Southlake High School senior Harrison Atkins is glad he secured his server's position at Reposado's Mexican Grill in late March. The 18-year-old, who is heading to Northwestern University, needs summer work and applied early.

REX C. CURRY/Special Contributor

Hollie Oden, a teacher at Blalack Middle School in Carrollton, will be among those looking for a summer job.

Carrollton middle school teacher Hollie Oden supplements her salary during summers. To get a jump on college applicants, she began weeks ago looking at retail and restaurant openings. She's still looking.

Julie Green, a junior at Flower Mound High School, was thrilled when a nanny job (her first "real job") fell into her lap. She is relieved not to be job hunting now.

With a droopy economy comes a tough summer job market across the nation.

Snagajob.com, a job placement site specializing in hourly positions, surveyed 1,000 hiring managers recently, and one-third said they won't be hiring for summer because there's no budget or they expect sagging sales. And at least half said teens are not as reliable as in the past.

But summer job seekers will find a bustling job market in Dallas, says Chad Kooiman, Dallas spokesman for Robert Half International, a Chicago-based firm specializing in staffing service. With continuing economic uncertainty, companies don't want to overhire until they know where the economy is going, Mr. Kooiman says.

"Dallas-Fort Worth continues to lead the country in employment growth. What's nice for temporary employees is that when employers are having a hard time finding highly skilled employees, they turn to temporary workers to help with their immediate front-end needs."

College students and responsible teenagers are ideal candidates to fill those roles, he says.

Teens and others seeking seasonal work can get results with the right strategy, says Cathy McCarthy, Snagajob.com spokeswoman. But job seekers need to act quickly and aggressively. "Youngsters and experienced workers supplementing income have to be more aggressive this summer. Teenagers have to change the stereotype," says Ms. McCarthy.

In Dallas, employers such as AMC Theaters, Chick-fil-A Inc., Domino's Pizza and Kohl's department stores are looking for workers such as Ms. Oden, as well as young people coming out of college and high school, she says.

businessnews@dallasnews.com