During graduation season talk of job hunting increases. The words on the lips of many this time of year are "resume", "interview", "career", and sometimes in a tone of panic.

I'll always remember one downtrodden soul who sat before me when I owned my staffing company. His appearance was acceptably professional. He was well spoken, had competitive levels of education and experience. But, I took a pass.

This interviewee told me, "I had a party this week in celebration of the mailing of my 1,000th resume."

I discovered this misguided man, who hadn't been gainfully employed in years, apparently believed mailing out resumes and looking for a job were the same thing.

In honor of all this year's graduates, I offer the following as my best system of sales, and job searching is selling.

1. Know your product, which in a job search is you. Identify your best work-related assets, things that would make an employer want you, and learn them by heart. Practice saying them to yourself, in writing and out loud. Things such as a relevant degree, special expertise, ability to get along, ability to keep commitments, infallible honesty or past successes in the field should roll off your tongue in conversation and be included in all your written materials.

2. Qualify your prospect, the employer. Why would the company need you? What opening do they have specifically for which you would be suited? Who is the decision maker when it comes to hiring? Never mail a blind resume or letter to a company in hopes of getting a job. If you have not taken the time to call to identify their hiring needs or get the name and title of the person who hires, I can promise you anything you mail will be a waste of a perfectly good postage stamp.

3. Have dazzling promotional materials, which in job seeking means resume' and cover letter, that go out to qualified prospective employers. Your resume should be one page and it should rock 'em, sock 'em. If you cannot design a dazzling resume' or write dazzling cover letters, I cannot adequately emphasize how important it is you seek help. Money spent on the best resume' and cover letters is worth the investment in your working future.

4. State in your cover letter you will follow up by phone within one business week, and do it. This is where being politely aggressive is going to be the difference between landing an interview and being shuffled out of sight, out of mind. Call until you get to the decision maker, even if you have to leave several friendly messages over a period of weeks. Eventually, your persistence will pay off. You will either land your interview or learn that you are not considered a candidate. Either piece of information is valuable.

5. Your sales presentation, the interview, is a science that warrants volumes already written. My advice is read all you can about how to interview well. From a firm handshake, to punctuality, to proper attire, to eye contact, to body language, to word tracks, interviewing is a skill successful job seekers master. Though simply making a good presentation in an interview and making a good employee are almost unrelated, the point is only the polished interviewee is offered further chances and, ultimately, employment.

If you "build a better mouse trap", the world will not beat a path to your door unless you successfully promote it. The same is true in employment. Terrific, talented people sometimes find they cannot make it happen career-wise simply because they have not taken the time to learn the art of self promotion.

The best of luck to all our recent grads!