After working consistently since she was 15, Selah Arnold never expected finding her next job in Medford to be this difficult. With experience in local restaurants and coffee shops and a clear preference for small, community-based workplaces, she has spent the past few months navigating a job market she describes as slow, unresponsive, and discouraging — an experience she says is increasingly common among young workers in the area.
In this interview, Arnold spells out the obstacles facing job seekers in Medford and nearby communities, as well as how those challenges are being experienced on an individual level.
To start off, can you walk me through your background — your education, past work experience, and the types of jobs you’ve been looking for in Medford?
So my education was Madrone Trail. I went to a Waldorf school, K-8th, and then I went to South Medford High School for four years, and I got my first job at 15. I worked at Good Bean as a dishwasher for a couple weeks, and then I went to Baja Fresh for a couple weeks, and unfortunately they were breaking child labor laws and having a bunch of 15 year olds work till 11 o’clock at night, so me and my other friends who worked there had to quit. And then I worked at Papa Murphy’s when I was 16, until I was about 18. And then after that, I worked at La Briccola for six months, and ever since then, it has just been a struggle getting a job in Medford. I did work at Starbucks for three months over the summer, but it was a very toxic work environment, and I just don’t stand for the company’s policies.
Are there any positive aspects from past workplaces that you think more employers should adopt?
I think more places should care about their employees, and treat them all like a family. At La Briccola everybody was very close, and you had each other’s back, and it was just like a small family.
When you started your job search, how were you feeling, and how have those feelings changed over time?
I first started my job search just a couple months ago, and it has honestly been pretty difficult, and it’s very hard to get a job in the whole entire U.S. right now. I’ve seen many things online and heard many things. I have personal friends who are also struggling with getting a job. There’s people who have four year degrees and can’t even get a job at a fast food chain restaurant. It has become very difficult. And after the holiday season, all the family-owned shops and restaurants get very slow, so they’re not hiring more people. So it has been very rough the past month looking for jobs.
Given these challenges in the job market, I’d like to hear your perspective on what matters most to you in a job. What does a good job actually mean to you beyond just a paycheck?
I personally like to work at family owned restaurants, and I do not like big corporations, because I think people should be able to express themselves through the way they dress, their piercings, their hair, tattoos. I also think that there’s a lot more leniency with menus. If you’re working in the food service, you can go and get product or ingredients from stores, family owned places, and co-ops and farmers markets locally. I just think it creates a stronger crew, and I like to work for places that really do need the money from their customers, other than these billion dollar companies that are just serving bad food and selling bad quality clothes to people all around the world.
Do you think your experience reflects a larger reality for others in Medford who are looking for work right now?
I know for a fact, actually, that a lot of other people are struggling with the exact same thing as me. And obviously there are a bunch of jobs on Indeed, and job search sites where people will just apply, but oftentimes you don’t hear back. I have a resume with a very nice restaurant on it and I’m going and checking up on applications, and I’m still not getting jobs. And I have a lot of friends in the same exact situation who are just unable to get jobs, it’s like even the places that are hiring seem to not be reaching out.
Arnold’s experience highlights just how hard it can be to find work in Southern Oregon right now. Even with years of experience and a strong work ethic, she’s run into obstacles that go beyond her own skills, showing some of the bigger challenges in the local job market. She also made it clear how important it is to work in places that care about their employees and treat them like part of a team. Her story raises an important question for our community.
Photo by Julianna Chavez/The Siskiyou
