In today’s competitive job market, college kids have got to use every advantage to make themselves stand out from the crowd. If you think it's hard to land a job as a fully-qualified professional, college students have it even tougher. So, today's show is dedicated to helping you -- the college student -- find not just any summer job, but one that will set you up for future success.

Corporate recruiters are looking for tangible, measurable proof of your capabilities, and choosing the right summer job can give you just that. So in today’s show we covered how to identify the skills that give winning candidates an edge and the types of summer work that offer the best experiences. Perhaps it isn't necessarily what you’d think! Finally, we’ll also reviewed how to evaluate different options and how to best present them on your resume. Summer may seem months away, but now’s the time to start planning!

With me today was returning guest Sarah Baker Andrus, Director of Academic Programs at Vector Marketing. They've got more than 200 offices in North America and work with tens of thousands of college students every year, exclusively selling Vector's flagship product Cutco Cutlery.

Specifically, Sarah points out that corporate recruiters are looking for relevant experience from summer employment. They want to know what you're learning in the classroom and what you are doing to apply it in your summer work. That doesn't mean that you can't travel or volunteer, or that you only can take a business-related job. On the contrary, it's just the opposite. You can do nearly anything you want but it should be relevant. Even if it turns out that the summer you spent painting, landscaping, or working with the DOT was the worse thing of your life -- hey, you have that learning experience. If it turns out that you loved working out doors, then you now know that too. Experimentation is AOK, just make sure you walk away with a learning experience you can articulate to the recruiter.

Have a plan. Sarah points this out as key to having a successful summer employment experience. Know enough about yourself and how you might contribute to a workplace, or the world for that matter, and go out and try it.

I have to admit, the advice in today's show is applicable to all of us marketers.

- David Kinard