Even though most students will not earn a sizeable paycheck until they enter the workforce after schooling, there are countless opportunities available while attending school to hone their job skills for when they have diploma in hand.

While in school, students have to be ready to enter the job market; a market that recently has proven harder and harder to crack.

Whether it is working one or more part-time jobs while attending school, doing an internship in your desired field or doing both, use any and all opportunities to market yourself to the outside world, especially as you get closer to graduation.

Among the things you should consider while still in school are:

• Don’t wait to prepare a resume – Just because you are not graduating for another year or longer does not mean you should wait to prepare your resume. It is important to be compiling your resume as you go with internships, part-time jobs relevant to your desire field of work etc. While you are likely not to have a lot of job experience on your resume when first seeking full-time employment after school, highlighting your related experiences while in school is important. Think that internship didn’t mean anything, think again;
• Putting together a professionally-looking Web site – It is not just companies that have Web sites. More and more students are taking to the Internet to compose sites that highlight their accomplishments, abilities and more. Given the technological age that we live in, a well-constructed and informative Web site can give you a step up on other grads when you go to find your first serious job. Use your creativity or bring someone in who is knowledgeable around the Internet to put together a site that will attract the attention of employers.
• Compiling school references – Your professors and those you intern under and/or work part-time under while in school oftentimes know you the best. Be sure to use those where you’ve had positive experiences and have permission from as references. In some cases, you may even be able to attain a letter of recommendation from one or more, thereby allowing you to better stand out among a crowded field of applicants for a job;
• Check the Internet for any negativity involving your name – Whether it was that holiday social at school or the weekend trip with your best college buddies that got a little out of hand, make sure there are no questionable photos floating around the Internet that potential employers could get their hands on. By doing a simple Google search of your name, you can trace any negative comments or images that could lead a possible employer to question whether or not you would be a good hire for them. Also check your social networking accounts like Twitter, Facebook and others to scan for any comments and/or photos that could be thought of as controversial;
• Work with the school’s alumni department – Lastly, don’t be afraid to use the campus resources, including the school’s alumni and job placement departments. While they may fall under different titles on different campuses, most if not all schools have an alumni department and some form of career placement center. These can be of great value to you, even if you’re an underclassmen and not thinking about entering the workforce in the immediate future. Create the relationships early and mold them over time so that you have the ear of such departments for when you truly need them. You may think your school’s alumni department is just for alums, but if an employer has been happy with some recent graduates and is looking to higher, they may turn to your school in search of filling more positions. Use any and all networking options to better enhance your job prospect offerings.

While college students are oftentimes weighted down with their studies and social activities, it is never too early to start thinking about when the time comes to graduate and get a full-time job.

Start early with your preparations, and utilize the Internet, school connections and more to stay one step ahead of the crowd.

Dave Thomas, who covers among other subjects’ vehicle insurance, writes extensively for business.com an online resource destination for businesses of all sizes to research, find, and compare the products and services they need to run their businesses.

So, in high school, I bet you never thought the skills you learned making that poster board of your science project would actually help you in promoting your own business a few short years later.  Well, go back to that science fair and let’s look at this from a marketing perspective.  You had to research and create a science project that was unique, creative, and functioned properly in order to earn an “A.”  You had to create the poster describing and showcasing your project.  Then, once the fair came around, you had to repeat whatever the project was in front of judges or teachers, fingers crossed that it would work correctly each time.  Sound familiar?

As much as you may not want to admit it, your science teachers were on to something bigger.  Think of this in terms of your business.  As an entrepreneur, you developed a product or service that you were passionate about and/or thought had potential to become profitable to you.  You had to tweak and adjust this in order to deliver the best possible final product to your customers.  Once this was ready to go to market, you had to convince your potential customers that they needed your offering.  Are you earning an “A” in your real-life business science fair?

To ensure you get your well-deserved “A,” consider exhibiting at a local trade show.  Using the strategy described below, you can launch your business to exciting new levels through a hands-on, personal approach by incorporating effective trade show exhibiting into your business marketing plan.

Showcasing Your “Science Project”

Other marketing methods may describe or talk about your business, but having a trade show exhibit gives your customers the ability to experience and see for themselves the quality of your product.  This is your opportunity to stand out above your competition and reach potential customers that may have overlooked your product in the past.

Creating your “Poster”

To guarantee that your business is memorable to the hundreds or perhaps thousands of attendees, your exhibit must be creative, unique, and consistent.  Reinforce your company’s logo and colors throughout your display, marketing materials, and promotional items.  As is made clear in the articles throughout Dorm Room Biz’s ‘branding’ blog posts, branding and consistent imaging are critical components to a company’s success.

Earning your “A”

To maximize the profitability and ROI from your exhibit investment, you must follow the below guidelines.

• Your exhibit must be innovative, memorable, and represent your company and product.  Don’t skimp on the details, and take advantage of a local exhibit company to ensure your display is the best at the show.
• Give away something with your logo and contact information.  Make sure it’s something useful and won’t just get thrown away in the nearest trash can!
• Collect contact information!  Announce a give-away or contest at your booth, and collect personal information you can use to follow-up with the attendees after the event.
• Talk to each person who passes your exhibit.  Everyone is a potential customer and knows a whole network of potential customers, so be friendly and greet everyone.  Leave them with a positive impression and a good feeling!

Have you had recent experience with trade show exhibiting?  Or do you have questions on how to get started?  We’d be glad to help – just share your question or thoughts in the comments section below.

Marketing
Most businesses cut back on marketing when times are tough, in an attempt to cut costs and stay afloat. Study after study has proven, however, that the businesses that succeed and grow the most after a recession is over are those who kept on marketing during the bad times. I’m not telling you to spend all your cash on marketing and hope for the best, but don’t cut back on your marketing just because there’s a recession. If anything, use the recession as an excuse to make every dollar count and negotiate better rates with Magazines, Printers and other sources.

Upselling
If you already have existing customers, a great way to bring in extra cash and hone your sales skills is to try and upsell them to a higher level of service, a more expensive product, or a  value added service.
For example, if you do landscaping during the summer, you could upsell a yearlong gardening service or your snow plowing service for the coming winter.  Call past customers up and offer them a member’s only deal or coupon to get them to purchase a new service or product. Try and develop services or products that require a repeat/monthly investment as well.

Efficiency
Making every penny count can be a good thing.  Take the time now to create processes, train employees and systemize your business so that runs like clockwork. The time spent in creating efficiency now will result in the ability to take on more customers and clients with the same system you already have, increasing your profits while not increasing your costs.

Lower Costs
Finally, use the downturn as an excuse to play hardball. Tighten the screws on your vendors and suppliers. For example, call your cell phone provider up and threaten to leave unless they give you a better deal. Tell your suppliers that they need to lower their prices or you will find someone else to deal with.  When they complain, simply explain to them that times are tight and everyone is making cuts in spending. They’ll understand and you’ll have more money to spend on marketing.

This guest post comes from Maya Richard, who writes reviews about cell phones. She can be reached at mayarichard [at] gmail with feedback.