Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009 | 2:20 p.m.
Sun Archives
- CityCenter extending hope on a huge scale (1-13-2009)
- Priority No. 1: Finding a job (1-9-2009)
- Thousands expected Thursday at Henderson job fair (1-7-2009)
- CityCenter accepting applications for 12,000 jobs (1-5-2009)
Beyond the Sun
The prospect of getting a job at CityCenter, which is hiring some 12,000 people for a late 2009 opening, has thrown some locals into a state of anxious excitement.
Once the downturn obliterated the long-held theory that Las Vegas is resistant to recessions, many locals who have never experienced unemployment have entered a Twilight Zone of uncertainty.
No wonder they also are apprehensive of this new world of regimented, online application processing.
Some online applicants awaiting notification from MGM Mirage are worried they will get lost in the shuffle.
(MGM Mirage says it will contact every applicant for a "pre-interview" sit-down with a human resources staffer. The process ensures that candidates are applying for jobs they are best suited for.)
Others are so antsy for work that they want to apply for just about any job when there's no "all of the above" box to check.
(The online process requires prospective applicants to select a job from the list of postings. The pre-interview is designed to match candidates to the most appropriate jobs.)
Within the first week of accepting online job applications, MGM Mirage had received some 35,000 applications. A week later, that figure was more than 52,000.
Officials now expect more than 150,000 applications, including some 50,000 flooding the site within three weeks. That might be a discouraging prospect for some who are feeling like a minnow in an ocean.
Bill McBeath, president and chief operating officer of CityCenter's Aria resort, says everyone will get their chance to shine.
The company will meet with each of them – provided that they will be applying within the next few months.
Employees must be hired by August, and training begins thereafter. Some 85 percent of them will wear custom-designed uniforms that need fitting.
There's no cutoff date for applications, McBeath said.
"We don't want to penalize someone who's moving to town at the last minute who might have the skill set, the kind of energy level and attitude that we're looking for," he said. "We don't want to then tell them they were too late to the ballgame."
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