Melanie Rhodes, a 1996 University of Cincinnati accounting and information systems graduate, says simply: I refused to be a statistic. Having a child when I was 16 didn't stop me; struggling through high school as a single parent didn't stop me; getting into a demanding college program, while raising my son, didn't stop me. Nothing was going to stop me from getting my college degree. I was determined to knock down every obstacle, and I did.  

She was determined to beat the odds. I knew for a long time that I wanted to be successful, and temporary setbacks were just that temporary. I knew that my college degree was a passport to my future and a better life for my son and I. I wanted to work in a progressive business environment, where I could apply my knowledge and leadership skills and make a good living. Working part-time throughout my college years was hard, but it helped me to learn more about work environments where I could succeed. It also helped me to strengthen my quantitative and people skills.  

Melanie participated in ADVANCE, an African-American student organization at U.C. that helped her focus on professional development and to learn how to effectively network. 

Through ADVANCE, I had concrete leadership skills and achievements that I could talk about easily in those intense, informational interviews, she says. 

I started looking at various organizations early in my junior year, Rhodes says. Since I didn't participate in the cooperative education program, I knew that I needed to learn about a variety of employers out there, so that I could find the kind of position I wanted. I wasn't quite sure what the actual job would be, but thanks to attending workshops on career decision-making, I learned about my own values, wants, needs and what I was most likely to be successful at. 

When I heard about the Oracle Corporation, I was really intrigued. Oracle was a new company; it was said to be very progressive; it wanted graduates with good grades, with strong quantitative, communication and analytical skills to work in its sales force. I researched the company extensively. I found out that Oracle was the leading database provider and the 2nd largest software company in the world. That was really exciting. More exciting was the six months of extensive training they would provide to be sure that I would have the skills necessary to be successful at Oracle.  

Melanie had registered for on-campus recruiting through her career center, had polished her resume and had practiced in a video interview through the center.  

I was ready when Oracle interviewed on my campus, she recalls. Not only could I sell my skill and abilities, but I could also talk persuasively about why I was the right candidate for them and this was the right job for me.  

But it wasn't easy 

They made me sweat. They flew me to Pittsburgh for a full day of interviews, before offering me the position, Rhodes remembers. 

After my interview, I was certain that I wanted Oracle and hoped that they wanted me. When the call came, it was wonderful. I was offered a position with a generous starting salary with excellent benefits and a rigorous training program. I didn't have to think about it long. I knew what I wanted and this was it. I was one of the fortunate African-American students at my university who landed the job I wanted, before I graduated!   

Scott Brown, a 1995 Marketing graduate from Hampton Institute, knew even in high school that he would probably pursue business as a career. He was influenced by his parents (his father is in business), the media and personal assessment while still in high school. As a freshman, he knew selecting a career could be complicated, so he sought extra-curricular activities to determine his aptitude in business. He became in-volved in Inroads, a national student development program that helps talented, college-bound minorities identify internships in business organizations. Through Inroads, Scott obtained an internship at Procter and Gamble. 

By his sophomore year he new exactly what he wanted to do in his career and where he wanted to do it, and he never changed his mind. He interned at Procter and Gamble for four years, while attending Hampton. Every year, he had a different experience and learned another phase of the business while gaining more understanding of the field of marketing. Those experiences made him more confident about his ability to be successful in business. 

Scott used his work experience as a proving ground for classroom theory on marketing. He discovered that real work challenges are often far more complex than text book situations He learned that to be successful, you have to merge real life experience with academic preparation and also use good common sense. He also learned to interact effectively with peers and managers, thus building positive work relationships that made him feel very much a part of the team, before being offered a permanent position. 

Because Scott was so confident about what he wanted to do, he bypassed a lot of second-guessing and the senior year job search frenzy. His job search consisted of only two-to-three campus interviews at Hampton, careful research of the companies and consultation with his father and his mentor at P&G. He realized that he liked his employer and his employer liked him. 

Early in his senior year, Scott was offered and accepted a sales position at Procter & Gamble. He based his decision on the substantial salary offer, the bright future he could see for himself at this company, and the excellent training he would continue to receive. 

I asked myself three critical questions that I think every graduating senior must ask before accepting any job offer. Do I believe in the company? Do the company's goals for me match my own? Would I be proud to work for them? Scott says. When I was able to answer these three questions with an enthusiastic 'yes,' I made my decision.  

Scott now lives in Memphis and enjoys his challenging position the flexibility and good pay it provides.  

I was lucky to know what I wanted all along and to have landed an internship with a large, progressive, multinational corporation where the sky is the limit in terms of career opportunity, he says. 

Scott admits that the internship challenged him as a freshman, but says he is glad he had four years to hone his skills. He strongly recommends that students in college today, especially African Americans, take the time to get involved with a cooperative education program or an internship through organizations such as Inroads. 

If you want to land the job you want, he says, be sure to get the training you need.  

Kenya Thacker also landed the job she wanted, but her process differed significantly from Melanie's and Scott's. Kenya, a chemistry major, entered Spelman knowing that she was good in the sciences and liked research. She thought that with these interests she should pursue medicine as a career. Like many liberal arts majors, she had a career idea, but not an actual career plan, and medicine was about all she knew that a chemistry major could do. 

Kenya became involved in a lot of things in college that stretched her knowledge of herself and her career interests. As a freshman, she studied hard, got good grades and also got involved in extracurricular activities. During the summer of her freshman year, she was hired as an academic tutor for the Upward Bound Program. Through this experience, she got her first taste of teaching and was named tutor of the year. As she progressed in college, Kenya continued to enjoy chemistry, especially research. She spent summers traveling to Chemistry conferences and symposia, learning more about the profession and the diverse career fields that her chemistry major afforded her. 

Back at Spelman, she continued to do well academically and participated in tennis, dance, and excelled in track and field. In her junior year, Kenya had an opportunity to participate in a domestic exchange program between Spelman and the University of California at San Diego. This experience had a significant impact on Kenya's future career direction. 

I loved Southern California, admits Kenya, who had frequently visited her maternal grandparents in Northern California growing up. 

Returning to California became one of her geographic priorities as she began sharpening her career focus. 

I also knew that I wanted to give back to my community, since I had been fortunate growing up in a nice home with parents who loved me, have traveled extensively and enjoyed a middle class lifestyle. I learned while at Spelman that success is not only measured by what you do, but also by what you give, asserts Kenya.  

I started re-evaluating my career choice. I knew much more about the many opportunities in my field and knew that I was attracted to other things. I also had to deal with the realities of getting into medical school: serious competition, additional years of study, no income. I was already starting to investigate other options when I applied to medical school. I heard about the Teach For America Program on campus, and was really interested in it. I volunteered at an elementary school in Atlanta during my senior year to learn more about my interest in teaching. I thoroughly researched the Teach For America Program, filled out an application and interviewed through my campus career center. I was pretty confident about my prospects, graduating cum laude from Spelman, having made college All-American in track and field and with years of related work experience. But the competition for medical school admissions is tough. When I learned that I was not accepted to the medical schools I preferred, I went on to my alternate career plan. After honestly assessing my situation, I wasn't really devastated by not getting into med school. I knew that I could do many things and that teaching inner-city youth for a few years would help me to further understand myself and what I wanted to do. It would also provide a source of income to allow me to live on the West Coast while letting me give something back to the black community.  

I was thrilled when I was accepted to the Teach For America Program, and I am still proud of my decision. I have completed one year of my two-year commitment. I plan to go back to graduate school when my contract is over. I will probably pursue Patent Law in the bio-medical field where I can further apply my interests in the sciences and in research. I guess you could say that my pursuit of a career has been a winding path of self-discovery, leading me to one of many careers that I will pursue in my lifetime. It's great to have choices! Thacker says.  

Uyon Barnes is a 1996 graduate from Northwestern University with a major in Communications. Like Kenya Thacker and many other Liberal Arts graduates, she had to narrow the career fields that would be of interest to her, because her major could have taken her in a number of career directions. 

I got involved with Inroads when I was a junior in high school, and so I interned every summer, states Uyon. 

Uyon actually had four years to learn about her future employer GE Capital. She was able to become familiar with the people, the business and the working environment. 

The work experience helped me to see what I could do for the company and what it could do for me. I knew that I wanted to work in this kind of organization after working here so long, she said. But I still was not sure exactly what I wanted to do within the company, nor was I guaranteed employment after graduation. I still had to do a lot of self-analysis. 

In order to strengthen my prospects for permanent employment, I continued to give a high level of performance and to demonstrate a strong work ethic, Barnes said. I didn't take the company for granted, despite my familiarity. I also interviewed with other companies to keep my options open, until an offer was made. This helped me to have broad exposure to the options that were available to me. 

By my senior year, I knew exactly where I wanted to work. But as an internal candidate for employment, my job search had a slightly different twist, Barnes recalls. I did not have to send out hundreds of resumes. Nor did I participate in extensive interviews elsewhere, but I did target my in-house search. After networking and advice seeking, I interviewed for two different positions within GE Capital, and the one I thought I wanted was not the one I got. I thought I'd like a rotating assignment, but was offered, instead, a specific assignment that would allow me to know that field in depth. I was offered the position I ultimately accepted in January of my senior year. 

So, long before many of my friends had started their job search, mine was already completed, Barnes says. I love my job and am excited about the opportunities that lie ahead. The company has locations in other cities and overseas. The career prospects look great. I have even developed a renewed love for my city, even though I had reservations about returning home after living away for four years. I would advise those about to enter the job market to know what they want and to pursue it with intelligence and flexibility. Do your homework and look at all of your options. Give new possibilities a chance before you make your final decision, then go for it.  

With a degree in Operations Management, Burton Phillips' job search was more strategic and focused. A 1996 graduate from the University of Cincinnati, Phillips did a co-op while in college and had regular contact with his African-American co-op counselor, who mentored and challenged me, he recalls. 

With my academic major in a job-related discipline, and with her assistance, I was able to carefully map out my own career strategy, gaining meaningful, hands-on experience through a couple of different co-op assignments, Phillips says. 

Phillips says his co-op experience was invaluable. It gave me much more of an understanding of complex manufacturing concepts learned in the classroom, exposed me to different work environments, gave me actual supervisory experience and helped me to test out my skills in challenging, real work situations. When I returned to campus for classes, I knew exactly what I needed to sharpen my skills in order to be successful in my field.  

Throughout college, Phillips kept building his personal career portfolio of relevant classes, related work and extracurricular leadership. He knew the industry and made himself an excellent fit for the position he was seeking. 

By targeting the industry, I was able to prepare myself in-depth for the right opportunity when it came along, Phillips says. 

Phillips also participated in on-campus interviews offered through his career center. Many students fail to use this important resource, but Phillips took advantage of it and had more than 10 campus interviews. He also used the latest technology, surfing the Net to explore other opportunities beyond those found at his career center. Finally, Phillips read The BLACK COLLEGIAN, and actually landed his position through an ad in the magazine. He accepted a position with Toyota as a supervisor in their Parts Distribution Center. Phillips stayed in that position for nearly two years, and then made a career change. 

I realized that what I really wanted to do was to get into computer-related industries, if I was going to have the skills needed for the future, Phillips says. 

Phillips actually took a decrease in salary to make a lateral career move. But the move helped him to launch a new career direction, and he found his niche at Anderson Consulting in Chicago.  

I found the job I wanted through networking and exposure. I am so glad that I was able to develop skills that can be transferred from one career field to another, Phillips says. 

Melanie, Kenya, Scott, Uyon and Burton have something in common. They developed personal job search strategies that would work for them. Each was the driver of his own job search, choosing the methods that fit their needs. Even as freshmen, they were thinking about their careers and testing the waters through career-related experiences. They worked hard to get good grades. They began matching career opportunities to their interests and vice versa at an early stage. Throughout their college years, they strategically expanded their career knowledge and networks by using their campus career centers and by getting coached along the way by caring counselors and mentors. They remained flexible and open to new information. Most importantly, through academic preparation, campus and community involvement, they developed the skills and attributes that employers seek. They then used their expanded career networks to find the jobs they wanted. In the end, they were successful because they knew what they wanted to do and were willing to work hard to achieve their goals.  

1. Do Not Self-Discover Through the Job Search 

This should precede your job search. Effective job searchers know who they are, what they have to offer, what they want and why it is of value in the job market. 

2. Sharpen Your Tools for Success  

Utilize current technological resources such as electronic resumes, Internet job searches, on-line resume listings, CD ROM employer directories and databases, and video conferencing available in your campus career center to smartly and efficiently conduct your job search. 

3. Never Send a Resume Alone 

A good resume is always accompanied by its number one supporter, the personalized cover letter. There is CD ROM resume and job search software available that will literally walk you, step-by-step, through the process of developing your resume on your computer. 

4. Avoid Mass Mailing Madness 

Smart, targeted marketing strategies work. Tailor your resume to each job opportunity. Carefully determine and research your search parameters (geographic preferences, kind of organization, scope of work etc.). 

5. Keep at It  

Once you've started, don't stop. Be persistent: keep massaging your networks and make periodic check-backs by e-mail. Be perceptive: identify warm leads and make them hot. 

6. Be Ready 

When the follow-up call comes, be prepared for follow-up questions, follow-up interviews, salary/benefit negotiations, start-date availability and training. Avoid hasty responses, but seize the day! Too many students get hung up waiting to see what else will possibly be offered when an actual opportunity is staring them in the face. A poor decision at this point can leave you with nothing. This is where advance networking, consultation with your career center and personal analysis is key.