Nothing beats networking when it comes to landing the right job. Studies show that 80 percent of jobs are found through people the job seeker knows - or through people the job seeker's family, friends, former classmates or colleagues know.

The Hegi Family Career Development Center offers students tools to build their networks online. While a face-to-face meeting is still the ultimate in networking, these online tools can provide powerful additional ways to make contacts and explore career resources:

Good news for all of you procrastinators who have not yet begun your internship searches: It's not too late! Here's a look at the logistics and psychology involved with finding a "last-minute" summer spot.

Sophomore Andrew Hendrix has an impressive resume: University Honors Scholar; triple major in political science, public policy and economics with financial applications; internships with U.S. Senator John Cornyn and U.S. Representative Michael Burgess; an on-campus job as a Student Technology Assistant in Residence; and numerous activities and awards.

Hendrix built his resume with support from SMU's Hegi Family Career Development Center, where counselors meet one-on-one with students beginning their first year to review their cover letters, portfolios and resumes.

"The counselors tie what you're doing now with what you hope to be doing in the future," says Hendrix, who is considering a law or graduate degree in international economics after he graduates. "They know how to market you."

(Or "Confessions of a former Job Fair Jockey...")

SMU's annual Spring Career Fair is set for February 19 at Hughes-Trigg Student Center. Do you ever wonder what happens on the employers' side of the proverbial job fair booth? Let me give you a rundown, in hopes that it will help students prepare.

I've dissected the fair into three categories - pre-event, the event itself and post-event - and examined each category from the perspective of a job fair recruiter (that's where the "confessions" come in).

Also find "Seven Lessons Learned" from past career fairs. Here we go:

Most job hunters have minimal success with getting interviews from Internet, newspaper, or employment magazine help-wanted ads during the holiday season. One factor is that December is just too early in the fiscal year for most companies, who hope to hire new employees at the end of a fiscal year or just prior to the new one.

Many companies celebrate the new fiscal year on October 1. As a savvy job hunter, you should position yourself for interviews during late summer - at a time when corporate budgets have discretionary or leftover budget lines and many companies are submitting their budget proposals for the upcoming year. This is the time of year when positions are opened and planning for new hires is approved.

"If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six hours sharpening my ax."
- Abraham Lincoln

One sign of our times is to get things done as quickly as possible. We're all guilty of succumbing to "instant gratification society." Gone are the days, apparently, when quality mattered. When customer service was more than an outsourced phone call. When going the extra mile and adding value were the rule rather than the exception.

When was the last time you invested extra time preparing for a meeting or finalizing a report? If you had eight hours to work on a report for your boss or instructor, would you spend six hours researching the topic, having experts proof and edit it, collecting additional information for follow-up ... in other words, developing a plan to exceed expectations by providing those rare "value-added extras"?

"The five most important words in the English language are: I AM PROUD OF YOU.
The four most important words in the English language are: WHAT IS YOUR OPINION?
The three most important words in the English language are: IF YOU PLEASE.
The two most important words in the English language are: THANK YOU.
The least important word in the English language is: I."
- Anonymous

In an age when common-sense and conventional wisdom seem to be thrown to the wind, it's appropriate to have a reminder now and then about what we learned in preschool but forgot along the way.

SMU's Hegi Family Career Development Center specializes in helping students plan their careers, choose their majors and transition into the workforce. Of course, there is quite a bit of work involved in planning a career - and a successful process means keeping resources, options, contacts and directions organized.

This career timeline, developed with significant input from SMU career counselors Elke Arnold and Caryn Statman, will help all students - any major, any grade level - uncover, access and utilize the best career planning resources SMU has to offer. In addition, the career timeline is organized into "semester-sections" that offer students specific instructions and resources when it is appropriate for them to pursue and engage. In other words, students develop their careers in manageable pieces, and they pursue achievable goals only when the time is right.

Using this timeline will make any career planning endeavor manageable and rewarding. Follow the steps and enjoy the process - remember that the most meaningful learning occurs in the process, not with the attainment of the end result. As a famous career counselor once said, "God provides enough food to feed every bird ... he just doesn't throw it in their nests."