I had the privilege to attend the Business Bermuda 12th Annual College Student Networking event as a professional interviewer for the speed networking function last Thursday.

It involved me networking with a number of local college students who were near or have completed their post-secondary education and were trying to make professional connections and/or have some of their careers questions answered.

Throughout the process I spent some time conducting an informal questionnaire to glean the current attitude and expectations from Bermuda's future workforce. What I found was very encouraging and refreshing.

Most of the students I talked to expressed that they wanted to find a job that had "meaning", provided "intellectual challenges" and "an environment where they could help people".

Money was actually the least stated career objective for them. This did conflict slightly with their expectations for a starting salary: most students felt they should start out being paid at least $75,000 per year and some even felt $100,000 per year was a minimal acceptable starting wage.

Of the group I talked to, the majority were actually looking for work in the social science field: psychology was actually the number one specialty.

When I asked them questions in regard to work ethic, Bermuda's youth enthusiastically stated that they would be willing to work for free in a job they loved for a probationary period and they expected to work on average 50 hours per week to "impress the boss".

When we discussed how they felt about the merits of a good education most believed experience was more important. They were very mature in their view about "investing in themselves" for the long run and felt it was important that any job they took out of college should have great opportunity for a diverse set of experiences to further their careers.

In total they seemed confident and eager.

This is a good thing, because the environment they face is by no means easy. Today's youth unemployment worldwide is a massive concern.

In the OECD area, the youth (15 to 24) unemployment rate rose by six percentage points in the two years to the end of 2009, to reach almost 19 percent.

There are currently nearly 15 million youth unemployed in the OECD area, about four million more than at the end of 2007. And in countries like France and Italy, about one active youth in four is unemployed, while in Spain more than 40 percent of them are jobless. Canada's youth unemployment clocks in at 15.6 percent.

In the US the youth unemployment rate sits at about 19 percent, nearly double the unemployment rate for the population at large.

In Iceland and Sweden rates are actually four times the national rate. As you can imagine, this is increasing competition for those seeking jobs.

Statistics out of the UK note that there are approximately 70 applicants for every job while available positions are set to fall by about seven percent.

Carl Gilleard, the CEO for The Association of Graduate Recruiters, commented to graduates that "They need both short-term and long-term career goals because you're graduating in a very tough climate…Any employment is better than no employment [even] if it's about flipping burgers or stacking shelves rather than sitting at home feeling sorry for yourself and vegetating".

This might be one thing for Bermuda's new grads to consider because nearly half of those I talked to said they would go a year without working before considering a job unrelated to their educational training.

A recent OECD study indicates that those entering the workforce in recessionary times face "lower earnings, higher career instability [and] it affects individuals' beliefs".

So a daunting task lies ahead for these fine young men and women. Based on what I saw on Thursday, however, the youth in Bermuda are more than up to the task.