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Simply getting a college degree will definitely play an important role in landing a job or advancing a career, but these days it often won’t to be enough. There are specific steps every student should take while in school, so that they are properly positioned for post-graduation career opportunities.

Some of the key things to consider as ways to jumpstart your career while still in school include:

Setting Your Own Personal Learning Agenda

While in college your goal should be to focus on personal and professional growth, not just grades. You need to take control of your learning path and make sure that as you work your way through your degree courses, youre focusing as much on what will happen after you graduate as you are on acing your assignments. In addition to classroom work, consider such things as:

• Getting to know staff in career services before your senior year.
• Carefully choosing internships and volunteer opportunities.
• Participating in extracurricular activities that help develop leadership and other “soft skills.”

Using Your Course Assignments for Additional Purposes

Keep an eye out for assignments that have career-development and networking potential. Whenever possible, use your assignments to connect with potential employers, clients, and/or colleagues.

Generally, people are amazingly accessible to and supportive of students doing research for a class assignment. Do a dynamite job on an assignment and then send a copy of it to the person you worked with, thereby dazzling them with your smarts and initiative and building a professional relationship in the process.

Creating Your Own Learning Assignments

As you study your way through your degrees core courses, youll be expected to master a substantial amount of knowledge in your degree field. However, youll also want to build some key professional and/or business skills during this time. This could occur in or out of the classroom.

So, think about how you can improve yourself — through classes or otherwise — in critical areas such as:

• Writing
• Public speaking
• Leadership
• Time management
• Money management and basic financial concepts

Exploring The Many Different Ways Your Degree Skills Can Be Used

Many people take their careers in directions quite different from what you, as a college student, might expect of someone with your major. Learn about these sometimes unexpected career paths:

• Pepper guest speakers with questions about their careers.
• Conduct as many informational interviews as you can.
• Join LinkedIn special-interest groups and consider joining professional associations.

This is a guest post from Bryant & Stratton College Online, which will host a free webinar on Wednesday, August 11, 2010, from noon to 1 p.m. EST to discuss these tips and several others that will help students jumpstart their careers while still in college. To register visit https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/719530984.

The “Jumpstart your Career” webinar is the first in a three-part series. A “Build Your Professional Brand” webinar is scheduled for Tuesday, August 24 from 2 to 3 p.m. EDT and a “How to Build a Resilient Career” webinar is set for Thursday, September 16 from noon to 1 p.m. EDT.

Job interviews can be daunting, often there is one position available and the level of competition for the role is often great. With so many qualified people competing for jobs you need to give yourself the edge when producing your CV and attending any interviews.

The CV

My first tip is to be concise, a strange tip as there is a temptation to write pages of content to show how great you are, but put yourself in the employers position! They are going to read over hundreds of CVs, so yes it is important to demonstrate all your skills and qualifications but to do so in a concise and professional manner. Highlight your key qualifications and primary work experience, but if you have years of relevant experience they probably will not want to hear about the paper round you did when you were fourteen.
My key tip though is to always produce a covering letter to complement any CV you submit. Your CV will probably be the same regardless of who you are applying to for a job, but you should take the time to produce a covering letter for each application and to ensure that your letter shows you are familiar with the company and how your skills and experience match the job description.

The Interview

Be confident! At an interview you need to stand out from the crowd, you may find yourself competing with people who have qualifications and experience which is just as strong as your own and the key difference you can offer is how you portray yourself and the way you conduct the interview.

Create a good first impression dont turn up in last nights clothes or even worse hungover. First impressions count and they can be hard to overcome. Greet the interviewer, make eye contact with them and avoid looking at the floor all the way through the interview.
Show interest in the company and the companys plans for the future, think of how you can figure in this future.

Try to answer every question as fully as possible but do try not to ramble, again pout yourself in the employers position they are probably interviewing multiple candidates and their attention can wander through the day so dont encourage this by rambling too much Be clear, concise but thorough.

Have confidence in yourself and your abilities and if you are confident then this will come across to the employer. I would also recommend following up the interview and asking for feedback even if you do not get the job.

Good luck!

The Challenge

According to a recent article published in the Wall Street Journal, nearly 17 percent of people ages 20 to 24 are unemployed.

This includes many recent college graduates — even Ivy-Leaguers — that know what they want to do with their lives but are simply unable to connect the dots and obtain that first career-worthy job. Entry-level job prospects arent showing any major signs of improvement so even the most accomplished graduates are left fighting.

But even though it has become much harder to find a job in the past few years, the following basic rules for landing an interview still apply.

Three Basic Rules for Receiving an Interview Offer

• Meet [or exceed] all experience and skill requirements
• Show potential fit for company culture
• Stand out from the crowd (in a good way)

If you can accomplish these things, your chances of getting a job interview — and the opportunity to better show your personality and interpersonal skills — are much greater. But these are just basic guidelines as you seek to begin your career.

Actions You Can Take to Make it Past the Screening Process and into an Interview

Find out whom you know.

Since networking is the most common way to find a job, your first step should be finding out whom you know that works in the industry or at the company to which you are applying.

Reach out to friends, family, past professors, and acquaintances and let them know what you are looking for so that they can help you if they come across any available positions.

A LinkedIn account is especially helpful in determining your connections to specific companies. Use these people to get in touch with someone at the company so that you can familiarize yourself with it before officially applying. (If you dont know anyone at the company, dont worry; getting in might be more difficult, but not impossible.)

Perform background research on the company and the job.

As you first enter the application process with a company, familiarize yourself with it by going online and using your network to learn more about what you would be getting yourself into.

Youll need to be able to state clearly the reasons why you want to work for this specific company and in a particular position — and how you will be able to contribute.

Keep a notebook and keep track of every job you apply for.

Take note of company values and use the job ad (if there is one) to find out the attributes they are looking for in candidates. You will be using this information to customize your cover letter and resume.

It is also essential to be organized about keeping track of job search details in order to follow up appropriately if you have applied — and even just to keep a company in mind for future visits to its online jobs listings.

Creating a spreadsheet might be a great way to do this.

Customize your cover letter and resume based on the job for which you are applying.

You must paint a picture of yourself as the perfect candidate for the job (but honestly, of course).

To do this, you should personalize your application materials based on the company and position to which you are applying.

Remember that background research that you performed? Try to work the company values into your cover letter to show that you are a good fit culturally.

Also, take the skills they are looking for in candidates and give examples of how you exemplify them. Give them an honest breakdown of what really makes you passionate about working for them over any other company.

Apply early and apply often. Create a schedule and treat getting a job like a job itself.

You should be spending the majority of the day productively searching for and following through with potential job leads.

After performing the necessary due diligence, dont wait to apply. Many companies will fill the position before they take down the ad; if this hasn’t occurred, they certainly may already be quite far down the road with their hiring process by the time you learn of the position and take action.

Dont be discouraged if you arent getting the response you want.

Instead, use this as reason to evaluate where you may be falling short and make improvements in your job search process and submissions.

Always follow up after sending in your application.

Ive heard several stories lately of hiring managers who chose their interview pools based upon the qualified individuals who followed up with them after the initial application.

When they receive on average over 200 resumes per opening, theyve got to narrow it down somehow, and those that follow up show an interest beyond the rest.

If you follow up a week after sending in your application, you will set yourself apart from the crowd and increase your chances of hearing back from the employer.

Double-check all application materials.

The easiest way to play the elimination game with a stack of resumes is to search for typos and poor grammar.

You wouldnt believe how many people make simple mistakes on their resumes and cover letters that could be avoided by careful revision and the help of a second pair of eyes.

If you send in your materials with mistakes, youve pretty much ruined your chances of receiving a job with that company in the near future because you cant simply edit and apply again. Be precise.

Evaluate yourself.

Whether or not you are having luck in getting interviews, self-evaluation will help you increase your efficiency and effectiveness in the application process.

If you continue getting turned down, its okay to politely ask why you didnt meet the companys requirements.

You may learn that you need more experience and should begin searching for temporary internship opportunities, or you may get some pointers for resume improvements, for example. Either way, you should be constantly working to improve.

These tips should give you a better idea of what you need to do in order to start landing interviews. In such a competitive job market, youve got to be on top of your game and as close to perfect as possible.

Guest post by Mario Schulzke, Creator, CareerSparx.

Mario Schulzke is the creator of CareerSparx, an online course that helps recent college graduates begin their careers. For more information, visit www.careersparx.com and download a free 61-page guide on how to start your career.