MyLifeMyCareer.com

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to help recruit college students for some of our open positions at the company I work for. Three things really stuck out during the day:

Dressing for Success is Debatable I look past the whole wearing a suit to a career fair thing, and had some guys and girls with really strong personalities dressed extremely casually who I was impressed with. Keep in mind that I am 24, and don't believe in wearing suits unless you're attending a funeral or wedding - even though I was wearing business casual yesterday. Chances are you will be dealing with a traditional recruiter, so at least wear business casual to play it safe. Most people who have been in business for awhile will not give you the time of day if you're not wearing work attire. If you know that the company you are looking to work for believes in brilliant minds over expensive clothes - match their dress code. There was a company recruiting next to us wearing jeans, sweatshirts, shirts untucked, etc.

Get Out There Early Quite a few freshmen were coming up and asking if I was an alumni member, and needed my business card. It turns out that the professor of one of the intro courses for the school I graduated from was giving extra credit to those who attended the career fair and talked to former students now working. Some would just take the card, but I made quite a few of them work for it, ask a few questions, and as they got comfortable and realized that I am not the normal douche-bag recruiter and would actually answer questions that had nothing to do with my company they started showing interest. I would have loved to have the opportunity as a freshman to go to a career fair and just talk to someone openly about the four years in the program, what to look for, what options are available, and what it's like afterwards. I had a crowd of four students at one time, and even received the comment that I was the most "down to earth and informative person they had talked to at the career fair". Unfortunately, most companies' recruiters are concerned only with qualifying candidates quickly based on their resume and a few questions, and talking strictly about open positions and their company.

Just go No joke, the greatest conversation I had all day was with a third year student studying nursing who just came to the IT career fair because she was early to work at the Union where the fair was being held. She was just talking about school, campus, the basketball season, and she just wanted to know what I thought about IU, living in Indianapolis, and working. It was the most honest and genuine conversation I had all day, where the person wasn't trying to impress me. She's going to be great at interviewing and really finding a position that suits her, rather than her suiting some company. If you're not up to par socially, I would recommend just popping into a career even if it is completely unrelated to your area of study and just approaching recruiters in the same manner. If they're recent grads, they will probably appreciate the conversation and change of pace from reviewing resumes and grilling students. Plus, there are always give-aways at most companies' booths.

Relocating for your new job or internship can be a strain on your personal life, and can also cost a ton of money. One of the benefits that most companies that are known for recruiting college graduates offer is relocation assistance. Be sure to look at the amount offered, and what types of expenses are acceptable to claim as part of your relocation. For most, they will cover the transportation and gas only. The better relocation assistance plans cover your gas, transportation, hotel for you and your family if needed, food while traveling, and the security deposit at your new apartment or rental property. I'm honestly not sure what they cover, if anything, if you have bought a new house.

Coming out of college, you may have some low bank account balances, credit card debt, and looming student loans which you usually won't have to start paying for several months. My student loan payments started a little over six months after graduation which was plenty of time to settle in, and recoup some of the losses incurred in college. Not having to pay anything to move to your new location is huge.

If you are moving to a completely new city where you know very few people, hopefully you start working with other recent graduates because it is hard to meet new people outside of work unless you are a member of a church, local club, or have a pub/sports bar that you go to all of the time. You may or may not have sociable neighbors who are your age, but that all depends on where you live. It's hard to know which apartment complex would have a high density of young professionals, but the easiest way to find one is to look for bars or "hot" nightlife districts. There are always tons of young people that choose to live near these areas in any city. Keep in mind, though, that by living in these areas you have a greater chance of dealing with the pumping bass of your neighbor's stereo just like in the dorm, and that is the last thing you want to hear on a week night trying to get enough sleep to make it through an entire work day.

Relocation is surely a big deciding factor for most people, and it is important to find out the details of how much of your relocation expense balance will be covered. If everything is fully covered and you can cope with moving to a new city, the relocation factor may not be an issue at all letting you focus on the quality of the company. You want to live in a city where you will be happy, and in an area of the city that matches your lifestyle. After the dust settles and the new job smell wears off you are going to experience some dissatisfaction, but that feeling can be exaggerated if you are not content with your living situation, either. Both where you live and where you work will play a big role into your impression and personal review of your first job a couple of months into your new position.

Trendy clothing companies, computer and software companies, food and beverage brands. What do they all have in common? They know that college campuses include dense groups in the 18-24 target demographic. By having on-campus marketing reps, accessing and influencing that demographic could be like shooting fish in a barrel if the marketing concept and plan are executed correctly.

If you are into the game of resume building, and gaming the job-hunting system then these unpaid positions may be your ticket for marketing experience points. How much marketing and experience will you actually pick up? That all depends. Some are as simple as slinging free drinks of a particular brand at the bars on the weekend, and others are more involved like using a software program in classes and going to campus events to promote it (offered by Microsoft several years ago, not sure if it is still around...).

Search job-searching websites, pick up your campus newspaper and look in the classifieds, or check out the career or employment section on the store website the next time you are buying goods on-line to see if they have campus rep positions. There are tons of these opportunities out there, so check them out.

There are two types of college students in their last year of school - those who want a job offer before first semester is over and those that won't start thinking about job offers until first semester is over. It's dangerous to have only one view or the other. You need to mix it up.

How do you know that the right offer will come during fall semester? You don't. How do you know that the offer that you passed up first semester may have been the right offer? You don't and you never will because it is gone. Don't live in the past, and try not to stress yourself out worrying and planning for your future. Your first job will most likely not be your last job, and your first location and company will certainly not be your last. There is room for do-overs and adjusting to get back on track if necessary. Everyone does it, whether they stay with one company their entire career or work for 22 different companies.

You need to educate yourself on what companies you think you would fit into, what type of positions and job responsibilities you would be capable of performing, and what combination of the first two factors will leave you satisfied at the end of workday after workday after workday...

It's never-ending for 45-ish years, unless you fall into the above-average earning category and are able to retire early. You might as well come to the realization early on that you want to have a good job to start off with after college, but it will probably not be your last. It's not a life or death decision picking your first job offer. Your goal for senior year should be to get several offers with companies that provide positions that seem like a good foundation and first step out of education's door. You may guess right, you may pick the wrong one, as well. It's not as big of a deal as everyone makes it out to be.

The big deal is simply getting the first job and making a transition to a new stage in life to find out what you really like and dislike rather than wondering while waiting.

Building on the theme of honesty from yesterday brings us to the next topic: Honest opinions about working for [insert company or manager of your choice]. Many students google the terms, company review, employee feedback, or terms similar to this.

Don't.

This is a horrible idea, and one way to skew your perception of a company and possibly scare you away from a good offer and future opportunity. How likely are you to leave feedback if you had a positive experience? Not very unless you have tons of time, and love to express yourself. Now, how often are you likely to say something when you are treated poorly, given inadequate service, or purchased a busted product? Exactly.

We are quick to yell and let people know when we are not happy, but rarely do we let others know that we are content or satisfied since it is the norm. Does this apply to job or company reviews accessible online? You bet it does. Let me prove it to you.

Go to JobVent.com, which is a site that provides users with a place to rate their current employer. Select any letter of the alphabet to view a list of companies starting with that letter. What do you notice about the resulting list? If you said, Wow, there sure are a lot of negative numbers next to most of these names of companies, then you are correct. Not only are there many more negative numbers than positive numbers, look how low some of those numbers go.

Bottom line, the majority or company or employer reviews are submitted by people who are pissed off, and nine times out of ten they are probably created when the employee had a bad day or right after they were fired or decided to quit. It's human nature to want to share our dissatisfaction for a situation, and many of these people think that they are damaging a company's reputation and fighting back.

As long as you are aware of the fact that sites and forums like this are completely bogus, you will be much better off in your job search. Until companies become more transparent and honest about their successes, and more importantly their failures, the thought to seek out reviews of a company should not even cross your mind.

Depending on what you are into and what you would enjoy doing to put food on the table day after day, going to college may not be for you. According to a recent article in the Kansas City Star, the hot jobs now for the young and career-minded may very well be in technical, trade and skilled service occupations -- such as welders, auto technicians, heavy equipment operators and nurses.(Read more...)

Some of these positions will still require trade school or an associates degree, but just as many you could probably start working right out of high school with the necessary skills being taught on the job. I think that it is important that they mention the issue of perception, and how you will be perceived if you work in a factory or production plant of some type. A friend of mine worked at an auto manufacturing plant for a summer job (not internship) on the line and made $18.00+/hr. Show me a traditional business internship that pays that much by dividing out the salary into hourly portions, and I would be surprised if the business positions payed that much.

There is also the argument that you need to gain the experience from four years on a campus away from home. There is so much that you do gain socially and personally outside of the education, but is it worth $100,000 over those four years? That's definitely a debatable point.

If you enjoy working with your hands or have a technical skill, it's nice to know you have the option of not necessarily having to shell out dough for college. At the same time, many jobs do require an advanced degree of some type. Do what you want, and what you think will make you the happiest now while setting yourself up for future opportunities.

So, you are actively pursuing positions through your campus career resources, but you would like to expand your search to the internet. You know that this is not the best avenue to take, but you're going to take it anyway. Which job posting site will you choose? Where will you post your resume?

I'll give you a hint: use SimplyHired.

You can perform a job search from many different job posting websites and company websites all from one place. You can post your resume to five different major job-posting sites with one click. Why limit yourself to just one job posting site? Why go from site to site looking for the same position? Do it all in one place.

Don't get me wrong, you will still get work at home scams and pyramid scheme opportunities that you will have to sift through, but at least you are searching smarter through one site instead of 23 separate sites.

In the May 2007 issue of Wired Magazine (the one with Heroes actor Masi Oka on the cover), a new type of position is mentioned in Jargon Watch.

Online Analyst
n. Hired by companies like Coca-Cola and AT&T to monitor what's being said about them on social networks and blogs, online analysts use the Internet as a vast upaid focus group.

I would think that many new college graduates would be perfect for this position with the knowledge of social networks, blogs, search engines, and maintaining a reputation online. Unfortunately, this isn't a widely available position and I could only find a perfect match for the position offered through New Media Strategies, a hot company out of DC. The downside is that the position requires 2-3 years of professional experience, so it would be more of a longshot for college graduates. Check out the NMS career page for internships and other positions to see if it is up your alley.

Look at the quality of positions that appear in the classified ads online or in print, and tell me what you see. You may see a few "name brand" companies, but you will see very few reputable companies - especially reputable companies that are offering entry-level positions to college graduates.

The best companies and available positions need no advertising or marketing budget. They will have enough candidates that will seek out the positions through the desire to work for a certain company. Yes, the competition will be greater, and your chances of landing an offer for the position will be much slimmer. It's worth the fight to put in the effort of marketing yourself to a company for the chance to land an offer for a position that will provide a solid foundation for the rest of your career.

It's much more important to look past the immediate goal of landing a job, and rather to look for an opportunity that will provide you the skills and experience that will allow you to improve yourself and prepare for the next stage in your career.

(source: The Dirty Dozen Online Job Mistakes - Job-Hunt.org)

The "dirty dozen" mistakes are worth reading over, but I don't agree with all of the points made. Here's my responses and additions to the 12 points:

1. Identity theft from a resume? Your name, phone number, and address are publicly available information anyway. Look in a phone book. As long as you don't put your social security or identification number on your resume I doubt that your identity would be stolen based on this information alone. Just be smart and don't give your resume to shady companies or every recruiter or career site online.

2. Agree. Use niche and industry specific career websites to find legitamate, yet still competitive opportunities. Stay away from big name sites like Careerbuilder and Monster.com, unless you have absolutely no idea what you want to do and want to look for possible positions that may interest you. Find the positions and then go back to the niche/industry specific career sites to apply for similar positions.

3. What are the odds that two recruiters from two completely different companies will be talking about you specifically? C'mon, that is ridiculous. Don't worry about submitting to many applications, but don't submit a resume and cover letter for a position unless it has been personalized for that company and position. This can take a couple of hours for one position to research the company and positions enough to write a meaningful and targeted cover letter.

4. "People are hired by people". Best point out of the whole article. 90% or more of your time searching for jobs should be at campus or local career fairs, or through the campus job posting board which is usually online. Companies usually have ties with your university and will hire a certain number of graduates specifically from your school. Get out there and sell yourself rather than hiding behind your monitor hoping for an email response.

5. Agree. If you were at a career fair and knew the requirements for the job opening would you still go up to the recruiters? Probably not as the odds are against you. This doesn't mean you can't get the job, especially if your personal skills make up for your academic shortcomings.

6. Agree. You're never going to get a legitamate job offer through email. That's unprofessional and I wouldn't respect any company that didn't give me the offer in person or at least over the phone. So, you might as well get out there and meet company recruiters as soon as possible because you are going to have to at some point down the road anyway.

7. Agree. Searching for a new job at work is a horrible idea. I don't know how many companies honestly check their internet logs, but do not do this. It's unprofessional and unethical.

8. Agree. Always research on the company site, look for press releases, and try to find what current and past employees have said about the company. Leverage MySpace and Facebook to search for the company name to see if someone you know works there or if someone you don't know has posted information regarding the company. On that note, never post specific information regarding your current work situation as this may violate a form that you probably signed when you were hired. Also, be wary of sites that review companies by user input, as most people who post on these sites have some beef with the company and will shed a negative light on an otherwise solid company.

9. I hope you are smart enough to treat email communications the same way you would handle a conversation in person with an employer. It's always smarter to be more formal than more casual.

10. Ridiculous point. Most companies have email filters and attachment filters that scan and block emails with viruses. Worst case scenerio is that if you have a virus and don't know about it that your messages will be blocked by these filters, and you will eventually figure it out.

11. Another ridiculous point, but also very true. I knew too many people who relied heavily on the career counselors rather than taking matters into their own hands. Keep in mind that career counselors have hundeds of other students to accomodate.

12. Everyone should post their resume on a personal site. You can buy a domain name for a couple bucks which is good for an entire year, and create a simple web page to post your bio and resume. Including a url with your full name or last name where recruiters can access the information from anywhere is a nice touch. Get one of your tech-savvy friends to help you out if you are unsure how to do this.

The point from yesterday which may or may not have been clear was this:

Stop searching for the right positions.

Even if you find the perfect position that has requirements and job responsibilities that are so money that you can't possibly turn down the opportunity to apply, there is a good chance that you will be unhappy before your first 6 months with ABC company are up. Find a company that has a great track record for providing great positions and opportunity's for entry-level college graduates and a low turn-over ratio. Find a company that you could see yourself working for, not because of the name, but for what they have to offer. You will be happier and have a better chance of working for a company for an extended period of time. Searching for jobs is a lot of work, so make sure you won't be doing it all over again in six months.

Take the example of the different types of car buyers. Some see a car that looks cool, so they buy the car regardless of the warranty, company history, and service record. A year down the road when it is breaking down and going in for repairs every 3-4 months they are looking for a new car, this time with a reputable auto manufacturer. Others buy a car because of the name and what other people will think of them behind the wheel of this car that does the same thing as any other car. They can't even afford the car, are strapped for cash even to pay the lease because they couldn't afford to buy it, but they had to have thee car. Then there are those buyers who search for the brand that has been getting the highest quality ratings, best customer service before and after the sale, and provide a product that they can stand behind. These people are satisfied long after the purchase which leads to a more comfortable and satisfying life. No buyer's remorse.

It's the same with college students looking for companies to work for. Some will see a flashy, new company that has only been around a few years, is on the stock market, and has potential for high salaries and bonuses. Once they start working for the company they realize that management is not very intelligent, they are working insane hours doing crappy work, and start searching for a new job a few weeks after starting. Others work for the big name companies that come with a nameplate, urban penthouse, and corporate expense account. They too end up working 60-70 hour weeks on the road, and end up burning out before they can spend any money or relax. But, they work for so-and-so which allows them to sleep at night.

You just put in 4-5 tough years of college, and there is nothing better than working in a relaxed atmosphere, coming home at the end of the day, and going out every now and then. That is what it is all about, and it is possible if you start searching for the right company instead of the right position.

Hint: the right companies have the right positions.

I was thinking today about how I had no idea what positions to look for when I searching for jobs and internships. I just remember that my thought process in college was, "Oh, I'm good with databases. I will be a database administrator because it is a position that was listed on so-and-so's website and it has to do with databases".

I think it is important to identify what you enjoy and what you think you would like to do after college. It's the best first step that you can take. Let's be honest, none of us really know what we want to be, but we have a pretty good idea and that's all that matters.

Once that is identified it is time to search and you search for what you like to do. Well, I like to study music and new artists, so I will be a.....hmmm. I don't really know what that is called. A new music study-er and listener of artists that play instruments? So, this person starts to search online for positions and finds a few that sound like they fit and start applying.

This is the equivalent of treading water while having a couple of bricks chained to your ankles. That's right - you will drown, or in our case not find a job. You need to think about finding a job in a different way. Start by researching the companies that you enjoy. You don't enjoy any companies? Sure you do, you just don't realize it.

When you're listening to music, the album is produced by a studio, distributed by a record label, and sold through many music distributors. Look on the back of an album or your favorite band's website for companies that they are involved with. Look at the stores where you buy the music. Look at the websites and blogs and magazines where you study and learn about new artists. Now, look for the career pages on these websites for these companies, and see what kind of entry-level positions they have. They may not have the position of your dreams listed, but they will probably have a position listed that will allow you to get your foot in the door and a few years from now have that position of your dreams.

You will find realistic opportunities this way, rather then searching for positions blindly (while treading water with cement - you get the point). Graduating from college does not guarantee you Awesome Position 2007. You still have to fight and claw your way into a position among hundreds of thousands of other graduates.

Who knows? After a few years working entry-level and learning the ropes you could be [insert dreamy position here] (in case you were getting sick of the music listener and study-er position).

It's inevitable that you will search for jobs online through sites like Monster or Careerbuilder, and you should just to have your resume out there because you never know what may result. Your best opportunities for jobs are going to be found through your on campus recruiting resources or career services department. I will keep stressing this over and over, but to help you out if you are applying for jobs online through other more general sites which are not very beneficial to college students here are some pointers.

Do not apply for a job that has more than the position you are applying for in the title of the ad. You should see "Associate Analyst", "Entry-Level Registered Nurse", "Junior Layout Designer", etc. Avoid jobs with titles like the following (taken directly from cbcampus.com entry-level job search, try it out):

"Looking for Entry Level at 25?? Why not be in Management at 30?"
"TIRED OF DOING TWICE THE WORK FOR HALF THE PAY???"
"New Entry Level Openings - Training Provided"
"***Junior Account Executives*** Full Training / Entry Level!"
"Are You Tired of Being Turned Down For Lack Of Experience?"

The sad thing is, these and many more were listed on the very first page of search results. You will soon have a college degree. Do not even think about applying with a company that puts out crap like this. This is the equivalent of email spam in the online job search world. Any title that includes the words, "training provided", is a dead give away. You see, I received training when I was 16 and started my first minimum wage job. If a company needs to sell you on the fact that "training is provided", you have my permission to laugh at them because they are a joke.

Another dead give away for a POS position: using punctuation characters in the title. I am not a ***Business Analyst!!. I am simply a business analyst. However, this would spice up the ol' business card. Avoid job spam. Or joam. Or Spob. Whatever you want to call it.

Did you apply with at least 20 companies or submit resumes and cover letters to 20 different companies’ recruiters? It’s March 1st, and the challenge is over. If you missed your mark, and still have not hit your prize offer then keep going. Try to get some final round interviews and maybe an offer or two before you leave for a week of laying on the beach, kicking it in the ocean, and maybe even having a few drinks to take off the edge if you are 21+, of course.

A friend of mine suggested this website which has advice on interviewing, resume tips, as well as a section on career fairs. At first glance, you will think that the advice is centered on those in the construction or building management areas of study, but much of the advice is more applicable to job searching and interviewing for all of the different types of positions and jobs that are availlabe. The point made on the side of the first page sums up the key to job searching:

“One of the best indicators of probable success is the degree to which a person is proactive with their job search.”

How’s the challenge coming along? 20 resume AND cover letter submissions by March 1st, baby. Hopefully you are all rocking it out. I apologize for not posting yesterday, I try to post 5 days a week or whenever I have something valuable that I need to get out there, but I was actually catching up on work from time that I lost last week to the Valentine’s Day Blizzard.

I stumbled upon a great college student oriented audio broadcast, possibly a podcast - I don’t know, in which students that were in a career class were asking Dick Bolles, the author of What Color Is Your Parachute? (a great book, check it out) questions about their search. Listening to this podcast was bizarre because I could relate to both sides. I remember the ideas, the jobs that I thought I wanted, and what I was feeling while searching for jobs last year. On the flip side of the coin, now I also feel like I could answer my own questions from the past right along with Mr. Bolles. It was a deja-vu experience for me, and I think you will learn a few things from listening.

I especially liked the first caller, “I’m a senior plus, plus, plus…”. What does that even mean?

I’ve got a little challenge for everyone still looking for a job or internship:

Apply with at least 20 companies by March 1st.

This may seem like a lot, but considering that submitting a unique resume and cover letter online at your university’s career web site or directly through the company’s website takes about a half hour you should be able to do this.

Doing this will produce at least a few callbacks if not quite a few. I would rather you have more callbacks and opportunities than you can handle rather than sitting there wondering if a job will land in your lap.

If there are on-campus meet-n-greet opportunities with employers and recruiters, go check them out. Make yourself available, so that companies know you exist.

Don’t be just another 12pt font Times New Roman name that gets passed over in the resume pile.

Good question brought up after that last post. I guess that would have been useful information. How do you get an internship aka quasi-professional position when you have never had any other professional experience? Always work from the time you get a car until present day, and avoid having large gaps of time where you are unemployed. This is the truth, walk around any career fair and just listen to the questions being asked by recruiters. I have been grilled on this, and many others have as well. Work ethic is a thing of the past, and if you have held steady jobs (an indicator that you realize work is necessary even though it is not always fun) for significant amounts of time this will bode well in the interviews. Believe it or not, you gain professional skills in almost every job, and these are what you need to put on your resume under your work experience. As previously mentioned, I worked for an estate management company the summer after my freshman year. Did I put "mowing straight lines", "gassing up the riders", and "trimming perfect edges" as my skills? Yes. Just kidding. Rather, I put "worked collaboratively and independently in a fast-paced, demanding environment", "developed multi-tasking skills by working in different positions on over 25 different properties", and "took pride in my work, and developed a strong sense of accountability". Sounds good, and it's true. Dig deep to find out what you really took away from a job that may seem ridiculous when you look at the position or title you held. What if you don't work? Are you screwed? Up the Ganges without an oar, so to speak? Not totally, but you are definitely at a disadvantage to your competition. If you don't work I would recommend taking 18+ credit hours of courses each semester and going to school in the summer and graduating in 2.5 years, and holding a 3.5+ GPA. College is definitely considered a "job" where you build up skills. Be sure to mention collaborative projects, research papers, favorite courses, technical skills, and all of that. One of the biggest questions I got in almost all of my interviews was actually a statement: "Describe a time when you worked with others as a team to complete a project and the problems you encountered along the way as well as the solutions developed to prevail". Be ready for this one, because you rarely work alone in professional settings, and they want to make sure you agree that there is no 'I' in team. I'm sure there's more that I will remember and add to this at some point down the road.

Many internships don't last the entire summer, so it's going to be tough to find housing for say, 2 months. Look for companies that offer housing for summer interns, where you will usually room with others interning at the same company. Most of the time you will be in an average to above average apartment or condo. Look for internships that pay. It used to be hard to find internships that came with a paycheck, since you would essentially be learning the entire summer. Now, there are many internships that offer decent summer wages for your work, even though you will probably not be making a significant impact in your 2-3 month tenure. Companies are willing to invest a couple thousand dollars into summer interns, and then they will hopefully pick their full-time employees from the same pool the following year when they are graduating seniors. This way, the new hires are not at square one when they start after graduating, and can transition into their new roles more easily. Not only do internships look great on the resume (biggest seller in my opinion - a MUST), they could also lead to an almost guaranteed full-time position with a company if you enjoyed your summer. That means ZERO extra stress figuring out what you will do after you graduate. What will you actually do in a summer internship? This will vary from working with other interns on meaningful projects that will help the company to simply being at the office and pushing papers. That's why it is important to really ask a lot of questions when you are interviewing, so that you actually enjoy your summer and don't have to count down the days until your return to campus. Fortunately, internship programs have become quite popular and competitive among different companies, which is good for you. This means more internship opportunities and less BS work during the hot summer months. Right now, I would say the internship hiring process is probably picking up from where it left off in the fall based on emails that I'm still getting from my old campus career center. I wonder how long those will keep coming? Get out there and get some.

There still may be big name companies hiring soon to be college graduates, and many students build up infatuations for a company because of the salary, location, advertised job duties, or state of the art offices. Keep in mind that if the thought of working for "Awesome Company" is satisfying to you, than you will probably be in a line with tons of other students with their jaws on the floor, drooling on everything. And unless you have a 3.8+ GPA and the personality of your favorite comedian and actor/actress combined, you may get a few interviews but most likely will not be hired. The reality of the matter is this: I had the same feelings towards "big game" (yes, like in hunting in a safari setting) companies, and I know people who made it all the way through because they had the resumes, background, and personality to warrant the company taking a risk on hiring them. The majority of them have either quit or complain non-stop about being under utilized and how they feel like they were lied to in the hiring process. That's how our generation is perceived by the baby boomers and managers ahead of us: we were raised with a silver spoon in our mouths, and don't know anything about work ethics or working several years before getting that first promotion. We want it now or we're leaving. We get a horrible reputation due to the fact that so many students take jobs and accept offers with companies that are a horrible match for them leading to this negative attitude towards work. This leads to poor performance, bad reviews, and eventually resignations or dismissals (nice words for quitting and firing). Take the time to look for companies outside of your current spectrum, and you will find many diamonds in the rough. Align yourself with multiple, possible employers who agree with your personality, ambitions, and values. You will immediately begin to not only see, but feel the change in your perspective of companies out there. Then you will say to yourself, "Hmm...I guess it was just an infatuation".

I haven't used CB in a serious manner since I became employed, but the other day I checked it out for about 30 minutes to see if the filtering and searching had improved. They have a new interface, and from what I could tell there were not as many blatant work at home scams posted. I will elaborate more on this at a later time and maybe even put together a searching tutorial to find the jobs aimed at college students, but for now the basic findings. Do not search for just entry level positions in your desired industry. There were way too many jobs that were not what I would call quality opportunities, and then there were some that a candidate with a HS degree could apply for. Here and there in between these types of jobs you will find your quality jobs offered by average to solid companies. The best way to find them is to search for a specific position, like "financial analyst" or "consultant". The more specific you are, the greater your chances are of getting less results with more potential rather than a crapload of crap with very little potential. And then you have the hundreds or thousands of other students who actually took the time to find the same jobs that you will be competing with on a nationwide basis. Either way, I still had to search for a long time to find several positions that I might have been interested in a year ago. I will take a more detailed look at CB.com and CBcampus.com as well as the other sites, and will get an updated guide posted by the end of your winter breaks, so that if you choose to use these sites you won't waste too much time. I still like your odds using your campus career site and resources. Less competition, targeted jobs for college students, on-campus recruiting, and way less hours spent searching for jobs.

With the hype and long lines of consumers that come with every video game system release, I can guarantee that there are many opportunities for college students to work for different type of interactive media companies. You know the big companies like Microsoft (XBOX 360), Sony (PS3 and PSP), and Nintendo (Wii & DS). These are very popular, and you will have much greater competition getting into. Go small, and work your way up. Everyone goes for the big names or bust, and then when they don't get picked out of the thousands of applicants they complain why they can't find a job. You on the other hand will be working your way into the industry as a fresh out of college, very little professional experience, but ready to learn employee. Look into entertainment software companies first and foremost. You know when you fire up a game and you see the logos as the game is loading. Take note of them and look them up online to see what kind of careers they have. Another popular route to take more than ever is cell phone media and gaming companies. You know, those companies that provide ringtones, videos, and gaming. This segment of the market is very hot right now, and many smaller companies are around. These companies are not just for programmers or video game players. Again, they need all of the standard business positions such as accountants, sales people, and marketing associates. They also need many artists, both for in-game art and printed materials, logos, etc. The lessons here that can be applied to any other industry or company: think smaller companies with less competition among applicants. Also, remember that just because a company is in an industry unrelated to your major, they still have many business type positions. Just because you are applying with a slinky company doesn't mean you will be winding up plastic and dropping it down the test stairs. You could be designing new ads, balancing budgets, or managing business sectors. Horrible example, I know.

What jobs will be popular? Well the people at collegeboard venture to guess the top 10 positions that will be booming now and until then. A lot of medical positions, secondary ed teachers, and then of course many computer related jobs. What does this mean for you the college student? Do what you want really, but if you want to be sure to have a job, at least for a few years, then major in science, education, or any of the multitude of computing degrees. We all look at these statistics and salary predictions, and I guarantee that it weighs on your career and degree decisions. Be sure to pick something that you enjoy doing everyday, though, not just something that is predicted as being a good career route. You will be working at least 5 days a week after you graduate which takes up a good chunk of the ol' life and available time, so be sure you're into whatever it is you are doing. There's your feel good message for the week, enjoy that.

I've always said that your campus career center's resume submission/posting website will produce actual results and more than any other job posting sites combined. I won't say that this new evidence proves this point, simply because this isn't a scientific matter. It certainly does support it though. I had another job interview offer today. I graduated six months ago. I already have been working for four months. I haven't touched that resume since early spring when I stopped using the career resources on my campus after I had accepted a job offer. That's the fourth interview offer since I graduated, so if you are worried about finding that first job after you graduate there will still be openings. Use the career resources and website on your campus much more than any other job posting site out there. It's simple as that, but it's hard to understand because of the heavy advertising by the larger sites that may blind you. I'm not saying to use just the campus career resources. You need to put your resume everywhere you can, but now you know which one will yield the best results. Nice.

Remember the internet boom at the end of the late 90's which resulted in one of the biggest stock market busts of our young lives? Can you imagine graduating in 1999 and getting a job with a west coast startup company that was advertised as the greatest company to work for at the time, only to have your job disappear faster than the rabbit in the hat at a bad magic show? That would suck, and you need to be wary more than ever of young companies that seem poised to make millions for many years to come. So many business and financial publications and analysts are predicting that there are many signs pointing to not only the next internet boom, but also a real estate boom. Both industries will be hiring many graduates, so be sure to research the heck out companies who you may decide to pursue. Working for a young company (less than 5 years old) is like investing in a slightly risky stock. You may luck out and make some good money starting early with the next Google, or you may end up getting screwed working for the next pets.com. I miss that sock puppet, though. It sucks that the career sites are just loaded with scams and shady companies making it very difficult to find real, solid jobs that are aimed at college graduates. That's why I don't advertise on this site, because the AdWords that come up are always a 'work from home' or 'paid survey' or 'work for this company and make 6 figures your first year'. That's unacceptable and shouldn't be displayed on a legitimate career oriented site. Look out for the scams, unstable companies, and unrealistic opportunities as you move forward in this wild job market after college.

I don't know too many companies that are without an on-line career site that handles resume submissions and job postings. This means you can submit your resume all over the place. I guarantee you will not hear back from half of them if they are larger companies, but that leaves the other half to hope for. Always submit a cover letter explaining why you are the right candidate for the position, a skill or experience that qualifies you, and then a nice little ending. The cover letter in my opinion really sets you apart from everyone else and gives you a chance to show off your personality. Plus, all those lazy people who just upload their resume and submit them without the big CV won't compete with your extra effort. Companies can still tell who really took the time to submit a thoughtful cover letter and perfectly constructed resume over the ones who just treated the experience like the drive thru at your fast food restaurant of choice ordering off the value menu. Include something about the company that you really like, and research their website to find inspiration. Keep it short, personal, and true (for more details, check out the book, shameless promotion I know). Good luck. The more jobs you apply for then the greater your exposure and chances of being noticed in a faceless online job market. Once again, your best chances for job and internship offers will be at career fairs and campus interviews/events. Too many college students fall into the trap of searching for careers online due to the heavy marketing of those types of sites, and the effort and time spent on-line is not worth near as much as attending career fairs.

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.

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.

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!

I just saw a commercial on tv for Careerbuilder.com claiming to have the most job postings than any other provider out there. This is probably true thanks to the thousands of jobs posted by work at home scammers, get paid to shop, take surveys and earn loads of cash, and other bottomless pit ventures. It's so hard to find the good jobs on that site as they are all covered by the steaming loaf of fake jobs. I would recommend using CBcampus.com or monstertrak.com rather than their parent sites as they are more centered at college students looking for jobs (or those with limited professional experience). I know that you will still find work at home scams there as well, but there aren't too many jobs posted where you have to have more than a year of experience. One day they will realize that asking for better filtering and controls to make these sites much more useful is a reasonable request. Until then, be patient and good luck sifting through the garbage of "more jobs than anyone else".