Employment sites can be fantastic research tools. They can help you see what companies are hiring and what qualifications those companies are looking for. After that, you can focus on those businesses, check out their websites, and find out who’s in the department you’d like to work in. List in hand, your next move is establishing a relationship with one of those people, preferably someone with a bit of leverage. Social networking sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and even Facebook are valuable here; they allow you to reach out to strangers, impress them with your intelligence, experience, and wit, and perhaps get a recommendation. Once someone within the company has decided they would like to work with you, your chances of getting a job there dramatically increase. Asking your new contact to walk your resume down to HR and put in a good word will get you a much better shot than blindly sending in even the most qualified resume.

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Congratulations, college graduate, it’s time to transition into the workforce. You have a stack of resumes hot off the printer and maybe you have even purchased some short-term medical insurance to make sure you are covered until you find that dream job. But have you looked in your closet lately? Many people, especially recent college graduates, frequently have no idea how to dress in a professional situation. Casual Fridays, nebulous company dress codes and the prevalence of telecommuting and freelancing have created mass confusion about how open to interpretation business-casual really is.

Luckily, “dress for success” can, in most work environments, be interpreted simply as “dress to avoid embarrassment.” Pay attention to this simple guide and you’ll never get caught wearing a sarong in a roomful of suits.
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The ritual of circling help wanted ads in the classifieds section of your local paper is quickly becoming extinct, and the paper resume has been placed on the “endangered species” list. Many recent graduates are finding that, if they are not using social media in their job search, opportunities are sliding by.
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During your time out of work, you’ve done everything right that you can think of: polishing up your resume, reaching out to your old business contacts, you may have even gotten yourself some short-term medical insurance so that you had coverage during your time off. Nice work! Now you’ve landed an interview for a job. After doing some research and practicing your interview skills in the mirror, you’re feeling calm, cool and ready.

That’s wonderful. But, have you prepared for any questions beyond the usual “Where do you see yourself in five years?” and “What’s your biggest flaw?” No? That’s not surprising. Many articles about job interviews cover the same five or six questions, but unfortunately, interviewers don’t always stick to the script. Here are five under the radar, but still common, questions for you to work on before your big interview. Good luck!
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