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[Ed. note: This belongs to our series of posts featuring tips for recent grads from LinkedIn users. St. Lawrence University student Kristen Bednar reflects on her job search experiences giving advice on how job seekers can COPE with the hard times. Bednar who plans to graduate in May with a Bachelors degree in Economics, will be pursuing an M.B.A. at the Simon Graduate School of Business in the fall]

The current job market is not ideal for anyone, let alone those of us completing four years of undergraduate study with dreams of future careers. But through my experiences, I have learned a few ways to COPE:

[Ed. note: This belongs to our series of posts featuring tips for recent grads from LinkedIn users. Bruce Biskin, PhD is a career planning and assessment expert, and senior associate with Delaware Valley Career Solutions. He also co-administers a job/career resource wiki in Bucks County, PA]

Soon, tens of thousands of college seniors will flip their tassels and complete–at least for now–their formal higher education. And the current recession means more of them ever before will still be looking for that first job after graduation, and it may not be the one that they and their parents expected would launch their careers. But the market is not as bleak as the unemployment reports would suggest. There are many things that parents can do to help new grads and I will suggest a few that pertain primarily to parents.

But first I have a suggestion to those readers who know parents who struggle with (or ignore) the fact that their grad has really grown up. (I know you are not one of them.) Gently remind them that, “college graduates are responsible adults–even when they are your kids”. Because if they forget, they may find that their good intentions may do more long-term harm than good. If you believe they might struggle to suspend parental authority, you might even suggest that they adopt a mantra like, “My child is a college graduate. My child is a responsible adult.” It works!

[Ed. note: This belongs to our series of posts featuring tips for recent grads from LinkedIn users. Joyce Solano is an MBA candidate at the University of San Francisco where she will graduate in May 2009. She is currently at Sun Microsytems managing social media communities and identifying strategic partnership opportunities. You can read her blog here and listen to her podcast at NewGenTech]

Last Spring, as the competition for MBA internships started to heat up, I knew I needed a leg up to land that coveted opening at Sun Microsystems. My strategy was simple, understand the personal brand of each of the team members. I would feel more confident if I knew as much about them as they did about me. LinkedIn was an invaluable source of information that helped me understand the history, interests and accomplishments of my potential colleagues. As job seeking students we have to remember that we are assessing potential companies as well, truly making it a two way evaluation.

Realizing how much I had in common with the team and how interesting they were, really cemented that Sun was a match for me as well. I knew that my skill set was up to par, but also recognized that culturally, I would make a great addition. I walked into my series of interviews, armed with resources, rich with relevant data points and teeming with confidence.

[Ed. note: This belongs to our series of posts featuring tips for recent grads from LinkedIn users. Kim Little, Owner of Executive Resume Pro, has been writing resumes and helping all levels of candidates, including new graduates, empower their own job search since the 1990s]

For students, the most important hurdle they have to overcome is a lack of experience, but how do they get that experience if nobody will give them a chance? If you arm yourself with a well-written, professionally formatted resume which highlights your achievements, skills and experience, you will boost your chances of gaining valuable interviews. To differentiate yourself from other college grads or entry-level applicants, keep the following tips in mind.

Try not to use a vague objective statement that only talks about you. For example: “To join a progressive organization where I can expand my skills in selling and communications” is only about YOU, the candidate. You might instead want to lead with the following: “Enthusiastic graduate with demonstrated initiative, creativity, strong communication skills and real-life business experience conducive to making measurable contributions in a marketing setting.” You are then giving the reader a better understanding of what you can offer them vs. what you want.