The turbulent 2009 economy has not deterred college students and recent grads from pursuing their goals. In its fifth year running, the results of our annual Placement Survey shed light on some of the employment trends surrounding the Class of ‘09 and their plans for the real world.

More than 630 Gen Y’ers completed the 2009 Placement Survey (dubbed “Share Your Success with Experience”) between the beginning of June and the end of September, and 63% of respondents said “yes” when asked if they were on their intended career path. At nearly two-thirds in the middle of a recession, that’s good news.

So what about the other 37%? Some just had change of heart and others (16%) modified their career paths due to the economy. Forty-three percent of students chose jobs because it was their field of interest and other reasons that followed were advancement opportunities (12%), company culture (9%) and lack of other offers (12%).

What made certain young grads stay on their original tracks and others switch? Obviously, the economy is a major factor—even though we’re finally seeing the light as the recession lifts, students are still moving away from fields such as Finance, which is down when compared to the results of our 2008 Placement Survey. Interestingly, industries like Accounting have seen an uptick in hires. Also in the same vein as last year’s survey, Education was one of the top industries young grads are gravitating toward with 8% of the total respondent base.

We all know that internships help the next generation workforce get experience and exposure to help them decide which career path to pursue. Interestingly, in 2009, roughly two out of five grads (42%) told us they never held an internship during school. On the flip side, nearly three out of five (58%) held at least one internship and, in some cases, more than that. Of those who held internships during school, close to half (44%) landed a job in their desired field.

Now more than ever, there is a direct correlation between students who take on internships and receive jobs and those who don’t. Bringing on interns for full time entry level employment is a great way to fill your pipeline with the right kind of talent in the most cost effective manner. If you hired an intern (paid or unpaid) and they ultimately applied for a full-time position within your company, odds are you’d lean towards your intern vs. other candidates.

One last thing to keep top of mind as you are looking for entry-level employees is that those students who will be graduating in 2010 are looking for positions NOW.  Top candidates are not waiting to get themselves set up for life after college. Follow their lead: promote your internship programs and entry-level openings to help position your company in the right place in the Gen Y world.

To get more insight, check out our Gen Y Insights whitepaper – Internships Becoming a Very Effective Sourcing Strategy – for tips on how to use internships to bring on the best new hires possible.

It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving - and the official start of the holiday shopping season - is just two weeks away. Back in the mid ’90s, my fellow college buddies and I used our winter breaks to earn some extra money while taking time away to celebrate the holidays. I wound up working at Sam Goody. Remember them? Most of the money I earned went right back into buying music, but that’s another story.

Fast forward a dozen or so years, and retailers from Apple to Zales are feeling the pinch this holiday season. Circuit City, once a major league player, announced Monday that they filed for bankruptcy protection. And according to the Labor Department, about a quarter of all jobs lost since this time last year have been in retail. I don’t need to tell you things aren’t all sugar plums for Gen Y this winter, but college students and young professionals seeking extra income do have the opportunity to gain experience and earn some money - if they know the right places to look.

The 2008 results of our annual Holiday Jobs Survey, which was completed last month by 645 current college students, graduate students and young professionals, are in line with the greater economic picture. Millennials seeking seasonal employment are dealing with an extremely competitive landscape. As illustrated above, roughly four out of five of our respondents plan to work over the holidays - but more than half of them think they’ll be out of luck in finding employment or an internship. Less than a quarter of respondents had landed a seasonal job at the time of the survey.

In our 2007 Holiday Jobs Survey, which ran at roughly the same time last year, nearly half of respondents then had already secured a holiday job by the beginning of November 2007. Only 20 percent last year reported searching before November, compared to nearly two-thirds (60 percent) this year.

In 2008, Gen Y job seekers told us they plan on finding holiday work through their university career centers, word-of-mouth and online job boards. Retail jobs topped the list of desired job types with nearly a quarter of millennials rating it number one. New internships followed as a close second.

Chilly as things may seem, it’s not all snowballing downhill - those employers that are still looking to hire students and young alumni during this three to five week period have a fantastic opportunity to bring on an engaged and ready-to-work Gen Y contingent. Candidates need to apply TODAY and be more aggressive about finding the positions.

Retailers in need of help and companies seeking short-term interns will have more applicants to choose from, but at the end of the day, the quality of applicant is still important. As far as messaging to this crowd goes, stick to the primary points that millennials told us why they were seeking holiday work in the first place: to gain experience and to earn extra money.