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I don't know anyone that likes cubicles. The worst invention ever has to be the flimsy, carpeted walls that don't block out any sound, leave you open to distractions, decreases productivity dramatically, and decreases the chances of you thinking creatively. Most companies cannot understand the value in wide open spaces with room to think and open up. To save space, and to keep teams close there seems to be no other solution other than the dreaded 3 wall cubicle. That's the nature of the beast. I would think it would be safe to say that most of you will be starting out in a cube, much like myself and many people I know. Just throw the headphones on and crank up your iPod to attempt to focus. Don't rule a company out just because you will have to work out of a cube because that's how most entry-level jobs start, unless you work for a "cool" company. I hope one day that more companies realize the benefit of providing places to move around, places to relax and think about the next big idea, and even places to wind down to ease stress and frustration that comes with problem solving. Bean bags, people. Large couches to lay out on. Foosball tables. But mostly bean bags. It sounds ridiculous but look at some of the most innovative companies and their "radical" offices. There seems to be some correlation there, but agree to disagree if you would like. I enjoy the work and company that I am with, so I could work in any type of desk setting/wannabe office. I can't imagine sitting in the cube if I was working for a company I disliked, so the lesson here is to look for the intangibles that will make your job enjoyable: culture, atmosphere, attitude, values, and the people you will be collaborating with.

I have already referenced GE before as a great company to start your career with, and here is another cool opportunity from the innovative company. The EcoChallenge is put on by GE and MtvU, and challenges college students to bring ideas to the table on how to improve the environment on college campuses. Now, I am not a treehugger or hippie by any means, but I enjoy a good reason to think creatively - outside the box, if you will. Your idea could be as simple as a new trash/recycling campaign or something as crazy as designated smoking areas that are giant bubbles with air filters that turn the smoke into something good for the environment, like more Al Gore's. Is that a little political humor mixed with sarcasm? Panel says....yes, lame, but yes. In all seriousness, someone out there has a great idea that could actually help the environment, and participating in this contest would not look too shabby on the resume. Work with some of your friends or fly solo, and just see what happens after you submit your idea. There is also a link to apply for jobs with GE on the EcoChallenge page, if you are interested.

There is no argument to this equation. Halloween is the best holiday when you're in college. Live it up.

A quality movie, check it out later. Also a skill you should build up or shape if you already have it. If you feel awkward or nervous going up to company reps at career fairs, then you are a normal human being. The more times you do it, the less it will bother you. You need to try not to show it, though, if you are feeling uneasy. That's why it's good to go up to companies that you have hardly any interest in, and just work on your skills. In time, you will be a natural. Some people get so nervous and worked up, and then go straight to the top company on their list and just give a horrible impression of their true self. Progressively work your way up to the companies that you really want to look at seriously. That's why I recommend spending several hours at a career fair experimenting and learning what to do. Another thing to remember is that you are interviewing these people as well because you will be dedicating at least a few years of your life to the company that you choose to work for. You want to make sure that they are really right for you. Take your time, build up confidence, and leave the most personable and natural representation of yourself with the reps working for the companies that matter most to you. Oh, and you'll probably end up getting interviews and offers from some of those "practice" companies. Take the interviews to gain experience, or leave them on the table if you honestly are studying that much for your history of bubble gum exam and can't spare a half hour of your time. Is that a real class? I don't know. It should be.

Or Myspace. Or both. Or even some rare one that I don't know about. This social networking website phenomenon is a tremendous resource to aid you in your job and internship search. Less than a year ago, facebook started allowing people to register with their company emails. Now, anyone can register - but that's beside the point. You can search your friends' professional info for a company that you are interested in. You can search their friends to see who they work for. You can even search for random people that you don't even know that work for a specific company. Although this is border-line stalking and kind of creepy, as long as you are classy and tactful about it then I think you should use it. Don't go messaging random people asking them to refer you. In companies, if they refer you and you end up performing poorly or getting fired then how does that look for them? I'm not about to risk my career to recommend someone who randomly sent me a message through myspace or facebook. As long as they are your friend or a friend of a friend or a friend from the past that you don't really talk to anymore but you still check their profile every now and then, I think you could at least ask about their job role, how they like the company, and what they would recommend you do to rise above the other candidates in interviews. These social networking sites allow you to see clearly where people work and how closely they are related socially to you. Years ago, you would have to go to college networking fairs, mixers, and other events that took up a lot of time and didn't yield direct results. Now you can find people who you already know that work for the company that you are looking at…in a matter of seconds. Advantage....you. Stay classy.

I know many people that still list relatives and parents of their friends down as references on applications and resumes. This may have worked for your first job bagging groceries or renting movies (those were the days), but now you need solid, professional references. The easiest way to obtain a good reference and more importantly, a mentor, is to get to know one of the professors that you really enjoy. Attend office hours enough to where you are comfortable enough to carry on conversations that do not revolve around school. If you enjoy and respect the opinions of this person, this should not be a task at all. You will probably get great advice for getting a 4.0 in the course, how to survive college, and more than enough tips for life after college. The other good reference would be from an employer on campus or the ultimate reference, your boss from a summer internship. Just ask for a reference letter at the end of your term of employment (assuming you did not get canned, and actually performed above average), and you will be money. Get around 3-6 reference letters that were written during your college years. If you are going for a full-time job, it's good to have them from the last 2 years of college. Not all employers will ask for the actual letters, but all of my applications required at least 3 references, phone numbers, and my relationship to that person. Obtain the letters just to have in case they are needed, or you can go down the risky route with no letters and grandma as your reference. Your choice.

I just noticed this today again when browsing a career site at a smaller university. They use MonsterTrak as their online career resource. When my school did this, the site basically filtered all of the jobs for the region I was in. This was pretty much a waste because there were jobs in there that required years of experience or they wern't even hiring graduates or they were the typical work at home scams. I think it would be cool if universities could use a site like MonsterTrak.com or CBCampus.com to host jobs that employers have specifically given to the university to post. For smaller universities that don't have their own internal job searching sites this would be a huge benefit for them. I can't access our dedicated site on monstertrak anymore (that whole graduating thing locks you out of some resources), so I would be curious to see if it is still pulling jobs from the main monster.com jobs database and just filtering them for your region. I'll look into that.

Everyone and their mothers has either a cell phone or an ipod, gigabeat, sansa, zune, or or [insert your mp3 player here] to their ear at all times when walking around campus or town. When you walk into a career fair, meeting room for candidates prior to interviewing, or any other location where you are trying to find a job or internship, put the cell phones and ipods away. Take the time to talk to other people, and find out what they know. Talk to any company reps greeting people. Do anything that makes it appear that you can socialize and not just rock out to the newest track from The Fray or talk to your friend about that guy that you stared at for 45 minutes at the bar last night (OMG!!!). Some people claim that it helps them relax before interviewing. Listen to whatever song it is that pumps you up or settles you down on the way to the interview or career fair, and then just keep it in your head. No earbuds though. I think it sends a horrible impression if you are just sitting there bobbing your head or intently listening to nature sounds with your eyes closed (funny as it sounds, you will no doubt see other candidates doing these things). Moral of the story: take the opportunity to learn from your classmates and company reps rather than draining the battery power on your phone or musical device.

I've been thinking about this for awhile, and it's time to release this into the wild. What if employers either interviewed over AIM or included an AIM or other type of messaging session in the interviewing process? That would be nuts, but I can see why they would. In my office, we use windows messenger to communicate more so than phone, among the younger generation. It's less distracting since we are in cubes and talking on the phone can bother other people, and the person can answer whenever they get a break in their work. Our generation grew up chatting online, so its only natural to continue this trend when we need to work with others who are located across the office. What happens when more of our generation is in the workplace, and eventually clients will be IM'ing us. You'll have to maintain a professional tone and communicate as effectively as you could over the phone. I'm not saying that messaging will replace the phone, but I can see it becoming widely used in business as we start to take the reigns. Employers and recruiters may start using a test IM session with possible candidates to see how quickly and effectively they can present themselves through this medium. I doubt it will ever become an interviewing tool (other than to schedule meetings) as you have to meet students and candidates in person with the liability and investment in hiring someone who is new. Just you wait, it will probably happen. Something to think about.

If you know you want to work in a certain region or state than check out this link from Fortune Magazine. It lists the top rated companies to work for in every state according to them. I was a little disappointed to see only one company listed for the entire state of Indiana, but it is Indiana. There are plenty of companies listed for the states with major metropolitan areas, so if you are heading to California or the east coast you are in luck. They have a lot of other rankings on their site, so just explore it to get ideas on where to work if you are not sure about companies that are out there. Just remember that the higher ranked the company, the more candidates that you will have to compete with. Be prepared for more rounds of interviews, and much higher standards. I would encourage you to look into smaller businesses and rankings in that venue for more opportunities if you find yourself getting turned down by well known companies. Instead of getting frustrated you need to readjust your strategy otherwise you will burn out looking for jobs.

Even though the semester is not even halfway done, you should be close to securing an internship offer by now. Most companies hiring summer interns like to get this recruiting completed by the end of fall. The programs usually start in May and last only a few months, so no time will be wasted in the spring traveling to your campus to recruit. A lot of students wonder why they aren't getting internships, and most of the time it's because they are waiting until spring when there are fewer companies hiring interns and more students looking to be those interns. Get out there early, secure your offer, and relax knowing that you have a job for next summer that doesn't involve flipping burgers, pushing carts, or waiting tables. Internships will give you professional experience that will look great on the resume, which in another year or two could be the key to finding a full-time position. Think about it.

To help you find out about more companies or what your classmates are doing with their job and internship searching, you should join clubs sponsored by your school or degree program. Join a marketing club if you're a marketing major, or a web design club if you are a fine arts student studying graphic design. You people are great resources for each other, and should utilize each other's knowledge. Talk about what works and doesn't in your interviews, and how you can make your resume even more appealing to recruiters. It's good to support each other through the job searching process as it can be overwhelming and nerve-racking at times. Don't overlook the resource that is all around you.

There are tons of college students looking to get a job with their favorite sports team, usually on the professional level. Where do you go to find jobs like this? Once upon a time (sophomore year), I was interested in getting a job with the U.S. National Soccer Association. I found this site, TeamworkOnline.com, which is basically linked to every professional league in the United States. You'll find jobs for each specific team, league, and career fair events for the sports industry or a specific league. Your cheapest bet is to look for a sports career fair in the nearest metropolitan area. The two that I went to were $35 each, but included tickets to an Indiana Pacers game. Different levels and types of leagues are represented at these career fairs, and you will see professional organizations, minor league teams, and even high school and college representatives. Honestly, your best bet is to start on the low end with a farm league baseball team or even a high school or college program. Most professional organizations only accept experienced sports industry workers or interns who have paid their dues. When you intern for a sports organization, you end up passing out gifts at the handout nights, running promotional booths, or any other type of low end job. You have to start somewhere and work for it though, so if you work hard at whatever the task is and really want it when you graduate with a degree and the 2 summers of interning with whatever team it may be, you will have a much better chance of working in the front office. If you love sports, even the less glamorous intern work will be fun and worth it. Good luck!

This is why you need to start searching early for a job that you will enjoy. Don't end up like this guy.

The large, green rental car company is predicted to hire more graduating college students this year than any other employer. I swear they have been number one for at least the past 3 years. Should it be your number one job choice, though? The manager training program is a rotational program, so it has that going for it. You get to rock out in accounting, sales, and even wash some cars. They really do a good job of showing you the entire business, and you get to experience even the less desirable job duties so that you understand and appreciate how it all works. But it is a car rental business so you have to be good at selling stuff that customers don't necessarily need. I have rented cars from multiple companies and they usually offer insurance, which you don't need if you have personal comprehensive auto insurance, and other things that just increase the cost of the rental. I used to work in an electronics retail store in high school and we had to offer those extended warranties to every customer when we knew how often the services were actually needed (check consumer reports' archive on this, they did a revealing study). I hated pitching it, but others loved it because of the comissions earned. If you can handle the sales with a shade of gray, than I would say this is an excellent opportunity to learn about running your own company and then actually running it. Check out the Enterprise application page to find out about it for yourself.

I'm sure a lot of you are going through all the different rounds and stages of interviewing right now for your dream jobs. Leave a comment and let me know how its going or if you have any questions. Some things to remember about interviewing:

* Don't let the recruiter interview you the entire time. Interview them.
* Ask them some BIG questions:
o What are you looking for in the ideal candidate for this position?
o Describe the culture of your company, if you could.
o What daily tasks will I be performing as a fresh out of college employee?
o What percentage of my time will be spent doing mundane, entry level work?
o What percentage of my time would I be traveling?
o What do you offer for your customers and more importantly, your employees, that other companies do not?
o What is the turnover percentage right now and what kind of chances do I have of growing my career with you?
* Just relax and enjoy learning about possibly working for this company.

The biggest thing that most companies are looking for in a college graduate is personal skills. If they can talk and carry on a casual and pleasant conversation with you then your chances of securing an offer are pretty good. It may take a few rounds of interviewing, but it will happen. Be sure to dress appropriately, suits in most occasions but at least a tie for guys or a nice blouse/top for the ladies (women's clothing is not my area of expertise so help me out ladies). I wish you all the best of luck, and if you have any questions send me a message by email or leave a comment.