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By Jeffrey McMurray, special for Gannett News Service

College senior Adidja Mampuya isn't sure what she'll do when she graduates, but for now, she has a dream job answering that very question for others.

As an assistant at the Career Services Center for the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Mampuya files new openings that arrive at the office. Often, Mampuya is the first on campus to know what opportunities the market holds for students like her.

Maybe it's not a huge advantage, but when pickings are slim, any edge can be crucial. Her uncle recently retired from Sprint, and a best friend works there now. She figured these connections, coupled with her communications degree and frequent visits to the placement center, would surely help her land work in the field.

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But no such job has turned up, and Mampuya is leaning toward staying in school to earn a master's degree in business administration. Half jokingly, she suggests a possible fallback career in job-placement services — one of few professions that seems to be thriving.

"I had not planned on getting a master's degree, but it's just looking as though that's the best thing to do right now," says Mampuya, 22. "I'm not bummed out about it, but situations change. Maybe by the time I'm finished, the economy will have bounced back a bit."

There were already numerous roadblocks for college students in search of careers, and a fragile economic picture adds yet another. A year ago, more than 200 companies attended a University of Missouri-Kansas City job fair to discuss their potential openings with students. This year, that number plummeted to 80, although a record number of job-seeking students showed up.

"There are still jobs out there, and students are still getting hired," says Candice Stice, assistant director of the school's Career Services Center. "It's just harder."

For the most part, Stice and many career counselors nationwide aren't suggesting any dramatic alterations from the old-fashioned system of making connections, sending resumes, practicing interviews and, of course, starting early. When the job market is tight, they simply suggest more of all these things — with a special emphasis on the early part.

"Why don't students spend a little more time thinking about where they want to go?" says J. Michael Farr, publisher of JIST Publishing and author of several job-search books. "We spend all this time going to classes, watching television and eating pizza, but for something as important as career planning and life planning, there are wonderful resources out there. But they're no good if people don't use them."

Farr says many students enter the job search without a clear understanding of what they're looking for. He suggests browsing the Occupational Outlook Handbook, a compilation of job descriptions and skill requirements the U.S. Department of Labor updates every two years.

Summer internships also help students find direction.

Although many college students are required to decide on a major by the end of their sophomore year, far fewer pick a corresponding occupation by then.

But choosing a desired profession early is just as important as selecting a medium of study. Colleges usually host job fairs and offer written assessments for students to align their skills and interests with the needs of various companies, but any method of finding a match will do.

Gina Snyder, career counselor for St. Mary's College of California-Moraga, suggests several rounds of informational interviews in which students ask company officials questions in an informal setting. At the least, the students gain a deeper understanding of the job, and sometimes these exercises can lead to formal interviews — and offers — down the road.

Once students identify their skills and jobs that appeal to them, they're ready to try a simple one-minute speech Snyder teaches as a crucial part of the next phase: networking.

The "I am, I can, I want" speech enables students to practice telling virtually anyone they meet exactly who they are, what skills they can offer and what specific kinds of positions they seek.

One pitfall in the job search is that students often limit their networking to the people they think can directly help them. But even architecture majors with no interest in dentistry should try out their "I am, I can, I want" speech during a tooth-cleaning visit. After all, the dentist might just have an architect in the next chair.

"Regardless of how many resumes are online, about 80-85% of the people are hired from the hidden job market," Snyder said. "Even if a job is posted on a Web site or in the paper, more often than not somebody has an inside track."

Snyder suggests college students carry a small pad of paper with them at all times to jot down names and phone numbers of people they meet. They should add this information to an evolving contact list — friends, family members, professors and alumni.

"No one's going to hire you because of who you know, but they will talk to you," says Deborah Rothstein, director of career development at Columbia University.

If a student zeroes in on one specific company, a personal phone call or tailored letter dramatically heightens the odds of a follow-up interview. But there is some debate over whether a bulk mailing of generic resumes and cover letters or a handful of company-specific applications is most effective.

"So many students will produce a cover letter that's like something taken out of a book, where only the names and dates are changed," said Donna Seckar, director of career services at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. "There's a certain amount of luck involved, but what they often tend to do is not stick with it, not follow up."

Wayne Starr has a 25-year-old business in which he distributes resumes nationwide for corporate executives in various fields. Recently, Starr started a new Web site — www.mailyourresume.com — where for 10 cents a hit, students can search a colossal database of human resource departments and download addresses that can be printed onto labels from a home computer.

"I'm not a fan of tailoring [your cover letter for the specific company you're targeting] for the simple reason most students get bogged down in tailoring and don't get enough out," Starr says. "If you tailored the letter, you would get a better impact, but if you tailor 50 letters or send out 2,000 untailored letters, the 2,000 untailored are going to beat them by 10 to 1."

There are almost as many theories on how to land a job as there are experts willing to share them, but it's unanimous on one point: You have to look to find. Many times, students sit at home discouraged when they could at least be trying, Farr says.

"Even with unemployment rates going up, 95% of everyone in the United States who wants to work is working right now," Farr says. "They're going to end up just fine. It may take longer to land on their feet, but that just means they have to be more persistent, more active in the job search."

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