What is it that nearly all college seniors do? They look for a job. Unfortunately, most students are unprepared for their search.

In order to conduct an effective job search, students will need to learn many things and do many more. Learning what to do, how to do them and when to do them is called preparation. This is where colleges can help their students.

Students need to know:

- The value of a semester-by-semester employment plan
- What jobs are naturally obtained by students with their majors
- Which employers offer those jobs
- What those employers need and expect from candidates
- How someone can differentiate themselves from other students
- What job search techniques will produce the best results for them
- What kind of accomplishments employers want to learn about
- The importance of part-time and summer work experience
- Networking - How it works, Why it is important
- Why employers like examples and stories
- What employment research should students be doing and when
- What is the best resumé style and content (not one page)
- Why practice interviews pay off
- How to obtain powerful and enthusiastic references . . . and much more.

When students realize how much they need to learn about job search preparation, they begin to ask questions:

- Who is going to tell me about the things I should be doing?
- Who will explain how, when and why I should do those things?
- Will anyone help me develop a plan?
- Who is going to answer my job search questions?
- What resources are available to help me?
- Why is it so hard for me to get in to see counselors in Career Services?
- What jobs are available for students with my major?
- Where can I find out which employers hire students with my major?
- What will those employers expect to see and hear from me?
- What accomplishment will impress prospective employers?
- Can my Professors help me find a good job?
- Who will teach me about resumés and interviewing?
- What does a good sales letter look like?
- How can I get some interviewing practice?
- Are references important?
- Who should I ask to be a reference?

Since all students have their own personal issues and concerns, the possible questions are endless. This is especially true in this time when good jobs are difficult to find. However, there is one question that almost all students have:

“Is my college doing enough to help me land a good job?”

Most students enter college with great hopes for the future. They know that academic performance is an important factor in landing a good job. However, most students fail to realize how many other factors affect employment success. Colleges that do not adequately inform and prepare their students for an effective search for employment are not doing enough. In the current economy, good academic performance can no longer guarantee that students will find and land a good job.

Unfortunately, many students believe that their colleges have failed to step up and help them get prepared to find good jobs. Some ask, “Have my college leaders given up on me?” Others wonder if their college leaders are unwilling to take on the tough challenges. That leaves students who are just entering college to wonder if they will be facing the same issues or will their college leaders take a stand and do something to help them.

That is why concerned college leaders should embrace systems and tools like The Job Identification Machine™ and The Job Search Preparation System. Furthermore, they should constantly be on the lookout for other tools and systems that can help their students prepare for and conduct a much more competitive search for employment. Students at the most effective colleges never have to ask, “Is my college doing enough?”