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As a career counselor, you have the opportunity to help the next generation get out of the confines of the classroom and into the professional world. Below are some qualities that students need from you to help them make that difficult transition.

Be available for individual and group sessions. One-one-one meetings may feel the most beneficial to help students think through their individual needs, but have you considered weekly group sessions? Just like writing, no idea is truly original. Group sessions encourage students to bounce ideas off each other and give them an opportunity to learn about other options students take that they might not have previously considered. Individual meetings can tunnel a person’s thought process, but group sessions can expand a student’s horizon.

Understand your students by taking notes. Encourage the student to take notes about the ideas that you raise from your sessions, but be sure you take notes as well. Your students are invariably going to be jumping around a lot, and so will their ideas. Tracking their progress from your meetings will allow you to not only remember the smaller and arguably more important details of the person, but also find a common thread. With notes, you can step back and see aspects that they can’t. What common details are they sharing but not realizing?

Know what hiring managers really want. Always be up-to-date on your research as a career counselor. The world of jobs and hiring is not static. Markets change, what companies desire changes, and so should you. Remain sensitive and adapt to the subtle changes of qualifications needed to get out of the hiring pool. Like a doctor talking to a specialist, get to know hiring managers in your area and stay updated on what’s going on outside.

Finally, play matchmaker. You’ve encouraged students, helped them think out what they want, and provided every and all informational resources under the sun. But have you helped your students more from theoretical to actual and create professional networks? The first step is always the hardest and actually developing professional networks is no exception. Contact alumni, hiring managers and create a network of informational interviews, job search contacts and internship opportunities for students to get of your office and into the working world.

At some point, after months of searching, a dozen interviews and more time spent on the resume than wedding vows, a person starts to give up hope. The graduate is tired of living at home, tired of having no income, and tired of being rejected. After so much job hunting at home, a person’s surroundings can start to feel suffocating.

Encourage graduates to look for volunteer positions abroad. Especially for jobs abroad, volunteering and internships can lead to full-time positions. Students who volunteer abroad are trained in not only the company and field of interest, but also have proven themselves to thrive in a strange country – two strong skills a company does not want to lose. Whether the graduate is hurting for a job or hurting to move out of the house, encourage young job seekers to turn their attention abroad.

How to get started: Most people follow any of these three paths to find a job abroad. The first and most common is company placement. Many Americans in business or NGOs find that their work does not end at the ocean’s edge. Business people go where business is good, and those working for a cause go where help is needed. Going through a multi-national company also makes attaining visas the easiest. Encourage internationally minded graduates to seek employment for companies that are well known for sending employees abroad when work is slow.

The second way is country based. In our age of globalization, many graduates look for jobs that work at an international level, but don’t consider going for the source. If they are dedicated to a cause in a specific country or even have an interest in that culture, encourage them to find out what kind of work is being done there and how they could become involved.

The final way, which is probably the easiest since it’s so broad, is interest based international work. If a graduate studied international relations, encourage them to not only apply to think tanks at home, but also in different countries. Most fields here have international job opportunities. Even journalism majors who are having trouble finding work at home should consider turning to foreign news and media organizations.

What about language differences? Job seekers shouldn’t shy away from looking at job opportunities where the country’s national language isn’t English. Whether you are pro or against globalization, the truth is that like soccer, English has become the unofficial language of the world. When it comes to the professional world, most people use and understand English.

Moving isn’t cheap, why should a person move across the world for is right now an unpaid internship? Like most problems in life, money plays a role, and I couldn’t downplay the risk. But the benefits outweigh the risks. Working abroad opens your professional network in a way that years at one company could not. Not only are you meeting people in your field, but foreigners from all sorts of different professional networks. While working in Hong Kong, I created professional contacts with lawyers, teachers, civil rights activists and writers – all who will remain in my professional pocketbook. You don’t get that kind of exposure so fast at home.

So for all those who aren’t sure where else to turn, I offer you to encourage them to look beyond and look abroad.

It’s not easy finding a job, especially for those just entering the workforce. However, it can be easier for a jobless graduate to blame external forces than look at themselves and make sure they are properly competing in the job market hunt. Below are some top reasons graduates are hurting their job chances.

1. No preparation on the resume and cover letter. A seemingly basic step, it’s surprising how many people, graduates and veterans alike, don’t perfect or even proofread their credentials. Less obvious, many student resumes are basic or have a weak format. Set up resume workshops for students, and provide as many resources as you can. Encourage graduates to have their friends, professors, or even old employers to look over their resume. Writing a resume and cover letters is a rare instance where a student can’t have too much input.
2. Lack of interview skills. Students may be great communicators, but are they great interviewees? Many are not used to being questioned, or even doubted to their face, which can trip them up during a tough interview. Students need to be prepared to answer questions such as “why should we hire you?” or “what can you bring to the company?” Once they know how to answer the initial, tough and impersonal questions, students also need to be prepared with insightful follow-up questions which demonstrate intelligence and knowledge about the company. Practice with mock interviews to help prepare graduates for life outside the classroom.
3. Lack of networking. Probably one of the hardest parts about the job search is reaching out to others. Most students understandably lack strong professional networks, and often forget to turn to their university as a resource. Encourage students to use university networks such as alumni, departmental networks and even campus interview days. When else will students get an opportunity to talk to prospective companies on campus?
4. Quitting too early and/or no follow-up. Picking up the phone after sending a resume that got no reply is daunting. Rather than seeing follow-up as a burden or hassle, encourage students to view any follow-up as a necessary and often forgotten step in the job search. Remind graduates to call or write after interviews and even check in when sent resumes get the silent treatment. Practice makes perfect, and soon every new job hunter will feel at ease picking up the phone.

Picking a graduate school, let alone a graduate program, is daunting. The books themselves listing available graduate schools in America are the size of the yellow pages. Not only are there a huge selection of graduate schools out there, but unlike colleges, most graduate programs don’t share their program acceptance rates. Unfortunately, picking a graduate program is vastly different than picking an undergraduate school. Here are some tips to help students begin the search.

A strong faculty makes a good program. However hard they may struggle, gently pull the U.S. News & World Report out of your student’s crushing grip. The cold hard truth is that no set of numbers can tell you which graduate programs are strong and weak. Graduate programs are led and defined by the faculty. Unlike undergraduate programs, students work much more closely with professors, who mentor and guide their graduate research. Once a student has found some programs of interest, encourage them to research the faculty in the department. Are they not only famous at the school but also their field? Have they published recently? Are their works cited frequently? A strong faculty will make or break a student’s graduate experience.

A high job-placement rate makes a good school. Now you may pass the U.S. News & World Report back to the student. The purpose of delaying the real world and continuing to give more time and money to education is to further themselves and become well versed in their field of study. But it’s also about getting a good job. Students should research schools that have strong professional networks and internships lined up for graduate students to make sure that after they finish another few years of study, they have a job.

If you can’t pay, look for alternative routes. There are a surprisingly vast amount of companies that are willing to pay for an employee’s graduate school. Everything from technical to art degrees, large companies want to invest in dedicated employees. Many large companies even offer graduate programs within the company, meaning you get paid to learn. For those who know exactly what they want to do but don’t have the financial means, getting your education through the company you work for can be a terrific way to both further your education and career.

Look outside the U.S. Every year, more and more students are branching out to international graduate programs. Again, good graduate programs are determined by a strong faculty, which isn’t bound by borders. And since English has unofficially become the world language, cities as far away as Hong Kong teach their graduate classes in English. Graduate programs abroad are often shorter than the ones in the U.S. and cheaper. Plus, with so many global companies, students can even find jobs and internships in the city they end up in.

Good Luck!

I’ll admit – up until recently, I detested Twitter. It seemed nothing more than a realm for celebrities and narcissists alike to turn every aspect of their lives worthy of a world audience and simultaneously pared an opportunity for global intelligent discussion down to 140 characters. And while Twitter may still be haunted by celebrities and teenage girls, I’ve come to find that the social media mogul can be utilized for good. Most formative, Twitter, if used properly, could actually be a way to land a job.

When you consider the nature of the website, the idea of landing a job via Twitter doesn’t seem so ludicrous. Unlike other social media sites like Facebook or LinkedIn, a person doesn’t have to be friends with the individual to see what they are writing. Also, unlike the other two, the website actually encourages strangers to link together and share ideas. Search results on Twitter are done by what a person is posting, not their name, so it’s a lot easier to find others with common interests, hiring managers, and even job postings.

Twitter is not a job search website. Job search websites are a one-way street – companies post jobs and hopeful candidates submit resumes. Twitter is a conversation, a dialog between individuals or groups of people. Use an account as a space to post relevant and interesting articles about career and other relevant interests, share opinions and generally show a level of engagement about the issues. Avoid personal, negative and irrelevant topics since writing about what you ate on Saturday is something nobody cares about. Job seekers can connect with companies and individuals they are interested in, and begin to create networks. Of course, Twitter alone can never supplement face-to-face job interviews, but it certainly can get a person’s foot in the door.

Finally, as a career counselor, Twitter does seem more of a necessity than option. With so many people sharing ideas, career counselors have taken to twitter to share advice and connect with hopeful job seekers. Whether its daily quick tips or longer articles, career counselors can use twitter to branch out and access an entire market unbound by geographical distance.

Facebook began as a way for college students to connect and socialize, then expanded to high school students, and later opened up to the general public as a way for everyone to reconnect with old friends and family members. As a career counselor, can the social media mogul be used not only to reach graduates but also promote and expand your services? The answer is a most decided yes.

There are two main reasons why to use Facebook. First, students and graduates, like most consumers, gravitate toward services that are already recognized and well established. The power of word of mouth is as strong as ever, and the website provides an easy and fast way for job seekers to share your information with their like minded friends. Moreover, by creating groups and pages on facebook, new job seekers can see how many ‘friends’ or connections you have, how you work, interact with others, and generally see how much work and success you produce.

Secondly, Facebook pages create a one-stop-shop Millennials demand. No one can deny that social media has reshaped how we sort through and process information and many have come to expect information to be easy to find and well categorized. Facebook’s format allows users to put all necessary information right up on one page and easy to sort through.

Facebook’s setup also provides services that an ordinary website can’t. The general layout allows you to add frequent updates, immediately direct job seekers to any new blog posts or interesting articles, and allows general discussion and dissemination of information right in the middle of the page.

Moreover, Facebook isn’t only a way to connect with students, but with other career counselors as well. Use the space to find other counselors to share information, get advice and compare student strategies.

With an effective strategy of daily updates, posting relevant blog/articles, public discussions and networking with job seekers and career counselors alike, facebook can be a vital way to not only transform how you work with clients, but connect and learn from colleagues.

Summer break typically signals the time when students get an opportunity to leave their desks and spend a few weeks away from coursework. Summer though, doesn’t have to be a break from learning – it can be a time for real world learning opportunities and a chance for students to figure out what they want to do after their education. Here are some suggestions to help students begin understanding their career interests.

Volunteer: Whether a student has a particular interest or still looking to develop a resume, volunteering is a vital way to do both. Not only do students get an opportunity to give back to their community, but they can also start to understand what a work environment is all about. Volunteering can be a terrific way to network and an opportunity to figure out if the particular cause or even profession in general is a career worthy option for them.

Travel: A bit off beat, but still an integral learning tool for students. Travel exposes students to different cultures, teaches them independence, and many end up realizing that an international profession is exactly the career path they are searching for.

Internship: Most graduates won’t find an entry-level job without some relevant work experience. Internships give students an opportunity to explore career interests and learn how to work in an office…even if the sun is shining brightly outside.

Read a book, pick up an instrument: Summer should include those lazy afternoons by the pool, but even this time can be used productively. When do people get so much time for themselves other then when they are students? Encourage students to use the summer months to read books outside their curriculum, or take the time to do something they wouldn’t normally explore, such as learning to play the guitar. Figuring out your interests doesn’t have to be limited to the classroom or office.

Job: Different from an internship, a job is the typical hourly wage job students get during summer seasonal hiring. Many get these jobs for the money, but they are also equally important for later down the road. Even if scooping ice cream isn’t the dream opportunity, many students get a chance to see how businesses work and can foster an interest in business or entrepreneurship. If nothing else, work experience matters.

Job Shadow: Students who have to hold jobs during the summer months, but are more interested in learning what an environmental lawyer does, job shadowing can be a great method to accommodate both needs. Encourage students to ask around those in their interested profession if they could spend a day or two following them around and learning about their profession of interest.

Armed with a liberal arts degree, finding your first job can be daunting. Many students and outsiders wonder what a person can do after spending four years studying Medieval architecture, other than teach Medieval architecture to somebody else.

One recent graduate I spoke to equated finding a job to “feeling like a fraud” without a technical degree. Yes, that diploma does not represent a specific set of skills for a designated profession – that diploma represents so much more. It represents four years of learning how to think creatively, write intelligently, and see the world in a thoughtful an innovative way—skills that will promote you and eventually land you a top job. The challenge now is to convince yourself that you actually know what you’re doing.

In the meantime, here are some interesting entry level job options for those recently graduated.

Student affairs administrator: A terrific way to gain valuable leadership and organizational experience. Responsibilities while working in a university’s student affairs office include organizing and coordinating non-academic aspects of student life from freshman orientation to senior graduation ceremonies.

NGOs: Tried and true, there’s a reason why so many liberal arts graduates head to work in the nonprofit world. The challenges are high, the learning curve is steep, and graduates have an opportunity to put their creativity and writing skills to the test. Plus, since NGO’s typically give more responsibility to entry-level employees than for-profits, new employees gain more experience in all aspects of the company (including business) which helps them eventually jump into the profit sector or get into good graduate programs.

Journalism: While you may not be writing front headlines in national newspapers, the rise in Web-based news sites are a good way for new graduates to get jobs.

Political campaign managers: Political campaigns start earlier every year, and by getting in on the ground floor, graduates can quickly ascend to head up local or even regional political headquarters.

Fundraisers: Find a cause, and raise some money. The job is suited for intelligent, engaged candidates who can develop and deliver a plethora of arguments, just like you! Also, it’s a great way to network with others who have similar interests.

Museum/gallery staff: Working at a museum or art gallery is a great way to share knowledge and learn strong organizing and multi-tasking skills. Working at an art gallery can be a cool way to spend your time while learning marketing skills when talking to potential clients.

What other career paths would you suggest to liberal arts graduates?

With a rough economy and student loans to pay off, graduates may now be more likely to search the corporate world for employment. Below are some myths about the nonprofit world and why, actually, many students would benefit to consider working for a nonprofit organization.

Once in a nonprofit job, always in a nonprofit job. Inherently untrue – many professionals hop in and out of the nonprofit world over their career. Nonprofits value hiring employees from the corporate world for their business skills, and profit companies value hiring employees from the nonprofit world for their managerial skills and creativity.

At a nonprofit, you would be working with those who failed the public sector. Are nonprofits full of those who failed in the corporate world? No. Many, many successful professionals in the corporate world spend time in the nonprofit sector.

At a nonprofit, you won’t be able to network. Again, the idea that nonprofit employees are sequestered into their own small world is false. Not only are many nonprofit leaders former CEOs and profit company leaders who have great networks to share with their employees, but many times, nonprofits and profits work together on projects.

It’s the same as volunteering. If you want to help the world, what’s the difference between volunteering somewhere and then making money and a profit company? Volunteering and working for a nonprofit are very different. Unlike a volunteer, an employee is expected to learn managerial skills, plan events, network with other companies, and oversee the well being of those very same volunteers.

The salary is too low. This one may have been true at some point, but not anymore. Granted the average salary of an employee at a nonprofit is lower than the profit counterpart, but nonprofit jobs are getting competitive. Employers know the importance of hiring the most competitive candidates, and these nonprofit jobs have the packages and salaries to match.

And finally, the last myth: at a nonprofit, you’re stuck working with antiquated materials. One of the challenges of the nonprofit world is that the company only keeps enough money to keep the organization afloat. But, a successful, well networked nonprofit will have a lot more material and human resources than a small profit company.

Based on Forbes, Kiplinger and Relocate-America.com, helping new graduates relocate across the country has never been easier. Below are the top ten places to live and succeed in America today.

1. Raleigh, N.C – Raleigh hasn’t simple risen to this No.1 spot overnight. Forbes ranked this city No.1 both in 2007 and 2008, with Kiplinger highlighting the city this year as the number one place to live in America.
2. Boise, Idaho – Thanks to the plethora of affordable housing and high number of college graduates relocating to the city, Forbes gave Boise its No.2 spot.
3. Colorado Springs, Colorado – Not only surrounded by breathtaking scenery, this no longer sleepy city made the list on Money Magazine’s number one spot.
4. Houston, Texas – Looking down the list, Texas lives up to its motto “don’t mess with Texas.” Moreover, Houston has reclaimed its title as energy capital of the U.S. generating more than 100,000 jobs in aerospace, technology and medical companies.
5. Omaha, Nebraska – Omaha is not a city to be taken lightly. The city right now is known for hiring and recruiting young professionals, especially in finance, health care, information technology and insurance.
6. Fort Collins Colorado – With a high rank for its job income growth, Fort Collins offers hope for those with college degrees looking for entry-level jobs.
7. San Antonio Texas – Joining the ranks of all three lists, San Antonio is the tenth largest city in the country and a promising spot for new graduates to consider.
8. Austin, Texas – Making Kiplinger’s top ten, Austin is not only growing but a thriving city with an affordable housing market and strong economy.
9. Charlotte N.C. – Thanks to the high employment opportunities, Charlotte was chosen as Relocate-America.com’s number one choice.
10. Des Moines – The capital of Iowa, Des Moines is hands down one of the best places to be. A major center for the financial services and publishing businesses, this is a city that made everyone’s list.