Approach people in organizations you like, who do things you find inspiring. Ask them for their advice on what a starter like you should do. And always conclude with the question if they know other people they think you should meet. At several interims in my life, this approach never failed to give me a string of hugely interesting people I would meet in fields I love. And sometimes, somebody just might know a job you'd be good for.

I agree with TMOW. If you can get a lunch/ short meeting with someone in the field you are looking to break into it is a foot in the door to potentially impress them and get you to an interview or impress them to look into their contacts list and help you out. Be prepared for a meeting like that and do your research and ask lots of questions, and have a resume with you just in case they ask and will pass it on for you. Send a handwritten thank you for their time afterward as well.

I did this right out of school and found out later that it was turned out to be a de facto interview where the employer called me later when I landed a job and said if I ever felt like a change of firms to please give him a call.

Remember that most of the time your CV wont be read by the manager you send it to, but by some flunky who acts as a filter. They will dump 90% of the CVs in the big round filing cabinet. Your CV, and it's covering letter, have to stand out from the crowd.

The problem is you've done almost nothing. Your CV is going to be sparse. If you did a paper round, stacked shelves in a supermarket after school, tutored kids while in college, did bar work, did voluntary work, put it on the CV.

You have a part-time job now - put it on the CV. Find a second one, put that on the CV too. Having 6 months of low-paid jobs on your CV is far better than having 6 months of playing WebDip for 15 hours a day (I cleaned windows, just me, a bucket, a squeegee and a ladder - that went on the CV).

Roger what StA said- looking busy makes you look motivated. Maybe find a short course that adds value to your field of interest. Or start learning a language with some cheapie CDs. "yes, s/he knows nothing, but s/he's making use of spare time."

I did loads of volunteer work. Doesnt pay a lot of bills, but as a starter you usually don't have a lot of bills.

Other than what others are saying all I have to add is:
- If you've got a weird name use a non-weird name.
- If possible move somewhere where the economy is stronger.

As someone who has been unemployed for the past four months and hopefully landing a new job soon (I got a request for permission to do a background check - good thing I think?), I have a few tips:

1. I can't stress the importance of the cover letter enough. Most likely, your application and cover letter will be read by some HR drone with little knowledge of the position for which you are applying. Write your cover letter as if you need to convince this layperson of your skills and convince that person, not a potential supervisor, of your abilities. Similarly, tailor your resume to specific position by highlighting certain portions. I have three different resumes I've been using for different job types.

2. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Being an INTJ type, I was hesitant to make phone calls at first. Don't make this mistake. Call potential supervisors or contact persons to make sure they "received" your resume. Follow up later to check on the hiring process and to ensure they know you're still interested.

3. Use your networks. Jobs that get posted publicly only amount to a small portion of openings. Utilize your contacts and, above all else, *talk to EVERYBODY* about how you're looking for a job. You never know who knows somebody who knows somebody else. I moved to an entirely new city after I finish grad school and I realized how important this network is when I didn't have it anymore.

4. Electronic applications and online job forms are complete bullshit. Unless you are applying for a government job, you have better odds of showing up to a firm and waving your dick around outside the front door. If you do end up applying somewhere with an electronic application, always try to find a contact name or department to follow up with an additional resume.

E. Put *everything* on your resume. Don't overlook any skills or experiences that may add value to your profile. I'm currently waiting a decision on a private school job. On the day of my interviews, I spoke with about eight different people. TWO asked me about my study abroad experience, which I had included on my resume. You never know.

As a continuation of 2WL, notably point three. I've always been told growing up that knowing the right people will always help you out far more than your qualifications. If you get recommendations from a friend or somebody you know already working for a certain company, you are far more likely to get the job there.

So talk to everyone, absolutely everyone you know trying to find people within the industry that you want to work it, parts of the family that you might not talk to often etc.

I'm still a student so I can't say it has worked for me personally, but I have definitely seen it work for many older friends and relatives. A good recommendation will take you far and almost guarantee you a job.

Good luck :)

When you find a job that you really want, do not hesitate to say that although you are looking for several opportunities, but that if they choose you, they can send the papers immediately and you'll sign as they're your first choice. But only play this card when you really mean it.

My only suggestion, when you go online take any geographic filter off your searches. You are young. Jobs are scarce. Be willing to move ANYWHERE for an opportunity. Also never give up on your dream job. People will tell you to do so you tell them to F off. Now don't pass up a good opportunity but even if you take one continue to do things that will look good on a resume for your dream job, and keep applying. It took about 6 years out of college but I found mine.

And don't be afraid to lie like a dog to get a job. After a while you'll realize human resource people are self righteous ass holes. Start from day one knowing that if you can get away with stretching your experience or not being transparent about your future plans, do it. They don't deserve transparency or honesty, they certainly won't give it to you.

By the way i dont agree with that phone call bit , hundreds of people are applying for these jobs, I know as someone who goes over these resumes at times I would not take kindly to getting a ring from a kid fresh out of undergrad asking if I received his résumé (and consequently forcing me to tell him to F off or look through 400 applications on the spot). There is a reason why many places say no phone calls!

"Start from day one knowing that if you can get away with stretching your experience or not being transparent about your future plans, do it"

Definitely stretch your experience if you need to. On my resume, my grad assistant job in my university's software department was written up as if it was the manager of the department just because I had one work study student that I got to boss around. This goes both ways - stretch your experience to fit the job, but also manipulate the job description so that it fits your experience. Its much easier to brag about yourself by rewording a job description or question to fit your experience.

Also, don't be afraid to fuck your way into a job. Play up the sex appeal. Unbutton the top few buttons of your shirt. Go heavy on the Axe. "Accidentally" let your Trojan Magnum fall out of your pocket. Wear your shortest skirt and show a little leg.

All the things I started doing after a year long job search are coming back to me.

Some more things:

After a failed application or interview email the interviewer and ask what you could do to improve your interview or application, from one of those talks I drafted an interview strategy that finally ended my wandering job search. You should prepare for an interview like you approach diplomacy. Strategize. Come up with your talking points and pound them home.

Don't convince yourself you aren't qualified or won't get a job. I almost didn't apply to the job I have now. Apply to anything close, you never know.

As soon as I finished school, I sent out 10 applications. Now, my resume was not as barren as my competition, and I was a bit older, because I had been in the Army for some years, A Gulf War Vet and was more polished than most.

I was offered 6 jobs in the first week of my interviewing process, but none really excited me, but I took one, just to get my life moving forward.

Right now I interview a lot of people, but most have practical experience in the field already.

I sent out over 200 applications over an eight month job search and got 6 interviews out of grad school (to be fair it was a humanities degree and I didn't want to teach). You should know however that stressed lines success is not nec typical and don't get discouraged if/when the no-replies and misspelled condolence emails come pouring in.

And remember that you are interviewing the company almost as much as they are interviewing you. Do your research about the company and ask questions not just about the work you will be doing or the benefits but about the working environment. Money should be avoided if possible when interviewing or you may either undercut what you could get or price yourself out of the job.

On lying: Be careful with outright lies. Stretching and tweaking is one thing, but claiming experience or education you don't have can result in both firing and, if working for the government or on a government contract, prosecution for fraud and misrepresentation. If you don't have a specific certification, don't claim you do.

I would avoid lying as much as possible. They expect it from new college graduates, and they will check out what you put on your resume. Much better to admit you don't know how to do something if you can find some way to show them you're a quick study and willing to learn.

I would avoid lying because it's wrong.

Sure, and sit unemployed or underemployed for 6 months because you didn't tell them what they wanted to hear

There's more to life than being employed or rich. I feel sad for you if you think that the end here justifies the means. I rather be unemployed and have to move back to my parents or go on welfare than lie about who I am or what I am capable of.

Moreover, the lying will eventually catch up with you, and as you lie and lie more, the lies get bigger and when you fall, and you will, it will hurt a whole lot more.

Real life example. They said in my current job that access was a requirement, I'd worked with access in a computer class in high school about 12 years earlier but besides that I had no experience. I said I had experience. Cheeky. I got the job. I learned everything I needed to know about access in 2 days and am now among the most knowledgeable in my office. If I had said no I'd likely have not get the job.

Access is one thing. It's a shitty little simple SQL and VS wannabe for people not willing to learn a real database environment like SQL Server or MySQL and who think that VBA is the same as Visual Studio .Net. No serious database professional or company who is more than a fly by night outfit relies on Access. Seriously, I haven't touched Access other than to migrate really poorly designed stuff out of it in years.

I bet you if you'd said "I used access in high school and was really good with it, I haven't used it much since, but I can go find tutorials online and get to whatever level you need before I start" you still would have gotten the job.

I interviewed with a software solutions company and the job was SQL based. I didn't know SQL, but I was able to prove to them that I pick up programming languages very quickly. They asked if I knew Excel VBA Macro's coding, I didn't, but I told them if they wanted I would be able to write a program after the 30 minute lunch break we had. I was able too and they offered me a job on the spot.

Companies aren't looking for "skills" on a resume. They want to see experience to prove you aren't lazy, but after that they want people who are passionate, who want to learn and who are going to add to the company. You can demonstration that easily without lying. Can you do it with lying, sure, but if they find out later on you'll probably get fired.

And let me ask you this, HW. If they asked you if you were an MCP in VBA for Office, what would you have said? Remember, validating one's claimed Microsoft certifications is easy.

jmo, they saw that "WebDiplomacy Admin" on your resume and you were an instant hire.

They were sold after seeing my GR, the Admin part was just bumped me up a pay grade.

delete the random *was*

I wouldn't have said I had a certificate I don't. And btw we are an office, like many other offices we use access. We have another more powerful database system that is very powerful but extremely in intuitive and not helpful to what we do

@ zultar - yeah, what you said.

A said a serious database professional or company. There is no way you are a serious database professional or a serious database driven company. You size is probably, if I had to guess, less than 20 people. You probably don't manufacture anything, or if you do, you aren't ISO 9000 certified and you do a low volume. Does your business exceed $1,000,000 in sales? I doubt it. So I'm guessing law firm or doctors office or accounting firm or maybe a reseller of someone else's products.

Calling, sending your resume to random people, overstating your qualifications (slightly), apply for jobs even if you think theyre out of your league, these things are all true.

The core is: err on the side of audacity.

Draugnar - you might be surprised at LARGE companies that rely on Access to do bits on the side that they cannot bolt into their ERP.

And... at TB- skills can be learnt. Re-read what JMO said. He's spot on. Focus on attitude. Demonstrate good attitude and willingness and motivation. I reckon you're getting good guidance from the forum.

There may be departments that do it, but typically in violation of corporate IT standards.

Draugnar. Seriously. You don't know everything. No, really. You don't.

And when I hear, or read, the phrase "corporate IT standards" I want to reach for a handgun. Or a pitchfork.

Hey draug I don't work for anyone that produces anything. Whe use access for data storage and research purposes. It works incredibly for what I do. I don't understand the fine points of computer databases. Then again you don't know a thing about what I do. Lets call it even

I should say produced anything for profit

Not that this has anything to do with the topic… except perhaps allowing draug to feel special. Honestly if I had an it job or if i was a real "database professional" I would be miserable so you aren't impressing me.