Does the summer job exist anymore?

For this week’s work segment, we look at a coming-of-age ritual that teenagers have engaged in for decades, but might be missing out on this year due to the bad economy: the summer job. A new study indicates that the unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds has doubled in the past three years, from 10 percent to 20 percent, making the search for the summer job harder than ever.

But it’s not entirely hopeless.

Lois Smude’s family owns the Paul Bunyan Land Theme Park in Brainerd, Minn. Each year, she hires and manages over sixty seasonal staff members, many of whom are teenagers. She shares her insights on what she looks for in a summer employee, teenage or otherwise. And Justin Jones-Fosu is a leadership trainer and host of partner station WEAA Baltimore’s “Listen Up.? He has tips for both teens and parents of teens who are looking for summer jobs.