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Eager to get to work
Struggle to find jobs led these six people — and 11,994 others — to CityCenter
Photos by Steve Marcus
Soon-to-be employees check in at CityCenter Career Center on Sept. 21.
Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Sun Archives
When MGM Mirage’s $8.5 billion CityCenter resort opens next month, its financial and artistic merits will be debated the world over. For the 12,000 people starting work there, its virtues are unambiguous: In a state with the nation’s second-highest unemployment rate, CityCenter is a lifeline.
With some 160,000 applicants vying for jobs, CityCenter could pick the best of the best. These six job seekers count themselves among the lucky. Their stories, edited for length and clarity, were collected at random on the day they accepted jobs at CityCenter.
Deborah Peterson
Age: 37 | Linen attendant, Aria hotel | Starts: Dec. 2
Deborah Peterson
The past two years have been like riding up in an elevator and then the floor suddenly opens and you’re in free fall.
I was laid off in 2008 from Mandalay Bay as a linen supervisor. It wasn’t a surprise. Business had been falling off. Before this, I never had a problem finding a job. So I was picky at first. Then I was looking for anything. I was filling out 50 to 100 job applications a week. I applied at hotels, retail stores, grocery stores. I felt like my application was thrown in the trash. Or they were hitting the “delete” button. I would say, “Is there a human being I can talk to?” I’d rather get a “no” or “you’re not right for the position” than nothing at all.
I thought about moving out of state but I knew it wouldn’t be much better anywhere else. My sister moved to Washington state and got an accounting job but was laid off six months later.
I like living here. I’ll go to Wal-Mart in the middle of the night and walk around, not buying anything. That’s my thinking place, where I organize my life. There aren’t too many other places where you can do that, at any hour.
I’m two months behind on my mortgage payment and my ex-husband isn’t paying child support. I’ve been the sole provider for my kids since they were 2 and 3 and now they’re 11 and 12.
This is an entry-level job, but I’m hoping to move up. My work ethic and track record speak for themselves. When I left Mission Linen for more career advancement at Mandalay Bay, they hired two people to replace me.
I count myself lucky. Being out of work is one thing. But looking for a job has been a horrible experience. People treat you like you’re not even there. That was the worst part of all — feeling invisible.
Alicia Mikkelsen
Age: 44 | Pit clerk, Aria hotel | Starts: Dec. 7
Alicia Mikkelsen
I had opened a call center and worked for the Transportation Services Authority. I figured I had the skills to get a decent job. I was out of work for more than two years. I even applied at McDonald’s — and didn’t get the job.
I felt like my skills worked against me. I was either unqualified or overqualified. They thought, “We’re going to train her and she’s going to move on.”
My problem is that when I was working at TSA, my hand got caught on a heavy bag as it went down a conveyor belt. I’ve lost much of my ability to form a grip. Looking for work became a full-time job. My husband, who also worked for the TSA, got a job with Southwest Airlines more than a year ago and was supporting us both.
I began my search looking for jobs that at least matched my previous salary. I contacted hotels and gaming technology companies. I broadened my search. I put my resume all over job sites. I sent e-mails and knocked on doors. My cover letters went from hopeful to desperate. I was almost begging people for a job.
In two years I got three interviews. You just want to get an interview, and then you at least have a chance.
Then, in March, I got a screening interview at CityCenter. I checked my excitement. I knew I was one of thousands — a speck in the crowd. I got a second call back in July. I’ll be looking up player ratings for comps and issuing credit to gamblers. It’s my first job on a casino floor. I’m left-handed, which is the hand I injured. But I can still type with it — I’m a good typist. This is a new beginning for me.
Dionica Hernandez
Age: 57 | Kitchen worker, Aria hotel | Starts: Nov. 30
Dionica Hernandez
I started from the ground up. I moved with my husband to Las Vegas from Oregon in 2005 and I set to work on my goal of managing a kitchen, which is where I belong.
I went to JobConnect and was told to sign up for the Culinary Training Academy. After I got my certificate, I went down to the Culinary hall to look for jobs.
I found a lot of sad people there with no jobs. The jobs seemed to be gone by the time they were posted. If you really want something, you have to make it happen yourself because no one is going to make it happen for you.
I showed up at the Sands Expo Center and went into an employee area. There was a supervisor there who was impressed by my experience. I got a job clocking in employees and moved up into a supervisor job a few months later. It lasted only a year because business got to be so bad.
I took a part-time job as a security officer, which helped pay the bills after my husband got laid off.
I applied for a kitchen job at CityCenter early this year. I have a lot to offer. I worked my way up from a dishwashing job at an Oregon restaurant. I planned menus, stocked and prepared food and scheduled shifts. The owner gave me the keys and I ran the place. I’m not shy about my talents. The people who interviewed me at CityCenter told me I was the top candidate for this position.
This job is only a part of me. I have helped many people find work. I motivate them and I sympathize.
My real happiness comes from helping others, which is why the Lord put me on this earth.
Terry Price
Age: 51 | Sign shop supervisor, Aria hotel and convention center | Started: Oct. 1
Terry Price
Of the thousands of people working at the Aria hotel, there’s only one sign shop supervisor: me. I beat out hundreds of candidates, including my husband, who’s still looking for work.
I’m an artisan who owned a laser engraving business with my husband. We engraved images on stone, glass and other hard surfaces.
Getting here wasn’t easy. I’d been looking for a job for about a year.
I was a graphic artist and sign maker for many years. My husband and I got jobs with the Tropicana’s sign shop in 2005 then left to start a home-based business using new laser technology. We began selling engraved art in 2006. Business was good for a few years. Then the bottom fell out of the economy.
We began looking for jobs last November. We combed through newspapers, posted resumes on the Web and filled out online applications. We broadened our search to marketing and graphic artist jobs. Hundreds of people in the sign business had been laid off across town. The job market was flooded with people like me.
It was the worst possible time for job-hunting. I was also concerned that my age and experience might work against me and employers would seek younger people for entry-level pay. Instead, I’ll be moving up the pay scale at a time when many people are making less.
And I’ll be working for the newest property on the Strip after working at the oldest.
Steve Clemmons
Age: 57 | Guest room attendant, Aria hotel Starts: Dec. 9
Steve Clemmons
After 25 years working as a plumber on construction sites, I would never have believed that I’d be cleaning rooms in a hotel.
My last construction job was a time-share tower near the Strip, which stopped construction last year after the money ran out. It was a bad sign. My father passed away the same month I was laid off. I was so discombobulated it took me awhile to get up the energy just to look for a job.
I began calling plumbing companies. Most said they weren’t accepting applications. So then I showed up in person and got odd jobs and piecemeal construction work. I’d work for a discount.
The local plumber and pipe fitters union told me not to bother paying union dues. They had no jobs and at least 100 people on a waiting list.
What does a construction worker do when there’s no construction jobs? I wasn’t going to go on the road for work and live out of a suitcase, like some people do, moving from one job to the next.
My wife saw ads for CityCenter jobs this year. That’s when I said goodbye to construction.
I used to be all gray. I wore my long hair in a ponytail — it was part of this tough-guy look I had as a construction worker. I cut it off and dyed my hair. My friends say I look at least 10 years younger.
I made a beeline for the Culinary Training Academy. I knew they were training workers for CityCenter jobs.
I hope to get a maintenance job, where I can use my experience. But I will work my way up. There’s no shame in that.
Jose Alvarado
Age: 45 | Baggage handler, Aria hotel Starts: Dec. 10
Jose Alvarado
I was a bell captain at the Plaza hotel downtown for 11 years before I was laid off in January.
I loved everything about that job. When you’re bell captain you’re at the top of the ladder. Now I’m starting at the bottom.
I have three young children, and my in-laws have been living with us since they lost their jobs. My wife and I would have date nights, like Friday night at the movies. Not anymore. Now, we just have bills, bills and more bills.
That’s all we think about these days — bills.
My pride, that hurts, too.
Before getting this job I helped my wife, who has a small catering business.
I went through job listings and approached the hotels for jobs in the bell department.
There were some jobs but they were entry-level, like $10 an hour — less than I was getting on unemployment.
There’s a lot of competition out there and you have to stand out. I think I do.
By the time I applied for a job at CityCenter, the management jobs had been filled. Actually, I’ve been waiting for this job for a long time. It seems promising. The hotel is big and modern. I would rather be a bell captain, but you’ve got to take what you can get and make it better.
I can’t wait to start work. I want to distinguish myself. I’m here, I look good in my suit and tie, and I’m ready to go right now, this minute.
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it will be interesting to see how many of these people are still employed 1 month, 2 months, 6 months after it opens.
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i don't see any dealers probably could'nt find any that speak english.
The economy is slowly rebounding. Those thinking about long-term recovery, know the enviroment will be a big winner in the conversion to biofuels & biopower -- saw a cool site; Balkingpoints ; incredible satellite view of earth
Thats my story too.
Waiting for the City to open. Dreams are made of this.
I wish all these folks the best of luck. They all seem motivated and willing to do whatever it takes to make themselves stand out in their new roles. It is great to see that people are willing to start at the bottom and work their way back up.
Good luck to City Center. It will be tough going in this economy, but there advantrage is they are the new kid on the block - and that in itself will bring in business, at least for a while.
I hope they do well too!
to thekube;
Well, aren't you special!
Motivated, hard working honest people and a great story too. Good Luck to all of you.
I kind of agree with thekube's comment. So with 12,000 positions, is it possible that you have the best of the best AS WELL AS the old desperate people? I haven't read any articles about people with jobs who are transferring, or others taking steps up in their careers, is that just not heart-warming enough?
Dear AKQJ10,
The Sun has reported previously about the thousands of MGM Mirage employees who are transferring from their current properties to CityCenter, and how the company is backfilling their old jobs with new hires.
The focus of this story is how, in this recession, previously employed folks who have been out of work are finding work with the opening of CityCenter.
Tom,
I have read those stories as well, but they only mention what you have as a side note, no full page spread such as this and the many similar stories that appear in the archives. If they really want to tug on some heart strings, they should interview 6 people who applied in January, got the run-around until an interview in May, then were strung along until September only to not get the call, not even the "thanks but no thanks" they said they'd give.
SUN, thank you for the story.
I too, know personally dozens of local Nevadans out of work, and in similar dire straits.
I think, though, SUN you have missed the point. This is now a hyper-competitive market for the unemployed. Not only do many thousands have to go through the entire application and verification process just to get hired, but must somehow call attention to themselves and their particular skills, abilities, and their prospective profitablity for any company who may want to hire them in a veritable ocean of applicants.
And when I say, missed the point, I mean that there are the others who have:
-Declared Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
-Legitimately lost homes
-Run out of unemployment benefits
-Spent money they really didn't have on resumes, personal websites, online video productions, gas to travel to find work,
-Dealt with their spouse who may or may not be working
-Dealt with the guilt (yes guilt) of not being worthy of a job
The human interest angle of this story is, to say the least, not entirely unknown here locally.
What you also haven't done, SUN, is highlight what steps are being taken, at a governmental level, to help those who remain. I for one, am sorely disappointed that a news organization of your stature did not report, at least anywhere I can find, on HR 3548, until I acerbically put this information into one of my posts. Then somehow magically, extended unemployment benefits (HR 3548) is voted upon just a few weeks later. Some of my friends, whom I didn't tell about my post, came to me with the exciting news that unemployment benefits are being extended that they heard about covered in the news.
SUN, I will give you credit for journalism and your awards. But what I won't do is give you credit for your foresight or any form of dogged determination.
Nonetheless, I am very happy that these new employees highlighted in your article are now gainfully employed, and I wish all of them continued success, and wish all of their families well.
It's always good news to see people who have been struggling get a new opportunity. The fact that many who were supervisors, plumbers, etc. (good paying jobs) willing to take a job at or near the bottom rung and work hard to prove themselves worthy of a future promotion speaks volumes of their fine character. Best of luck to you all. It's good to see that they are hiring some people in the over 40 age group. I was tossed out of my job last year at 49. Been doing contract jobs for various companies since then. So far, so good. It pays to have friends.
Lets face it, if we are talking about how great it is to have a low paying, unskilled job as a baggage handler, chamber maid, kitchen worker, etc. Sun lets focus on what the real problem here is. That is the absence of skilled quality jobs that are going to command higher salaries. Skilled educated workers who will want to live here and build a better future for the City Of Las Vegas, which whether it likes it or not is now a large city. It can no longer get away with being that little town of Vegas which survives on tourist dollars alone. It was very nice when it was that way, and it should have STAYED that way, however the greedy corporate giants moved in and destroyed it. Now they ask us to be thankful for their offering of crummy little unskilled low paying morsels of work just so they can fleece the public on the top end, and spit us out when the profit margins aren't attractive enough to some overpayed fat lazy slob at the top. Sorry but the truth hurts...
If they really want to tug on some heart strings, they should interview 6 people who applied in January, got the run-around until an interview in May, then were strung along until September only to not get the call, not even the "thanks but no thanks" they said they'd give.
And THAT is the real story. A lot was done via the internet through your email address. A "thanks but no thanks" email would have been nice to the rest of us who went thru the - when I think about it now - "time wasting" multiple interview process.
Forgot to add:
VERY NICE to see that these are older workers, too!!!
"There were some jobs but they were entry-level, like $10 an hour -- less than I was getting on unemployment."
"Less than I was getting on unemployment".....there is something wrong with our current system. It actually discourages people from accepting employment that they think is below them. We need to put a cap on unemployment benefits to about 8 weeks max.
Maybe unemployment could pay the difference between the "low paying job" and whatever the unemployment rate is for the rest of the unemployment term. They could even extend this "difference" for an extra month to encourage people to take a job, if offered.
Gotta give a heads up to the guy who cut off the pony tail and colored his hair. Nothing wrong with a pony tail or graying hair, but he was smart enough to know that those doing the hiring might not approve of a "long haired guy". They'd never say that's why, but it may have made the difference between being "in" or "out".
Good luck to all,,but the underlying theme here is all the experience,and you have to take a job as a guest room attendent making 10.00.
The guy had 25 yrs as a union plumber at over 43.00 an hour,,inflation added yearly of course,and because of the greed of these corporations knowing if you dont accept it,,well i have some other people in the back i can call,,really so sad.
And in NO WAY am i ripping on the man,,i wish him and the rest the best,,well theres a few i dont,,but thats another story
god, i hope all these folks are still working there a year from now.
A clear example on how corporate america has destroyed the middle class. Eliminate jobs and then rehire at lower wages, knowing full well applicants have no choice but to accept. Accept wages that have been decimated by inflation and drag the standard of living lower and lower for working class people.
Thank GOD for the MGM!! They have truly inspired everyone out of work to climb that corporate ladder...may all of you go beyond your wildest dreams, until they cut 50 % of the new hires.
Good luck to City Center and all the new employees.
LV Sun, thanks for an uplifting article; CityCenter, thanks for hiring 'seasoned' people. I consider this a wonderful article, revealing what is the possible future of Las Vegas (employment-wise) and the future of our country. Highly optimistic? Yes! But America and Vegas WILL rebound. Maybe not to their former selves (too much greed, too much cheating from the top), but we will rebound. So... a big HIP, HIP HOORAY for Vegas and CityCenter! I wish you both the BEST!