Sasso, 22, of Northeast Philadelphia, has plenty of company among his age group. Jobs traditionally considered prime for students looking to gain experience or to pick up some summer cash have been increasingly snapped up by older employees burned by the recession.
"In the aftermath of the recession, there's a larger share of workers who lost full-time jobs who have taken re-employment in jobs that used to be for teens," Dr. Michael L. Bognanno, chairman of Temple University's department of economics, said. "It's pretty likely that they're facing competition from older workers."
In fact, last year's was the worst summer for young adults looking for work. The unemployment rate for 16-to-24-year-olds in July sat at 19.1 - the highest summer rate ever recorded by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, beginning in 1948.
Now, the rate hovers at around 17.5 percent, as of May, according to the bureau.
Sasso isn't a stranger to work. He's been a city pool attendant and works part-time in the dining halls as a student at Penn State.
But this soon-to-be college senior with a major in crime, law and justice isn't alone in his struggle to make some cash before he heads back to college in August.
Kyle Love, of East Norriton, just landed a serving job at IHOP, but only after he spent about two months applying to car dealerships, restaurants and stores.
Love, 22, a senior at the California University of Pennsylvania, attributes his stagnant bank account to his new town's job market.
Love, who moved to East Norriton from Pittsburgh, said that he wouldn't have a problem being hired at one of his old jobs in Pittsburgh - gas stations, pizza places, a dry cleaners and a McDonald's.
"If I was in Pittsburgh, I would have a guaranteed job," Love said. "Now, it's very difficult to find anything."
And the odds have not been in Love's favor.
