With all of the snowy weather it may be difficult to think of summer, but starting this Monday young people can begin applying for thousands of summer jobs. NY1's Cheryl Wills filed the following report.
Helen Lei is a biology student and she already has an impressive resume thanks to her summer job last year with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
"My main job responsibility was to digitize files into the computer system," Lei recalled.
She got that job thanks to the Summer Youth Employment Program. And starting Monday, the program is accepting applications for thousands of diverse worksites, including government agencies, hospitals, summer camps, nonprofits, small businesses, law firms, museums, sports enterprises and retail.
"One of the options is the ladders for leaders program, which offers higher level internships for some of our participants who have more work experience," said Summer Youth Employment Program Director Chris Lewis.
For many, the summer jobs can lead to even greater opportunities. Jessica Seifarth was an intern years ago, now she's a criminalist with the Office of the Medical Examiner.
"We love bringing in new interns because it allows us to engage with the community around us," Seifarth said.
Last year, 130,000 people applied for 47,000 summer jobs.
The 2015 Summer Youth Employment Program will accept applications from Monday, March 2 through Friday, April 10.
Applicants must be between the ages of 14 and 24. Participants are selected by lottery for the program, which runs from July 6 through August 15. There are job locations throughout all five boroughs.
Residents can apply online at Department of Youth and Community Development website at nyc.gov/dycd or at a participating community-based organization. You can also call 311 or DYCD Youth Connect at 1-800-246-4646.
If you are an employer willing to provide a job, you have until Saturday, May 16, 2015 to apply.