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FAITH LAPIDUS: Twenty-two year old Jessie Way finished college in less than four years and with honors. She graduated from George Mason University in Virginia with a degree in technical writing in January. After that, she spent three months helping her mother who got sick. Then she spent five months searching for a job.

Jessie was lucky. She recently landed a position as a legal assistant with a law firm.

JESSIE WAY: "The problem I found myself having was, it's what everyone complains about -- there's jobs that want experience, but nobody wants to give you experience."

A demand for experience is not a new problem for young people, of course. But Jessie Way thinks the situation today is more difficult than it was for graduates ten years ago.

JESSIE WAY: "Back then you could say, oh well, I’m just out of college, so I’m a lot cheaper than these people with experience. So companies could say, OK, we'll hire some college graduates and we'll have to train them a little but the price cut is worth it to them.

"Nowadays so many people are out of work and have been let go and all that stuff that they can offer that same salary to somebody who does have five years experience that they used to offer to somebody like me. And it's gotten to the point now where college kids either can't get a job or can't get a job that's actually going to pay the bills."

DOUG JOHNSON: Author Don Peck says one way for young job seekers to improve their chances is by moving.