Believe it or not, you can get more mileage from your everyday habits with a little more effort and forethought. For instance, if you like to read the papers, get out of the house, talk to people and log on to the Internet, then focus those seemingly disconnected activities to get more out of them-like finding a job, for one. Here’s how.

• If you love to read the news with your morning coffee, remember to note down announcements about job fairs and recruitment events as well.
  
  
• For a change of pace, interrupt your routine of going to malls or vegging in front of the TV to contact an employment or staffing agency about positions that may be suitable for you. Send your well-written resume so they can call you if anything interesting comes up.
  
  
• If you spend hours emailing friends or lingering in chat rooms, spare a few moments to post your CV to online job centers or company websites.
  
  
• And if you’re a social animal, then don’t waste those face times with friends, relatives, former officemates, neighbors, godparents and acquaintances from clubs and sporting events. It won’t hurt mentioning to everyone you know that you’re on the hunt. Who knows? One or two of them may be able to set you up for an interview or refer you to a prospective employer.
  
  
• And while you’re at it, inform your former teachers and classmates at class reunions that you’re on the market. While reminiscing in the hallways, visit the university placement office to see the latest work listings, or check for on-campus recruitment activities scheduled in the near future.

Of course, nothing beats looking for work full time. But no one says you have to limit your search boundaries to formal hunting occasions. By staying sharp always, you’ll find that opportunities lurk even in what seem to be the most mundane situations or unrelated events.

Tips on gaining work experience

From Randall Hansen, Ph.D.

All the employers we’ve talked to recently about college graduates stress the importance of experience. These employers want college grads who not only have the educational background, but have one or more types of work experiences.

Here are the types of experiences college students can expect to have:

• Internships. One of the best types of work experiences. Internships involve working part-time in your expected career field, either during one of the semesters or over the summer. Besides gaining valuable experience, you get exposed to the business environment and gain valuable references and people for your network. You can find more information and resources at Quintessential Careers: Internship Resources.
• Summer Jobs. These jobs are not always in your field of interest and may even seem to be simply a way of saving money for school, but having any kind of work experience is valuable and many offer transferable skills that carry over to other jobs. You can read more about summer jobs and find links to top summer job Web sites at: How to Find a Summer Job.
• Campus Jobs (work-study). Many students simply see work-study as a form of financial aid, but you can make the most of your experiences by identifying key skills you use on the job.
• Entrepreneurial/self-employed jobs: a growing number of students have started their own businesses - whether traditional ones, such as lawn maintenance business or emerging ones, such as a Web-based business. Make sure to include these on your resume.
• Temporary Work. Some students work for temporary agencies doing a variety of work. Where you’ve done professional work or work with good transferable skills, make sure to include it on your resume. See our Temporary Employment Jobs.
• Volunteer work -- school, church, club, not-for-profit organizations: working for one of these groups can be a win-win, where you are helping out your community and you can be gaining valuable skills and experience.
• Research Papers/Projects. Especially if you do not have a lot of work experience, don’t rule out the experience related to senior theses, term papers, and group projects.
• Certification Courses. Many industries, such as technology, offer special certifications, which can add experience for you as well as add value to you as a potential employee.
• Campus Activity Positions. Key experiences -- especially leadership positions -- you had in various campus organizations should be included on your resume.
• Fraternity/Sorority/Social Club Positions. If you’ve held important leadership roles or been involved in a major project(s), you should list these on your resume.
• Extracurricular or Sports Leadership Positions. Some employers look specifically for athletic experiences because of the belief that being an athlete helps build teamworking and leadership skills.