We open with two words for teens who hope to get a summer job this year but have not yet gone looking:

Get cracking.

While pundits speak with guarded optimism about the economy having turned a corner, a recent survey of employers suggests that getting a summer job this year will not be any easier than it was during the depths of the Great Recession.

SnagAJob.com, a job site focusing on hourly employment, sponsored the survey, which was conducted by New York-based Ipsos Public Affairs. The company surveyed 1,033 managers with responsibility for hiring hourly workers for the summer.

Nearly half of those surveyed, 47 percent, said they did not expect to do any seasonal hiring this year; last year, 46 percent gave that response.

"Given the year that we've had, 'unchanged' on the summer job front is pretty good news," said SnagAJob CEO Shawn Boyer. "It's a relief that we're not again seeing the kind of negative trends that we saw when comparing expectations for last summer with '08."

Of those hiring, 29 percent expect to hire about the same number of workers, 18 percent expect to hire fewer workers and 6 percent expect to hire more.

"Summer jobs will be available this year, but teens and college students must apply as soon as possible to multiple positions in order to stand a chance of landing one," Mr. Boyer said. "Competition will still be fierce, especially because unemployment remains high."

For most students at Pittsburgh's colleges and universities, the best time to apply -- during spring break -- has passed. But Mr. Boyer offered a ray of hope.

"If you wait until late May or June, you're behind the eight-ball," he said. "You might be in school until summer, but you can offer to work weekends or nights right now. Cast the net wide."

Casting wide may work, but the survey suggests that students who worked last summer might do well to begin narrowing -- specifically, by reapplying with the employer they had last summer. Hiring managers said they would fill positions with 65 percent returning workers and 35 percent new employees.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said last summer that 19.4 million youth between the ages of 16 and 24 were employed; but even at the peak of summer, youth employment reached only 51.4 percent. That's the lowest peak since the agency began keeping records in 1948.

Responding to an open-ended question about what advice they would give young job-seekers, the managers responded most often with, "Apply early."

Other popular responses included: Dress appropriately for the interview. Be clean, neat and conservative. ("Take the ring out of your ear, and cover up the tattoos.") Once you get the job, you may have more flexibility in dress.

Speaking of flexibility, be flexible about what job you will take or what schedule you will work.

Have a positive attitude.

And don't give up.

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