[Ed. note: This belongs to a series of contributing guest author posts from LinkedIn users. Heather R. Huhman is the entry-level career columnist for Examiner.com, career expert for the Careerealism Twitter Advice Project, job search expert for Campus Calm and author of the e-book “Gen Y Meets the Workforce: Launching Your Career During Economic Uncertainty"]

For every open position, employers receive hundreds—and in some cases, thousands—of applications. As a result, they search for any and every possible way to narrow down the selection. “Cookie cutter” cover letter? In the trash. Only one previous internship when the position requires “one to three”? Moved to the bottom of the stack. Typo? You can forget about it.

You get the idea. So, how can you make your application materials stand out?

1. Proofread, proofread and then proofread again. It’s not enough to just spell everything correctly and use proper punctuation. You also have to make sure you haven’t left in another organization’s information from a previous cover letter. Have a friend or parent review every document before you hit “send.”

2. Find an insider. Do you have a contact at the organization and didn’t know it? Perhaps a friend of a friend works there. Anytime you have someone who can either personally hand your résumé to the hiring manager or allow you to use his or her name in your cover letter (first paragraph—right up front), you have a leg-up over your competition. Using LinkedIn’s company search or advanced people search is a great way to figure this out. Other options include Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites you frequent. You’d be surprised at the depth and breadth of your network, and there’s nothing better than having someone the organization knows and trusts, recommend you.

3. Determine the hiring manager’s name and contact information. Nothing’s less exciting than reading a “Dear Sir or Madam” cover letter. You’re boring from the start, and probably already have found your way into the “circular file.” You have a number of options here. First, again, is checking LinkedIn and other social networking sites. Second, you can call and politely ask the receptionist for this information. Do not, particularly if the job ad says no calls, ask to speak with the hiring manager—just get his or her name, title and if they’ll provide it, direct e-mail address. Finally, conduct a Boolean search in Google. Using the organization’s name and a combination of either “hiring,” “employment” and/or “jobs” will likely give you a name and title.

4. Go beyond the organization’s Web site. Whether you’re in the application stage or you’ve been invited to interview, it’s important to know as much as possible about the organization. The corporate web site or blog will likely be helpful, but you shouldn’t stop there. Use Google News to uncover recent articles about the organization and its products, services, leadership and clients. Services like Glassdoor.com can help you determine the organization’s culture. Find out what bloggers are saying about the organization with Technorati. Once you have all this information, you can definitively explain why you are the best person for the job—why you fill a need or solve a problem the organization has.

5. Create an online portfolio. At the end of the day, employers today seek results. So, show them what you’ve done—before they’ve even considered inviting you to interview. On LinkedIn, the SlideShare Presentations, Google Presentation and Box.net Files applications allow you to upload files in various formats. Alternatively, there are numerous other free sites to showcase your work, including VisualCV.

Check out more tips for graduating students here