There are about 250,000 different “species” of jobs out there, and most of us only know about 200-300. In this segment, I speak with Matt Mahoney, founder of Daily Endeavor, about how college students and recent grads can explore the 99% of careers we never talk about. Here are some tips for finding the right career for you…even if it’s one your mom hasn’t heard of.

1) Start with your interests. Search by interests and what you like to do.
Don’t just focus on the field you think you want to explore. Don’t just focus on your major. Think about what you really, truly love to do.

Read the rest of this post on my “College to Career” blog at MyPath.com…

How do you feel about the fact that only a small percentage of careers are well-known? What has helped you in your career selection process?

All employers in all industries are seeking one major resume item: leadership.

Why is leadership so important?
Read the rest of this post on my “College to Career” blog at MyPath.com…

Some of Lauren’s tips for landing jobs/internships via Urban Interns:

* Don’t be turned off by the terms “internship” or “part-time”. Many people have developed incredible careers by serving multiple part-time clients. Also, starting out this way may allow you to get your foot in the door with some very cool, interesting startup companies.
* Think of the things you are good at, both personally and professionally. If you have years of experience with Facebook, even if you have only used it for your own relationships, you may qualify as a social media intern.

Read the rest of this post on my “College to Career” blog at MyPath.com…

How do you feel about the future of jobs, and do you have additional pointers that have helped you? Please share your comments below!

Part III: Personal Interests and Experiences

1. Investing. Have you put away money since your tenth birthday and watched your savings grow significantly? Are you active in trading and investing through your E*TRADE account? Do you currently manage your finances beyond balancing your checkbook? Since many high school and college students don’t manage their own money, your experience and knowledge could stand out.

2. Family business. If you’ve been part of your parents’ business development process or worked in a family-owned restaurant or store, your dinner table conversations may have involved hiring practices and workplace challenges. Even if you didn’t start the company, your experience is a source of knowledge and brings value to your job search.

3. Travel. Any trip that has broadened your perspective of the United States or the world adds value to your relevant work experience. Did you hike the Grand Canyon or backpack through Europe? Did you visit a country where you couldn’t even read the street signs? Be sure to tell potential employers how you overcame these challenges and broadened your life experience.

4. Passions or hobbies. What do you care about and what do you do in your free time? Whether it’s running marathons, building model airplanes or teaching yourself to cook, anything that demonstrates your dedication and drive has value in the workplace. If you’ve committed yourself to a goal and achieved it (or are working on achieving it), you’ve spent a lot of time and energy in this area of interest. Be sure to mention these experiences in an interview or professional networking situation.

5. Social media. Have you made a (positive) name for yourself in the social media word? If you’ve become highly involved in an online community like Twitter, YouTube, Ning or LinkedIn, be sure to mention this experience in a job interview. Many companies are focused on enhancing their presence online and may appreciate your experience and knowledge in this still-new arena. If your talent includes more than Facebook-stalking your peers, and you’re proud of what you’ve done, don’t hesitate to share.

6. Technology. If you have computer knowledge beyond Microsoft Word, take it into consideration as a marketable skills. If you have significant experience with Quickbooks, Photoshop or are really advanced with Excel or PowerPoint, definitely play up these skills. If you can write HTML code (even basic), that can be very valuable too.

7. Moving. Did you attend more than one high school because your parents decided to move? Did you transfer colleges after your freshman year? If you successfully made friends and acclimated to a new environment, you might mention this experience in an interview. If you didn’t love your first pick of colleges, your desire to change and improve your situation shows strength and courage. Play up your ability to make the most of change when speaking to potential employers.

8. Overcoming a life challenge. Were you injured and completed physical therapy? Have you dealt with a learning disability or taken care of a sick parent? Though these are very personal experiences, you might mention these personal trials in an essay, cover letter or interview. Some of life’s greatest challenges have nothing to do with work or professional experiences. Give yourself credit and consider talking about these difficult life experiences from an attitude of strength. They’re part of who you are today and potential employers will appreciate your honesty and courage.

In addition to brainstorming all of the above types of experience, I poked around the Web to find even more. Freelance work, certification that requires training or courses, awards of all kinds and any involvement with a nonprofit are also worthy of mention. If I’ve left anything off this list, please share additional types of experience in the comments below.

As your post-summer assignment, go back through this list and put together a master list of your own. If you’re stuck, talk to five people who know you best. Ask your parents, siblings, mentors, best friends and favorite professors to help you come up with a list of valuable experiences you’ve had and specific qualities you bring to the table.

When it comes to selling ourselves, we often don’t see what’s right in front of us. Yes, it’s important to be humble, but in a competitive job market it’s also necessary to articulate exactly what knowledge, skills and experiences you bring to the marketplace. Happy listing!

LinkedIn has also launched a great resource for graduating seniors (and all college students and recent grads), the ’09 Grad Guide and a discussion group featuring helpful articles, job postings and Q&As.

Here is an excerpt from my guest article, “Stop Job Hunting Like It’s 1999: Dos and Don’ts for ’09 Grads”:

Job hunting is a journey, so I’d like to begin this post by paraphrasing from my favorite movie about a journey: The Wizard of Oz: We’re not in the 20th Century anymore, Toto.

This is the sentence I find myself thinking whenever a college student says something like, “I’ve sent out, like, a hundred resumes and I still haven’t found a job!” Emailing out resumes and waiting for a response used to be a perfectly decent strategy for finding a job. Not anymore. Today’s job seekers, especially ‘09 grads job hunting in a recession, need to be more creative, more proactive and more tech savvy than ever before. We are blessed to live in a time when there are so many new job hunting tools and techniques. Take advantage!

Here are some tips: Click here to read the rest of this article on the LinkedIn Blog…

A: You are smart to consider your finances when making a decision about law school. However, if you’re sure you want to be a lawyer, I believe that where there’s a will there’s a way. Start researching scholarships, financial aid packages and part-time programs (which allow you to continue working) as ways to lessen the financial burden. Law can be a very lucrative career, so it’s OK to take on some debt to finance your education. However, if you are not sure you really want to be a lawyer, don’t apply until you’ve made up your mind.

Regarding your fear of becoming a bank teller forever, that is entirely up to you. If you are securely employed in that position right now, my best advice is to make the best of it, learn as much as you can in that position and network with your colleagues to help build your connections and your access to future opportunities.

In this tough job market, I wouldn’t recommend giving up a decent job. (Of course, if being a bank teller is sucking the life out of you, then you need to make a change, even if it means working in a pleasant retail environment or a coffee shop.)

Whether you keep your bank teller job for the short-term or not, it’s important to keep researching and networking in the industry in which you’d like to work. If it’s law, then subscribe to law journals, read legal blogs, attend networking events and professional association meetings for lawyers and ask everyone you know to introduce you to attorneys who would be willing to provide you with some advice and guidance.

Just because you’re not working or studying full-time in a field does not mean you can’t be part of it. Every action you take and connection you make now will help you position yourself for a career move when the economy turns around.

Click here to read more of my career Q&As on ABC News on Campus

Click here to submit a question of your own

Image: ABC News/Getty

A: You’ve taken the right first step, which is having an expert — in your case, career services — review your resume and make sure it’s the best it can be. However, having a good resume is not enough these days. Employers are being bombarded with resumes, so the real way to stand out is to promote yourself beyond sending in a resume. You have to go the extra mile to get noticed.

Depending on your situation and the types of jobs you’re applying for, here are some suggestions:

Try to find a personal connection to the companies you want to work for. Talk to everyone you know — friends, family, former colleagues, former classmates, neighbors, etc. — to ask whether they know anyone at your target companies and would be willing to make an introduction. This is the absolute, no-doubt-about-it, very best way to catch the eye of a recruiter or hiring manager: to have your resume hand delivered to that person by a fellow employee. Don’t be afraid to ask people to help you get a job — this is the way business is done and you’ll make your contact look good for recommending you when you turn out to be a fantastic employee.

Hand-deliver if you can. If you’re applying for a position in a retail store, restaurant, local bank, child-care center or other employer with a physical location, try hand-delivering your resume and engaging a staff person in conversation about why you’d be a good employee. Making an in-person impression means a lot, especially when you’re applying for a customer-facing job.

Reach out. If you’re applying to a higher-level position, try reaching out to a recruiter, HR person or other decision maker via LinkedIn.com. Most employers I speak with are happy to connect with potential candidates on LinkedIn. Make sure your profile is grammatically correct, contains key words that will stand out to the employer, has a few impressive recommendations of your work and shows that you are a member of some industry-related groups. Once you’ve connected with some recruiters, stay on their radar screens by posting intelligent comments to group discussions, sharing interesting industry articles and/or answering relevant questions in the “Answers” area.

Make sure the job’s right for you. If you’re still not seeing results after trying the above strategies, consider whether you are applying for positions that are really a good fit for your skills and experience. You may be reaching too high or too low. Or, in this economy, you may be focusing your job search on an industry that is doing poorly, such as financial services. Check back with your career services office or talk with trusted professionals to see if you need to redirect your job search to a different industry, location or experience level.

To read more Career Q&As or to submit a question of your own, click here.

A few months later, you might have come across a group of job-hunting, 20-something recent graduates promoting their skills though sidebar advertisements on Facebook and links to their online resumes.

What intrigues me about these methods is not just the guts these job seekers displayed. It’s the different generational approaches to self-promotion. The baby boomer gravitated to in-person, face-to-face networking; the Millennial went right to the Web.

If you are looking for a job in the current recession, my best advice is to borrow from the playbook of both of these self-promoters: combine “old-fashioned” methods with new technologies. Diane K. Danielson, my colleague and co-author on the book The Savvy Gal’s Guide to Online Networking, calls this a “clicks and mix” strategy, and it’s an important marketing strategy if you’re looking for a new position.

Here’s why: Young adults are competing in the job market with much more qualified people who have been laid off and need to find any job they can. At the same time, older professionals are competing with younger workers who are willing to be hired for less money and security. And, in this economy, every job seeker has to try every job-hunting method available.

Here are some self-marketing tips for job seekers of all generations: click here to read the rest of this article on ABC News on Campus…

To watch the video, click here.

The good news: It’s a new year, and with that new year comes new advice, new tips and new resources for job hunters.

Recently, PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the best places for young professionals to launch a career, invited me to provide tips to help students and recent graduates find jobs and internships right now.

Click here to watch the 5-minute video and to download a list of 10 ways to recession-proof your job search.

If you have additional questions, feel free to submit them here.