Setting yourself apart in the job-hunting process can be a difficult task for college graduates searching for that perfect job.

Unfortunately, the traditional approaches of searching through classified ads, attending career fairs and surfing Internet job Web sites are not the best methods for making contact with potential employers.

Traditional approaches are reactive methods, proven to be less successful than proactive strategies such as those outlined in The Go-Getters: Market Driven to Career Success by David A. Lee.

In the book, Lee teaches career seekers appropriate and successful methods for gaining a competitive edge through a series of personal stories and experiences.

Lee calls his strategy for finding the perfect job the Go-Getter approach. This tactic requires job hunters to think like the business if they want to be in the business.

If you use a ‘Go-Getter’ approach and proactively contact employers before a job is posted, you can beat the competitors to the opportunity and have a higher chance of getting hired, Lee said.

Lee wrote that in many cases job vacancies are not advertised, yet companies still hire people all the time.

Businesses know that applicants who are truly interested and motivated to find jobs will use any means necessary to learn about position openings without them being advertised.

Lee defined the pros and cons of using different channels to search for a career. He said that university job assistance is beneficial because many good employees recruit using universities.

The competition can be very high using this method, however, and companies only recruit during certain times of the year. Using family, friends and contacts to network possible job opportunities is another resource that can give insights to job opportunities that other applicants may not get.

Lee’s methods also advocate that job hunters avoid conventional approaches that limit career choices, such as when job seekers strictly limit their career choices to businesses that parallel their education paths.

If you studied accounting, you would look for work at an accounting firm, Lee said. Many people focus on this approach with good reason, since they initially want to sharpen their skills in a company directly related to their studies.

The Go-Getters: Market Driven to Career Success is available at the Hornet Bookstore, Tower Books, Borders and Amazon.com.

Curtis Grima can be reached at [email protected]