In today's difficult job market, young college graduates are looking to the community service industry as an alternative to the private or government sector jobs that they had originally planned for.

A recent graduate of Virginia Commonweath University, Brian Marroquin had hoped to find employment with the government when he left school, but found that those jobs - like many others - were hard to come by.

Instead, Marroquin turned to the non-profit service organization National Student Partnerships (NSP) which works with low-income members community members.

According to NSP CEO Kirstin Lodal, community service may pay less than traditional jobs, but young employees like Brian Marroquin can learn valuable skills like organizing and fundraising that will benefit them in the future.

As part of the Generation Next Series, NewsHour correspondent Judy Woodruff looks at how the recession is inspiring young people like Marroquin are beginning their careers doing community service.

"[Marroquin] in his early 20s will have the chance to fundraise, to manage a community board, to learn invaluable marketing lessons by having to recruit volunteers, recruit community members. He's going to have to learn how to network in the community, how to work with the public sector, how to, you know, manage a budget. So this is a major management experience on top of a service experience." - Kirsten Lodal, CEO, National Student Partnerships

"This generation is highly entrepreneurial. They have high expectations for how it is that they're going to move mountains in the communities that they're serving. They're not interested in cheap, gray service or anything that might have that kind of trapping. They want to change the world." - Kirsten Lodal, CEO, National Student Partnerships

"Growing up, my parents and even my extended family have always been really willing to help each other. And that's kind of given me some, again, inspiration to try and make an impact in other people's lives. And since I'm graduating, I think, you know, I want to come back and fill that in what they've done their whole lives, which is help each other out, pool our resources, and just get out of the situation together." - Brian Marroquin, recent VCU graduate

1. How is the recession changing the career goals of new graduates?

2. What is meant by the terms “community service” and “public service"?

1. Do you feel confident that you will be able to find a good job when you graduate from high school or college?

2. Are you interested in service? Why or why not?

3. NSP CEO Kristen Lodal says that this generation of Americans is "going to move mountains in the communities that they're serving." Do you think it is true that this generation of Americans is more prone to doing community service than other generations? Why or why not?