Employment in Ada Among the Younger Set

In Ada, employment for young residents can be a diverse struggle.

Jonnathon Hicks, recent political science graduate, currently works at Hastings three months after graduating. He said that although he had no problem finding a job, there was little to no market for jobs with good promotional opportunities in general, and none in the field in which he graduated.

Hicks described his experience, saying that he was offered employment by the first two places he applied after college – Interactive Response Technologies, or IRT, and Hastings. However, IRT had a mandatory one-month hold before formal employment could begin. In need of money, he accepted the job at Hastings rather than waiting for the job at IRT.

"I believe that my college degree could have helped my chances at getting those jobs, but I don't know if it really helped beyond that," he said.

Although he said he doesn't care much for his job and he struggled to find one that meets his financial needs, Hicks said that he is thankful for his current employment status and optimistic about the chances of employment in Ada for both himself and his peers.

Others are having difficulties finding any kind of job. Dakota Turpin, 21-year-old community member, mentioned that he has applied to over a dozen businesses in the last month and has received no job offers. He said he believes that he is being discriminated against because of his age and because he is overweight.

"People here in Ada don't want to hire young people," he said. "Mostly they want people who are older, even for menial jobs."

Amber Huffman, Ada freshman, agreed that weight plays an important factor in one's chance for getting a job. She mentioned that her sister, who is thinner, was offered a job at a local restaurant as a waitress on the spot with no prior experience. When Huffman put in an application, she was not hired despite having been a waitress for over a year. She said she believed the reason was the difference in weight between her and her sister.

"No one wants to hire an overweight waitress," she said.

Although opinions differ on the subject, statistics show a 3% increase of unemployment in Oklahoma over the last two years, according to the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission. The organization's Web site stated that the most available jobs in Oklahoma at this time are waiters and waitresses, nurses, general and operations managers, retail salespersons, cashiers and janitors.