Spring means that flowers bloom, little forest animals have sex, and colleges slap the Bud Lights out of our nation's 22 year olds' hands and tell them to get a job. Each year we're bombarded with coverage on how terrible it is to be young, educated and full of endless vitality. Last year, the American Dream for this demographic was declared dead. This year, they're dancing on its grave from their parents' couch: 85% of grads are expected to move back into their childhood homes, the Post reports. more ›

One recent college grad in The Bronx is taking the well-trodden path of looking for a paycheck from her alma mater in the face of a job market that has quickly revealed how little a bachelor's degree actually qualifies you for. Except for 27-year-old Trina Thompson, she's not simply hitting up Monroe College for her first post-collegiate job—she's suing them to get her tuition back, saying that they have not done enough to help her find work. Thompson is suing Monroe for $70,000, claiming that the staff members at their career services department "have not tried hard enough to help me" since she graduated in April with an Information Technology degree. Thompson's mother told the Post that she supports the suit. She said, "She's angry...She put all her faith in them, and so did I. They're not making an effort...We're going to be homeless, and we'll still have a student loan to pay." A spokesman for the school laughed off the lawsuit, saying it "is completely without merit" and "does not deserve further consideration." more ›

NYU's career development center tells the Washington Square News that campus recruiting is down 15% this year, so its staffers are "working 50 to 60 hours a week" to help seniors weather post-graduate prospects. The center's director Trudy Steinfeld said, "The bad news is this is the worst job market I’ve seen, and I’ve been in career development for 30 years. On the other hand, when the job market is tight, new college graduates will find that while it is competitive, they have the advantage of being a cheaper source of labor. The workers that are being laid off by these companies are often more experienced and so have higher wages.” Still, one student is worried, “My parents sacrificed an arm and a leg for me to go to NYU. Now they are afraid that I will be in the same boat as everyone else and that NYU is not going to mean anything.” Related: Mayor Bloomberg predicts 294,000 jobs will be lost by mid 2010 (it's unclear how many of those are the jobs of the "more experienced, higher-paid"). Photo: j_bary on Flickr more ›

With the economy leaving even the richest of families hurting, more and more local teenagers are doing something that statistics show has been on the decline for almost thirty years—they’re going out and getting a job. While the jobs are still few and far between, those youngsters seeking work everywhere from the mall to local animal shelters are on the rise, notably among more well-off teens. The teens appear in panic mode as their hefty weekly allowances are cut leaving less spending money for “binges at Abercrombie & Fitch.” One girl who talked to the Times even had the private Pilates classes her parents were paying for taken away (bogus!). She’s since found work as a tutor because as she said, “I always like to be saving up for something that I have my eye on—a ring, a necklace, a handbag.” more ›

Today, the NY Times looks at how layoffs are beginning at a "broad array of businesses across the New York region." Basically, it distills everything you've been hearing, thinking and fearing. more ›

Did you know that getting into the NBC page program is ten times as competitive as admission to Harvard or Yale? The Times takes a look into the position currently brought to life by Jack McBrayer as the character Kenneth on 30 Rock. The program's humble job description includes working six days a week and getting paid $10 an hour to "photocopy, fetch coffee and often stand sentry outside studio doors in empty hallways." (There's no mention if pages have to clean Brian Williams's dressing room before he gets back from the liquor store as Kenneth does.) The Times even suggests that competition to be a page is so cutthroat that in real life, the naive- but-gung-ho Kenneth might not make the grade. Meanwhile, McBrayer admits to the paper that when he is mistaken for an actual page around the building, he simply plays the part saying, “Instead of giving the whole spiel, that I’m an actor in a fake show, I just look down at the phone list and type ‘2379, Marci Klein.’ ” more ›