They rely on career services or troll Monster.com, where one posting draws hundreds of applicants. If you can't get a paid internship, start a tutoring business or baby-sitting business, or consider auditing classes or shadowing someone in an industry that interests you.
Now is the time to expand your network. Go through your résumé line by line. Think not just of family and professional contacts, but also connect with high school and college friends, people at community organizations, churches, sports clubs, and ethinic-affinity groups. Tell all of them you're available and looking for work. This is the time for a guerrilla job search.
Leslie Camacho on 26 May 09Kristin Konopka sent out nearly 100 copies of her résumé in January in search of receptionist work, but got only one callback. That's when Ms. Konopka, a 29-year-old New York actress and yoga teacher, took her master's degree and academic teaching experience off her résumé. The calls started coming in. The slimmer version of her résumé landed in 30 in-boxes and earned her three callbacks and two interviews. "It definitely picked up the interest," says Ms. Konopka, who realized quickly that people don't "want to hire anyone who is overqualified."
