With that kind of unemployment, are employers like this paying more than minimum wage? Seems like they control the situation now.

Yup. I was at a Jamba Juice yesterday doing the exact same thing...

Except the interviewer must not have liked me because the whole interview lasted about 5 minutes. Whatever.

I realize it is Jamba Juice and maybe the 'economy' won't allow you to buy nice clothes, but please people, dress up when you are applying for a job.

I remember when I went down to NYC during the week of Christmas this past year, and I went into Bubba Gump Shrimp for some grub. Went inside, and the downstairs lobby was packed with people. Asked if it was the line to get in for food, and the hostess told me, "No, they're all hear to apply for a job."

I was amazed at the amount of people that were applying. There were at least 3 guys that were in expensive business suits filling out applications near the gift shop.

I saw that, and became even more thankful for the position that I am in life.

I don't know anybody who would apply for a job this way. Send your resume to HR directly, give the recruiter a phone call, or network your way into an interview. Why would you want to be lined up with 100 other schmucks to be given cursory glances and forgotten immediately? Responding to a cattle-call hiring process has got to put you pretty low on the hire list in the first place, no?

@god_forbids:

Sigh...darn submit button...

HR for what? Jamba Juice? They're franchises, the manager is the only person you can talk to because they are the only person who makes hiring decisions.

@god_forbids: It's minimum wage and it's 90% high school kids. I doubt Jamba Juice even has recruiters.

@calquist: I thought the same thing too when I was there yesterday. I was just in black slacks and a white dress shirt and felt overdressed around the other kids there applying.

Granted they're pretty much all high school kids, but c'mon...

@god_forbids: Plus another commenter said above that he did the same thing. It must be some sort of recruiting event. I doubt they had just hung a help-wanted sign in the window and got this response.

@calquist: A lot of people seriously don't know any better.

I've worked the retail beat before, and when I was out applying for jobs, I at least wore dress pants and a button-down shirt. (I also asked to speak with the manager, said what I was there for, that sort of thing.)

When anyone who came in while I was behind the counter did the same, I put their resume or application in a little drawer and told the manager about it when I saw him later. The ones that came in with hats, sneakers, three friends, resume written on a paper towel (seriously) and so on? Yeah, straight into the trash.

@god_forbids: Uh, not all jobs -- especially MIN. WAGE JOBS -- even accept resumes and applications by e-mail.

What exactly would you need on your resume to work here? Previous experience blending things?

@raptorrapture: Previous experience not stealing cash out of the register is usually the thing they'll look for.

@raptorrapture:

At the Jamba Juice near my job, the number one requirement is the ability to speak every language but English.

I swear, it is like calling Microsoft customer support trying to order my very very berry, cherry merry, banana smoothie, with a double shot of wheat grass and ginseng.

Don't even get me started on Robeks.

@Benguin:
Well, don't take it personal. They probably had to keep it short if the amount of applicants was anything like the pic.

@nakedscience: I would not count on getting any min wage job (e.g. Burger King, etc) or even slightly above (Home Depot) by a website submission or their "in store" system. You are just one more data bit in there.

If you want a job, find the manager and arrange an interview. Nothing works like face to face contact.

@god_forbids: You ever worked in retail or food service? You go in, find the manager or assistant manager, and introduce yourself. That's 90% of it. It's not like working an office job.

(And for the record, just plain e-mailing an unsolicited resume to some high-ranking HR person gets you NOWHERE. I sit outside the office of the head of HR for my (large) company, and next to her assistant, and there's a big pile of unsolicited resumes that go straight into the shredder daily.)

Oh come on. This is not the second Great Depression.

Things took a downward turn, so bad businesses ended up dying out and good ones ended up trimming fat. The job market got flooded with a bunch of people who have no skills other than working in their own shrinking industry (which, seems at least, to usually be a literal industry). Job competition in those geographic areas is going to get tight on the entry and immediate hire level as those laid off seek employment in non-related fields. There are jobs to be had, just the people that need them aren't there. Until McDonalds and Wal-Mart start laying off cashiers, we're cool.

Louisiana doesn't even feel like it's in a recession, at least in the southeast. Can't speak for other parts.

There's a restaurant down the street that had lines literally halfway down the block, for the same reason. Should we start calling them Bush Queues?

@Spectre1125: Hear hear!

How much of a problem would the collapse of various institutions have caused on the economy if it were 50+ years ago, and we didn't have CNBC reporting on it every 10 minutes? Given that so much of our economy is consumer spending based, isn't the fact that we talk about it constantly (and therefore scare everyone) making things worse?

The adjustment period of people realizing they should live within their means has been a good one. Otherwise, it is sensationalism in many ways.

Its so cute to watch as consumerist looks everywhere possible to try to weave a tale of economic gloom and doom. Has it occurred to you that its about that time of the year when high school/college students begin looking for summer jobs and so this is perfectly normal?

Nah, couldn't be. Must be a sign of how horrible the economy is.

@Spectre1125: @Spectre1125: Shh. Logic is not allowed. We're all just supposed to talk about how horrible everything is and blame it all on "the economy."

@Etoiles:

How self-righteous of you.

It's none of your business to pre-screen applications if you're not in a hiring position, especially based on such a superficial analysis. God forbid someone looking for a non-skilled labor position comes in wearing SNEAKERS! The audacity!

Did it ever occur to you that perhaps some of those people may have shown up in more "professional" attire for the interview?

@conquestofbread: I don't just mean sneakers. I mean, seriously unkempt. Generally also young.

Also, at the time we were pretty full-staffed. If we'd had a "help wanted" sign up and were desperate for hands? I'd have passed 'em on.

@joeblevins: yeah, do people just hang out waiting for management to fire the next underperforming staff member ("I WANT THOSE ORANGES TO SHINE!!")?

@conquestofbread: Even just picking up/dropping off an application is part of the hiring process. If you are serious about the job, act it. Many times when I have turned in an application, it has turned into an interview on the spot. Most retailers care very much about the image that their employees portray and if someone can't bother to change their sweatpants or pretend to care about the job, their application deserves to go in the trash.

@Trai_Dep: Dubya Queues? (WQ's)

@Spectre1125: For the record, Lousy-ana never looked like it came out of the recession.

@Enkael: It's not all high school kids lining up for jobs, it's college graduates and people who were laid off and are running out of unemployment. I got laid off in June, picked up a retail position for minimum wage, and got a new job in September. It wasn't a lot of money coming in but it was *some* money. I bet that's what these people are thinking.

And P.S. it's not all liberal arts graduates who can't find jobs. In my area plumbers and ambulance drivers/EMTs are getting laid off too. Even nursing isn't a safe bet.

@Enkael: I bet if you called that Jamba Juice and asked if they had a line of people like this last year they'd say no. I'd also bet there's quite a few NON-students in that queue as well.

@conquestofbread: While I agree with what others have said, you could also look at the fact many managers *ask* employees to do this. At my old job, we were asked to write the person's demeanor, attire, and any stand out (positive or negative) qualities on a post-it note before putting it on her desk.
Furthermore, as everyone said, assume you are constantly being judged when you come in. I know there was one woman at my previous job that was not hired because she was rude to the secretary in another department when she came in. In short, always put your best foot forward.

@pecan 3.14159265:

Jamba Juice is not franchised in New York. But yes, good point, talk to the manager.

@conquestofbread: I have to say that I used to be the hiring manager for a retail company and conquestofbread isn't that far off. I wouldn't necessarily throw those applications in the trash (especially since we had to keep them on file per law). However, almost every person that I saw come in like that for an application would come in dressed the same way for the interview. And these weren't people that were coming from another job and had to wear those clothes or because they couldn't afford decent clothes. These were people who CHOSE to look slovenly for an interview. I know because I have actually run into plenty of them out in public after the interview and they looked decent- clean, shaven, no holes in the clothes, teeth brushed, etc.

@audemars: Right because a 4% increase in unemployment is going to create block long lines. Its just not the case - I worked in retail throughout high school and college and this is perfectly normal for this time of year.

@Erin Cummins - no, its not. If you got laid off and can only find a minim wage position then you have serious problems with your skill set. Stop blaming the economy.

If this is a sign of the times, then it's freakin depressing. If it's just because of summer and students wanting jobs, then no big deal. I'd like to belive the latter...

This is very depressing to me. Makes me scared and I wanna cry. This is no joke.

@Enkael: NYC has 8% unemployment and growing. I know many talented people who can't find work, not even in fast food, because they're "over-qualified".

You sound like a real joy to be around. Let's hope you don't get down-sized, because I would never hire someone with as callous an attitude as you are displaying toward the less fortunate.

What exactly are your amazing skills that make you think you're better than the others here?

@Benguin: That's about right for a fast food interview, actually. Mine wasn't any longer than that, and I was hired.

@Enkael: Er, you HAVE been seeing those weekly numbers of people being added to the ranks of the jobless, no? Do you think some evil spirit is just making them up? This is NOT typical. An average neighborhood restaurant near my house had a "job fair" about a month ago, and had 400 people show up looking for work. That is simply insane.

@Dave J.: Yup. Same with my local restaurant with a 1/2 block line. They've been around for a while, family-run, and in my five-odd years here, I've NEVER noticed a queue for employment. Ever.

Then again, you know that cagey Barney Frank. He must have jetted these people out from Washinton, DC to Los Angeles to stand in line, just to make things look bad. How can someone hate America so?

@geoffhazel: i applied to best buy (twice) and CVS via a horrendous website, that had a psych test attached.
never got a call back from any of the stores.

@Etoiles: god forbid!
a young person looking for a job!

I read this blog for a year and this guy is almost always right. I am very scared about what will come next because the excess that has been left from the debt bubble. The graphs speak for themselves.
[globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com]

@calquist: The first and last retail job I had, I brought in my filled out application and the person I handed it to was the manager. She said to follow her, we went into the back, and she looked over my application for five minutes, asked me a few questions, and told me I was hired. You really never, ever know when you're going to get interviewed.

@Enkael: Okay, I'm in the same position as Erin Cummins so DON'T try to tell either of us that we've got problems with our individual skill sets.

You try getting fired and finding a job right away - as you can imagine, it's not easy. No one is standing at your door once you pack up your stuff, handing you a brand new job. Those of us who got laid off have to find work in the meantime to pay bills while we're finding a job in our field.

You might not have noticed, but a lot of people are having problems right now - and companies are being a lot more conservative and stringent with their hiring process. Before you leap to massive conclusions, get the full story.

@Spectre1125: Unemployment just hit 20% in my town, 15.2% in the county. And that's just counts the people still getting UI bennies. You may be cool wherever you are, but we're not feeling so cool here. Jobs to be had, you say? Har har.

While I do think that it is totally feasible (and in fact, truth) that the lines of people at Jamba Juice are indicative of the large number of people out of work, I also don't think it's time to start shuffling the kids to the bomb shelter yet. Here's why:

1. This is a Jamba Juice in NYC. There are TONS of people in NYC, so Jamba Juice there would probably get more potential workers than a store in a smaller city, and more people of all income levels.

2. Most of those lining up appear to be recent college graduates, you say? This does not have to be a sign of the end times, it's pretty common for a lot of college grads to have absolutely no idea what they want to do with their life, despite having four whole years of education to think about it. Some are finding that graduating is not the magical key that opens up employment doors, and just need a job to tide them over until they do some soul searching.

Number 2 also correlates to Number 1 in that this is New York City - more jobs, but also more people to compete with. Some people are looking to find jobs that don't really exist in markets like Denver, at least not on the same scale (fashion, marketing, finance come to mind) so there isn't much wiggle room for some people.

3. This is a Jamba Juice. Maybe some of them thought they could score a free smoothie for trying.

By the way, if Number 3 is true, I'd go apply to work at Jamba Juice too.

@Ninjanice: I've heard of many people being told they were "overqualified" when they applied for low-end work. Boss figures you're history as soon as fate changes for you. So perhaps the slovenly appearance was an attempt to "dress down" to impress upon them that you are desperate enough to become a happily indentured servant at Clown Burger despite your stellar resume. Same theory applies to "overdressing" for a job that's a step or two above your resume I guess.