Now that the holidays are nearing, one might think that many companies would be urgently hiring part-time employees. However, two Park Ridge High School seniors, Justin Cho (17) and Timothy Chandler (18), beg to differ. The mix of rejection and failure to respond from these companies raises many concerns to the teens, as they didn’t expect the application process to be this difficult. “It’s frustrating because while I’m waiting for these companies to respond, I could be out searching for other jobs,” said Chandler. Among these companies are ShopRite, Gap Inc., Habit Burger Grille, and more.

Also, the occurring change from walk-in to online applying seems to be extremely evident. “At first, I tried applying online from home,” said Cho, “but then I figured it might be more productive if I actually went to the store I wanted to apply to. But when I arrived at the stores, they all told me I had to apply online anyway. I wasted a bunch of time for nothing.” The job-finding process has been especially tough for Cho, since he has absolutely no work experience at all. This puts him at an extreme disadvantage compared to other candidates. On the other hand, Chandler has had ample work experience, having three previous jobs under his belt since the summer of his sophomore year. Nevertheless, both are having a troublesome time finding work.

Currently the two are taking a break from applying, just to see if they got any replies from the companies they’ve applied to. They plan to wait about a week for any replies, and then start applying again. During the break, Cho has gone around asking advice from people who have or have had part-time jobs, but no one seems to share his struggle besides Tim. A fellow anonymous classmate said she just walked-in and got the first job she applied for.

So why are the two seniors having such trouble finding a part-time job that does not even require a college degree? The definite answer is unknown, but there are a few possibilities that occurred to Chandler and Cho, one of them being the lack of follow-up. “A few of the stores we applied to seemed pretty desperate for help, so it doesn’t make sense why they won’t reply to us,” said Chandler despairingly. After a week, the two will follow-up on several stores that they applied to in order to see what happened. Until then, the search for something to do with their free time and some glorious spending money continues.