By Christy Wolyniak, Intern

Summer break is here which means students and recent graduates are on the hunt for jobs...any job.

“I don’t care at all [what job I have]. I’d be a lumberjack at this point," said Ballard High School senior, Shannon Ponnelly. "I’d love to work at a coffee shop like Peet’s Coffee. I check Craig’s List every day for jobs.”

High school students have been aggressively competing for jobs anywhere from local grocery stores, coffee shops, and ice cream parlors to the Ballard Locks and internships at financial firms.

“Every time I hear someone talking about a job that’s [available], I hear it’s taken,” said BHS senior, Virginia Van-Zee.

Whether it's word-of-mouth or online job sites, students take advantage of the limited resources available to them as this is the first year BHS does not have a career center due to budget cuts.

Senior Scotland Schieber recently was hired at Red Mango. He said he’s been trying to get a job for eight months and was excited to finally land a job in a day in a half. Shieber said his involvement with DECA prepared him with business etiquette and interviewing skills.

“A lot of people who say they’re focused may pretend to make an effort, but the percentage of seniors who do that is a lot higher. [Actively finding a job] is a lot like doing taxes: you have to do it to reach your goals,” said Schieber.

BHS junior, Katherin Madche was excited to get hired for an internship with K & L Gates law firm in Seattle. “Forty people applied and only two were hired,” she said.

While high school students fight elbow-to-elbow for a limited number of jobs, recent college graduates made note of the current job market on their end – most recognizing its semi-positive wave from corporations such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft and others who seem to be hiring a healthy number of college graduates.

“Some of my friends have been interviewing since winter quarter. People who went to college straight from high school are not in as big of a rush as people who waited and went back to school and are now eagerly looking for jobs – these people are done screwing around, [they’re] ready to make money,” said University of Washington Bothell graduate, Bridgette MacDonald.

According to University of Washington graduate Shea Unti, powerhouse companies such as PepsiCo, E & J Gallo Winery, and McKesson exclusively hire and begin recruiting in the fall, and students that have been proactive started applying for these jobs the beginning of their senior year, if not earlier.

Resting on a somewhat fragile economy, students recognize the importance of networking and working hard to find these jobs. Associate Director for Employer Relations at UW, Diane A. Martin shared her insight.

“All students have to understand that finding a job is a job within itself. To find a job that is the best fit for them, in terms of their passion, interests, and career goals is going to take work and time. Whatever it takes, that’s what those students have to do [in order to get hired],” said Martin.

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)’s salary survey for spring 2011, there has been a 5.9 percent salary increase from last year for the college graduate class of 2011, and employers reported they are hiring 19 percent more college graduates than last year. Students seem to be noticing.

“This is a positive time for us college graduates, [at least] in the business school world. I see reports about graduates who can’t find work and it blows my mind. Employers are actively spending [large amounts] of money for recruiting, so students have the opportunity to get a job if they want to,” said Unti.

Amidst the pulsating clamor to find a ‘real job’, one student was able to rest on some peaceful advice her mother gave her.

‘“My mom sat me down one day and said, ‘finish it out. I’m in my 40s and I’m still deciding what to do when I grow up.’ There’s no timeline for when you’ll decide what you’re going to do for the rest of your life. When we’re younger, we feel like we need to know exactly what we want to do, but that just didn’t happen for me,”’ said MacDonald.

Although some college graduates are actively seeking out internships and opportunities within their chosen career field, MacDonald worries for the future generations of college graduates who may not be able to afford attending their undergraduate degree due to skyrocketing tuition increases in Washington.

WA State Gov. Christine Gregoire signed a bill on June 6, 2011 allowing Washington state universities to set their own tuition in an effort to offset $500 million cuts to schools in coming years according to an article published by The Oregonian.

“We’re competing not only with more people looking for jobs who are our own age, we’re also competing with people going back to school [who have already been in the job market],” said MacDonald.

In spite of this growing realization of a valued and expensive education in a grueling market, many students welcome the much-needed break from studying and venture outside of Seattle’s richness to gain experiences abroad while they have no ties holding them down.

“I did three internships during college, so I feel like I have a chance to take a break for awhile and do what I’ve always wanted to do [which is travel],” said University of Washington graduate, Jennifer Miller.