping center will have 75 stores.
“With all the new job opportunities, you need to know how to get a job. The easiest way to get a job is to put yourself out there,” McCall said. “Employers want you to come to them and show initiative because they will not come seeking you.”
Having a resume can be important when looking for a job.
“Most teenagers believe that a resume is something that employers will look at to see your past work experience,” McCall said, “but in reality, most employers look at resumes for teenagers as something that will tell them what your skills and abilities are as well as your work ethic.”
According to McCall, when teenagers present themselves in person, they should dress the way that the employer would want them to look when they represent their company.
“You have got to make a good first impression, the more you do in person the better,” she said. “With the outlets opening, a number of students have found employment. now the harder part is keeping the job,” junior Hunter Paris said. “Many students struggle with disagreements with management or with being late to work.”
According to sjcworknet.org some simple tips to keep a job are to be reliable, be flexible, be cooperative, be honest and keep a good attitude.
“My parents told me to work hard and do my best and I would be fine,” Ball said. “It’s also good for us to keep a job because we need to strive for improvement and work toward making it in the future and if we start now we will be better.”
Senior Haley Staton recently took a job at Forever 21 at the Asheville Outlets.
“One bad thing about working at the outlets is that I spend all my paycheck there,” Staton said. “I was really excited about the outlets opening because there are a lot of different stores than at the mall, but now when my friends want to go to the outlets, I don’t want to go.”
By Natalie Young
