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.

Wow! What an historic past couple of days we’ve all witnessed. Regardless of your age, affiliation or background, you’ve got to admit that the renewed sense of engagement and excitement within our country’s political system is pretty inspiring.

As expected, Gen Y’s impact on the election was huge. Just take a look at this post-election analysis from MSNBC.com. As we predicted a few weeks back in our 2008 Jobs and Economics Survey, entry-level job creation – a key concern in our troubled economy – would likely play a pivotal role among other critical issues at the polls. In particular, global warming and climate concerns, hot-button topics for millennials, also ranked highly with our respondents. More than a third of young voters identified these issues as top concerns for the next presidential administration.

Focusing in on all things ‘green,’ last week we dove deeper and surveyed Experience members to find out how the green trend has impacted careers and career choices in our politically charged environment.

Of the 230+ survey respondents, we learned a few interesting things – with 71 percent saying ‘yes,’ the notion working at a green company was appealing to the vast majority of college students and young alumni. Here’s one respondent their own words:

I would like to work for a company that is green, because to me it shows that they are not just about making a profit. It shows that they are willing to give back to the people by not only finding ways to go green, but to also use them in everyday practices.

And what does Gen Y think constitutes a ‘green company?’ Again, in more of their own words:

My definition of a “green” company is one who is even in the slightest sense environmentally friendly and aware. Things such as recycling/reusing paper or having washable washcloths in the bathroom instead of paper towels are some of the simplest things a green company can do. Also, one that sends e-mails rather than letters in your mailbox constitutes a green company for me.

A green company takes a proactive step towards improving their carbon footprint, educating employees about making smarter decisions and interested in changing the way they do business.

A green company minimizes waste, practices policies and procedures that are environmentally concious [sic], and uses their green status as an incentive for their employees.

Looking back at a green-focused April 2008 Experience survey in which nearly 2,800 millennials responded to, four out of five respondents – nearly 80 percent – said they would be more likely to accept a job offer at a green company over another company, when evaluating two similar job offers.

Employers need to consider these significant numbers and clearly communicate their environmental commitments and socially responsible practices throughout all recruiting programs. Frankly it’s what’s needed to attract top entry-level talent. Just take a cue from the Obama campaign – targeting Gen Y with messaging that resonates with their passions is what will make the difference.