Right now, young and old job seekers think they’re getting the shaft.

I probably get an even amount of emails from people under 30, or from the parents of people who are under 30, as I do from those in their fifties.

Kim, a 53 year old out of work business professional, writes:

I can’t tell you how many recent, young MBA grads that I know, have six figure jobs here. How does my MBA + 25 years of experience get rejected? I even requested to a few employers that I wanted the “recent MBA grad” job track they offer, because an MBA is an MBA - even better with seasoned job experience, decision-making, people skills, etc - I’m still rejected - over a 25 year old with no experience!

And this from a dad in San Jose:

I live in the greater San Francisco are, and my two teens (18 and 19) have been looking for summer work for at least two months. One, the 19-yr old just got a job, the 18-yr old is still looking. The story that they were being given is that a) there are 20 people applying for every job; b) they would have to agree to work any shift (including graveyard); and c) they are looking for workers with several years of work experience.

On the one hand the dissed older job seeker thinks no one cares about experience, on the other hand the dad of younger workers thinks that’s all employers want.

Why the divergent views? Hard to say. What we do know is it’s not a great job market for anyone right now, but younger workers tend to fare worse when we look at the numbers.

The unemployment rate in May was 9.4 percent. Among those under 30, the rate was around 15 percent; but it was 6.9 percent for those 45 and older.

Clearly the numbers show that younger workers are more stiffed in this job market, but economist believe there’s more to the data.

First off, younger workers don’t have the fire under them to take just any job because they typically don’t have a mortgage to pay or kids to support. That means they may end up on the unemployed column longer than their older counterparts.

And workers under 30 are more likely to go for more education and let their job search go by the wayside, at least until the economy turns around.

But this is just the numbers. The larger question is if hiring managers are more inclined to hire 20 somethings, or 50 somethings?

There is no clear cut answer here. I have talked to quite a few HR folks who tell me in a bad economy, employers want more seasoned workers. So in this case the older workers have a leg up. But there are still certain industries such as IT, retail, consumer products, and lots of sales-related jobs, where employers are looking for hipper younger employees.

Now that we know every generation is stiffed in its own way, let’s focus on what to do about it for your own job search.

I wrote a column recently for MSNBC.com about how Gen Y was hit hard in this economy and here’s some great advice from the piece:

Younger workers are finding out the hard way that they have to hustle to land their dream job, says Debra Condren, business psychologist and author of “Ambition Is Not A Dirty Word.”

“These young adults don’t know how to jump in and be aggressive,” she says.

“A lot of us parents wanted our kids to focus more on school, not part-time jobs,” she notes. “Then they went to college, and we helped them out financially. And there are also the super crazy parents, the ones that go on job interviews with them.”

She believes the recession will light a fire under the Gen Y crowd as they go head-to-head with older workers. They’re going to have to pound the pavement, take less money, work their way up the ladder, she advises, just like the generations before them.

And the 50-plus crowd needs to stop making excuses for being old and concentrate on what they bring to the table — experience and common sense. Here’s some good advice for older workers from another column I wrote on the difficult job-hunting environment for older workers:

Workforce expert Tamara Erickson suggests older workers start building their networks.

“Most 30-year-olds have maintained very vibrant networks and have lots of options even if they lose their jobs,” says Erickson, who is also author of “Retire Retirement: Career Strategies for the Boomer Generation.” “But a lot of 50-year-olds just haven’t kept contacts up-to-date and are not using the latest technology like LinkedIn or Plaxo.”

Another strategy Erickson recommends is doing project-based work rather than trying to find full-time work.

It’s a good idea to concentrate your job search on growth industries, advises Jeri Sedlar, who moderates a group on boomer social networking Web site eons.com and is the author of “Don’t Retire, Rewire!” Some areas to consider, she notes, include energy, health care, government and education.

But no matter what job you go for, you have to start believing in yourself and get across how great you are to a prospective employer, she stresses. “Imagine you are sitting on a shelf in grocery store,” she recommends. “Why would someone want to buy you? Should you be repackaged?”

Repackaging means updating skills or learning new ones, and being prepared to walk into a room with enthusiasm rather than despair and desperation. That doesn’t mean you have to go for a four-year college degree or go get your MBA. Experts suggest taking a few courses at a community college or online.

Let’s stop the finger pointing and focus on finding jobs.