Millennials get creative in a tough job market

— -- Using a fishing pole and a magnet, Liz Langer once retrieved a stranger's keys from a sewer. She received $80 for completing the job. She's not a repair or maintenance worker, just a 27-year-old Ph.D. student looking to make some extra cash.

After graduating from Tufts University outside Boston in 2008, Matthew Doyle put his English degree in a corner while he waited tables, worked room service at a hotel, held an unpaid internship with a literary magazine and was a self-described "manny" (male nanny).

Langer and Doyle are two of millions of Millennials who are juggling multiple jobs and looking for creative ways to bring in extra income during a time when record unemployment has forecast an uncertain future for college graduates.

In a recent study by MetLife, Millennials — generally agreed to be those born from 1980 to the mid-to-late 1990s — were found to be doing more than older generations to increase their incomes. In a survey of 2,420, Millennials were 8% more likely than the general population to be working extra hours at a current job, freelancing and taking second jobs.

The findings defy a common assumption among older generations that today's twentysomethings are lazy and entitled, says Laura Adams, speaking for MetLife.

"They have a different work ethic," she says. "The times are challenging, and they have an entrepreneurial spirit that's coming out. They've had to go out and get creative to find extra sources of income."

For Langer, getting creative has meant fulfilling requests through Zaarly, an online community marketplace where users ask others to complete tasks ranging from hand-delivered morning coffee to giving a cat a bath, all for a price.

Langer has fulfilled around 90 requests since she started with Zaarly in May, bringing in around $1,000 for completing tasks including creating a stuffed snake for a company that boasted a python as its mascot.

"You don't make a ton of money, but it is a nice way to supplement a meager income," says Langer, who also works 20 hours a week as a teaching assistant while in school at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

With two-thirds of college graduates taking on student loan debt, and a lack of job opportunity giving them little means to pay it off, Millennials are becoming a transient workforce, taking any job, or jobs, they can to pay the bills.

The MetLife data show that of Millennials, 40% or more say they would take a job even if they're overqualified, get additional job training, relocate or go back to school to better position themselves for success in today's less-than-promising job market.

"They really placed a bet on the future and on future opportunity, and that hasn't panned out for them," says Leah Reynolds, former lead of generational talent strategies at Deloitte and now an independent consultant. "They've got to be resourceful, which fortunately, they are."

Leisl Wehmueller, 29, works 30 hours a week at a non-profit in Oregon, receiving a small salary and no benefits. She took on a second job as a sales and public relations assistant for a company that sells water hoses, and also nannies occasionally.

However, the hose company is letting her go now that winter has led to a dip in sales.