One of the most important things to your career and future after college is getting some experience in your field; the only problem is you are still a college student. Many companies will skim over your resume and probably throw it away.  If you are lucky you might get a call back from a company who is willing to give you a chance.  Most of the time it really comes down to who you know and not what you know.  If your dad is the VP at some company you will most likely get a job there because your dad pushed your application through.  You may also know someone who works in the specific field you are interested in and that could be your window of opportunity to getting a job, but more importantly getting some experience in your field.   What if you are the ladder?

What if you don’t know anyone in your field?  What if your dad isn’t the VP of some company that can give you a job tomorrow?  Then what?  Be prepared for a lot of frustration and rejection.  I hate to tell it like it is but it all comes down to who you know and not what you know.  If you don’t know anyone that can help you get your foot in the door then you’ll probably fight an uphill battle to get some experience in your field.  You can’t just sit back and wait for someone to find you, or something good to come along, you have to go out and make it happen yourself.  This will only strengthen your personal skills and your confidence as you will get a lot of practice meeting new people and talking about your skills and experiences.  You’ll also be able to identify your weaknesses and be able to make them better.

Most employers are looking for the perfect candidate to fit their position and their are probably a lot of people who will apply for the same job that you do, and may be more qualified then you.  So what do you do in this cut- throat process of finding experience in your field?  Stand out from the rest.  Find things that you have done in life that makes you better than the others.  Identify your biggest strengths and then emphasize them on your resume and during interviews. What makes you better than the rest?  If you can’t think of anything then find something to do in your free time which will make you stand out from the rest.

My example is simple:  I’ve always wanted to own and operate a website ever since I can remember so I decided to learn web design and development one summer break during college.  SMB College Life is what I have to show for my initiative.  I studied web design and development on my free time, observed a lot of other websites and finally came up with the perfect combination to present as my ‘final work.’  The best part is that employers love it.  Most people I talk to love the fact that I say I want to do something, and then learn the things that I need to in order to do it.  This is what makes me different from others.  While most people talk about they things that they want to do and identify the things that stand in their way but never take action I actually take the necessary actions and learn what I need to in order to do the things I want.  Great things come out of taking action and you’ll have a great experience to talk about which helps you to stand out from the rest at your next interview.  Good Luck!

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For seniors planning to graduate in the Fall Semester of 2008 now is the time to start aggressively planning for your future.  I say aggressively because you need to hit the job market hard to let companies know that you exist.  Take the summer months to beef up your resume and add anything you might think is important.  Once you have a strong resume you want to start making contact with as many companies and human resources departments as possible.  You need to start cold calling.  I know it’s hard to pick up the phone and sell yourself, but with a little practice you can get good at it very quickly.  You want to build yourself up to contacting the companies you really want to work for so that you have plenty of experience talking with professionals and answering questions about yourself.

If you are graduating in the fall you may be thinking that this will be your last summer of freedom.  You might want to take the time to think about something that you’ve always wanted to do and then do plan how you are going to do it this summer.  You’ll hopefully be starting your career in January of 2009 so you will want to make sure you start out with no regrets.  You want to look back on college as a learning experience and also as one of the greatest times of you life.  There will be more great times to come as you develop your career and start your own family but your college life will always be something that you remember.  Make it worth your while so that you can look back on the good times.