Business & Tech

Local College Students: Retail Gigs a Refuge from Stagnant Job Market

Riverhead students working at the Tanger Outlet Center said they were nervous about starting careers in a poor economy.

Facing the worst job markets in decades and historic student debt, many local college students are putting their career hunts on hold to work retail this summer at stores in the .

"It's definitely not good," said Joe Castellano, a senior studying English at Stony Brook University. The 21-year-old Wading River native is working at the Converse outlet store for the summer.

Castellano said he is applying to graduate schools for a doctorate in English literature, though "no one's accepted me yet."

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He hopes that the job market will have improved by then.

"That'll be at least five years from now, so who knows what the job market will be," he says.

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The same rings true for Megan Britt, a 21-year-old Riverhead resident attending for business who works at the Old Navy at the Tanger. She said she laughs at thought of finding a job in today's economy.

"I laugh because [the market] is not there," she said. "My brother just graduated and he can't find a job for nothing." Her cousin, another recent college graduate, has had trouble finding a job too.

But Britt may have a job already lined up for when she graduates next year. She was an intern at Disney a few years ago, and was told that there'd be a job waiting for her with the company when she graduates from school.

"You feel secure," she says, "Somewhat secure, because you never know what will happen."

For Kate McGrath, a recent graduate of St. Joseph's College in Patchogue with a degree in psychology, the reality of the poor economy has already hit home.

"There is no job market," she said. McGrath, 23, works in the Southampton School District as a preschool teacher, but spends her summers at the Converse store at Tanger for the extra income.

"It's not enough to support your life," she says while tidying up the cashier's counter. "You're working for minimum."

"Maybe it'll get better in a few years," McGrath said. "I hope so."


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