They mean well, the counselors in your college career center. They do a good job of getting some recruiters in, and they maintain a wonderful database of previous graduates, they have alumni in to speak.

But where many fall down -- and I know this because I was guilty of it myself when I was in their role years ago -- is the lack of repeated direct contact with hiring managers, corporate recruiters, and HR, so that they keep up with how new grads should market themselves. They have a lot on their plate but they need to make the time for this direct-contact activity. Because this is something I do a lot of, I shape my comments around what those who do the hiring...

Has that vital reference retired? Or can't be found?

You were their last "new grad" mentee before they retired. Or they were your manager 20 years ago, and again 8 years ago, then they retired. Or you just can't find them. And they're not on LinkedIn.

Yet they wrote the most amazing things about you in your performance reviews.

And they wrote you excellent "reference letters", something we don't see as much of any more, given the other ways people do references now.

So, what do you do so that those good words about you don't get lost?

Solution: Put them in your LinkedIn "Summary" section.

The beauty of this section is that it's the most flexible part of LinkedIn. There are many things you can do here. But adding a line or so from a positive performance review they wrote about you can be a powerful addition here:
"Lisa's work on the ABC project was typical of her talent for managing teams so well..." - Former Manager

Or maybe they wrote you a reference letter and all you have is a hard copy of it. Take a quote from the letter and put that in your LinkedIn Summary section.

Naturally, you'd give the names and contact info of these "endorsers" to a prospective employer who asks for them.

So just because someone is retired or "lost" or not on LinkedIn doesn't mean they can't help you land that next great position -- they still can.

Now, for the first time ever, Joanne Meehl is making available materials that will give you some coaching, right off the page! The Ignite Your Job Search Store is open! Click the link below. Want to know how to create a target list of employers? There's now a guide for that. Are you a college senior looking for a road map to a great job when you graduate? There's a guide for that, too. All at minimal prices, with a secure connection when you use a credit card to purchase.

You can even get live coaching time with Joanne here (at introductory rates that will more than pay you back when you use what you learn!).

Use your smartphone to get to the Ignite store, or when getting other downloads from the site, or to see Joanne's blog: just snap the QR code above with your smart phone to get right there.