JACKSON HEIGHTS — There are jobs for more than 50,000 teens and young adults throughout the city this summer — but time's running out to apply.
New Yorkers between the ages of 14 and 24 looking for work this summer have until April 15 to apply for the lottery to get a six-week summer jobs through the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development's Summer Youth Employment Program, which started in 1963.
The jobs last from July through August and include entry-level positions at government agencies, hospitals, nonprofits, museums, sports, programming for the disabled and other positions, officials said.
Last spring, Fatin Ishraq, 17, of Jackson Heights, applied after seeing signs for the program at his school, Stuyvesant High School.
He was drawn to the Ladders for Leaders program, a division of the SYEP program that matches older teens with corporate gigs.
He went to a few workshops, told the program what he was interested in, and a few weeks later got a call from AOL asking if he wanted to come in for an interview.
"It was my first time interviewing at something that's not school related," he said. "Fortunately that ended up going pretty well."
He started July 6 at AOL, working under an executive assistant and getting a feel for what goes on in the giant company.
He ate lunch with CEOs and his experience has even changed his mind about what he wants to pursue in college next year. While he was interested in medicine, he is now looking to meld it with business.
"What AOL helped me a lot with was figure out what I want to do in my future," he said.
Chris Lewis, the director of SYEP, said the program's goal is to help as many young people as possible
"We want to be able to serve," thousands of applicants, he said.
With minimum wage increasing, teens and young adults can make at least $9 an hour while also gaining valuable skills, he added.
To apply for the summer employment lottery, visit their website.
