Making the Leap From Student to Professional

Sure, you could spend another night tweaking your resume or emailing another dozen cover letters to complete strangers, but a little web strategy may take you further.

When you get right down to it, the web is a great place for marketing, and what you're marketing when you're looking for a job is you. Here are a couple of guerrilla tactics that will separate you from the rest of the pack.

Create a Blog:

Sounds crazy since common wisdom associates blogging with getting into trouble. In fact, a blog demonstrates your ability to communicate and gives those who find you a hint about your passions. (Keep those passions relegated to the work area.) I knew a graduate who wanted to get into new types of food packaging. He posted a blog that talked about some of his ideas. A company doing research spotted him and he's now happily hired. Others I know began blogging in college (from musing about cafeteria food to world hunger). They had sizable portfolios of work by the time they graduated.

If you're curious look at these tools to get you started:

• Yahoo! 360 for photo blogging
• WordPress and TypePad for professional looking blogs
• iWeb for easy to use creation on the Mac
• Microsoft Office Live for those thinking about commerce or ad revenue.

Talk Back to Other Blogs:

Don't have the patience to start and maintain a blog? Well, at least offer your opinion on blog sites that relate to your prospective field of employment. Looking for a job in international development? Go to some of the blogs by the well-established pros in the field and offer up some intelligent, coherent opinions. (Try to take it above the usual gutter talkback.) Make sure to sign your name and leave an email where they can contact you. Drop well placed hints into your text like, "When I was researching a paper on…" or "When I studied at Oxford…" You never know who's reading. They may develop an interest in you.

Create a Web Site:

Blogs are like lawns. They require frequent upkeep and maintenance. A simple web site is more static, but can be less of a chore. Gina Hughes has written a helpful series on how to get started. When our kids graduated college we bought them all URLs in their names and told them to create pages with their resumes and some writing samples. They didn't entirely listen, but maybe you will. Putting your senior thesis online isn't a bad idea either if you're pursuing a job in that field.

Social Networking Sites:

It's often not what you know, but who you know. One of the sites that's most focused on networking professionals is LinkedIn. Here's how it works. You post your vitae and invite contacts to view your profile. You can ask your contacts to invite you to talk to their contacts. Want to get in touch with someone at an ad agency, a web company, or a non-profit? Just enter the name of the company and a list comes up with people in that network. You can work backwards through your list of contacts to see who knows someone that can make an introduction for you. In addition, LinkedIn posts jobs. Hint: When you make a LinkedIn contact you can start with alumni from your college. Alumni have strong networking instincts.

Study Your Potential Employer:

Job interviews are awkward by nature, but a little prep can make things more comfortable. Before you get your chance in front of a company, go to its web site and study up on its mission, culture, product line—whatever. Prepare a list of your questions about the company. Even if the answers are already explained on the web site, remember that these folks love waxing poetic about their companies and you'll deflect some of the attention from you.

Video Resumes:

Some companies are hawking the creation of video resumes, saying it's the next new thing. Demetri Martin, a cerebral and zany young comedian, presented his view of video resumes on the Jon Stewart show. Not to be missed. Remember, if you're doing a video resume just keep it short and well lit.

Any other high tech tips for marketing yourself in the job jungle?