How do I get a company's attention while still in college?
If there is a company that is my dream job and I am still in college, how should I best go about trying to let them know and get hired in the future?
Professional Groups- chances are your major has one or more groups that have meetings on a monthly or even weekly basis. Use Google, Yahoo! Groups, LinkedIn, and even Twitter to hunt for groups that meet up to discuss the industry you're in. It's a great way to meet people at the company(s) you want to work for or make connections with people who know people.
10 Answers
Professional Groups- chances are your major has one or more groups that have meetings on a monthly or even weekly basis. Use Google, Yahoo! Groups, LinkedIn, and even Twitter to hunt for groups that meet up to discuss the industry you're in. It's a great way to meet people at the company(s) you want to work for or make connections with people who know people.
Visit your career services department at the college and see if there are any alumni at your dream job's company. If you find an alum, offer to work for free. Even if you can't find an alum, call them anyway and offer to work for free.
Career services can also help with developing your resume, conducting mock interviews, and revealing any sort of summer internships/scholarships available.
Also, get involved in extra-curricular activities such as volunteer work, networking events, etc.
Mish has the best advice, an Internship (and being a good intern) has the best chance of landing you a job as soon as you graduate. Being proactive (this varies depending on your role/skills/company) will get you noticed. Most companies like to promote from within, and even though being the 'intern' is the lowest spot on the totem pole, it's better than being an outsider with the same credentials.
Networking is also a great way to get to know people. Tag along with your parents, friends or just call up the local chamber of commerce to find out what they know about getting you in touch with someone that can help. Face time is incredibly valuable.
Have a good resume. If the content of your resume is what you're saying, the style of your resume is what you're wearing. A resume that is easy to read, informative and not full of bulls*** will get noticed. I throw away any resume that has a typo, doesn't communicate well and doesn't clearly answer the question (if applicable). I have seen executive level resumes for apparently qualified people that I have dead-filed because of these quality issues. Don't show up to the interview in your pajamas, don't send a rough draft resume.
Finally, be PRO-active, not reactive. I deal with 2-3 big issues per day that directly affect my companies ability to stay alive and productive, on top of that I deal with 5-10 smaller issues that are part of projects, fixing something or helping/teaching current employees. There are between 300-1000 individual sheets of paper stacked on my desk at any time. Your resume is one of those sheets, double-sided. Guess where you fall on my priority list? Call me, be honest with my secretary, and talk to me about setting up a time to meet (in my office) for an hour. Be clear you want to discuss your interest in the field, and the possibility of future employment with my firm. You will very likely get this meeting, there is a 1 in 10 chance you'll be hired for a position that needs filling. If I don't hire you, it might not be you, it might be me, or the economy, or the fact that I just hired someone with 5 years more experience. But if you do the math, do this about 10 times and you'll be sure to have a good chance at finding something. Don't give up the hunt, but don't insult any individual. There is always a chance you'll get a call soon that you're not expecting.
These are brutal times, good luck.
David Flowe has your answer. Go get any and all internship you can get. You'd be amazed where they will get you. I just went through all that. Through my internships I networked with as many in the company as I could and I worked my butt off. Even with the rough job market I was getting constant calls. The more involved your internships get you, not just the coffee boy, the better. Even if the internships are a bit over your head. You will learn and you will get where you want to be. The next thing you should know is that unless you spend plenty of time at a company, it's hard to say that that is THE dream job for you, once at a company it can be completely different. Lastly, with a solid resume, internships throughout school, and as many people networked as possible, make sure those grades are more than stellar and that classes taken aren't a bunch of bs. Make sure those classes are applicable and not classes someone will look at and say "way to slack off, how the hell is pottery applicable to this engineering position". If you have facebook, myspace or any of that make sure it's either spotless of all questionable items or can't be found using search engines. Make sure nothing bad comes up for those search engines using your name. Good luck
The most important here is what the company does. It makes a world of difference what industry they're in.
So based on that, do some research online and check out their achievements (if any) and create something that would impress them; then make sure they see it.
It sounds simple but it isnt, but its not impossible.
It really depends on what type of company and what type of position you are looking to get. Much of the advice here is to get an internship, but if the company is popular you will be fighting with hundreds or thousands of others for the few available internships.
So, I take your question as more of a "how do I differentiate myself in the process of getting an internship or future job at my dream company". With that, in my opinion, what sets people apart are candidates that show initiative.... if it is your dream company then what are the reasons why? I own a small business and I hire people that show some passion about something in their life... and while it is good if that passion centers around something that would benefit my business, it is also important for me to see that a candidate has the capacity to be creative and driven about something. A friend of mine got a job a leading shoe company by taking some of their current designs and changing them a bit to demonstrate how they could save material (think GREEN movement). Yes, he went to school for design and had some knowledge of the process but to be honest, I doubt his "redesigns" were feasible in the real world... but what it showed was initiative above and beyond resumes and transcripts.
Couple that with all the modern ways to get attention (social media, industry groups, etc) and I think you have a chance to stand out
Contact them and apply for an summer internship.