Job seekers plunge into the Narragansett surf / Photos
4:32 PM Thu, May 21, 2009 | Permalink
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NARRAGANSETT, R.I. -- How tough is the job market? Consider this: more than 100 people Thursday jumped into the freezing surf at Scarborough State Beach, many of them hoping to grab a lifeguard job with the state or a coastal town. "The water is like knives," said a shivering young woman in a one-piece bathing suit, surrounded by warmer applicants in black wet suits.  More than 100 applicants turned out for a chance to become a lifeguard.Job seekers paid $10 to take the lifeguard certification test, provided by the state Division of Parks and Recreation. Andrew Lavallee, 17, skipped class to stand in a line longer than the main building. The South Kingstown High School student kissed his lucky charm -- a tiger's tooth hanging from his neck -- and waited. Lavallee, on the school swim team, applied for a state job in March. "They said they would get back to me," he said. On the beach small groups of young men and women participated in two tests. In the first, they paddled out on bright red surf boards to rescue other job seekers. In the second, they pulled on a yellow rope to haul "victims" out of the ocean. The state agency has received 2,500 applications for its 450 summer jobs, up from 1,800 applications last year. "It's the economy," said John Faltus, deputy chief of DEM's parks and recreation division. CORRECTION: The number of applications received was incorrect in the original version of this post. The number is 2,500. 
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Hopefully they won't hire any lifeguards who will be drinking on the job again......
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