The answer, unless you actually aspire to a life as a mime (and there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, by the way), is d. None of the above.

The first clue, however, that you may be off track is that you’ve waited until April to get serious about your job search. Once you’ve identified your career path — which is what college is largely about — you should start looking for intern opportunities, paid or unpaid, in your chosen field(s) so that you’ll have some solid experience to list on your résumé.

Employers also know that even short-term jobs that aren’t related to the employment you’re seeking — waiting tables, working in retail, a work-study job at the university library — can teach you valuable skills. So whether or not you need the money that a part-time or short-term job provides, consider doing some real-world work during your college career, as long, of course, as it doesn’t conflict with your reason for attending college: learning.

The Résumé

As for preparing the résumé itself, experts offer these tips:

1. Learn as much as you can about the company or companies at which you’re seeking employment.
2. Learn as much as you can about the job for which you’re applying.
3. Write your résumé targeting that company and that job, linking your college degree, experience and skills as directly as possible to the responsibilities of the job for which you’re applying. In hunting for a job, the rifle approach — narrowing your search to just a few jobs and then focusing your energy, résumé and cover letter on landing those positions — is likely to get better results than the shotgun approach.

“I think the first thing you want to do is use short, crisp sentences that are structured around key words,” says Kesha Walker, regional recruiting manager for Enterprise Rent-A-Car – Southwest. “It should reflect your ability to do what the position you’re applying for requires.

“Use bullet points. Choose action phrases such as ‘managed,’ ‘developed,’ ‘presented.’ Structure the content of your résumé specifically for the job. So often that’s not the case. Typically there’s one blanket résumé that job seekers use, and they use it for every position that they’re applying for.”

“A targeted résumé is really critical from a recruiting aspect,” Allison Nicholas, Acxiom’s team leader for college recruiting, says, advising applicants to provide “fact-oriented, outcome-oriented information.”

Although Walker recommends a one-page résumé, other recruiters are more flexible, saying that though the résumé should be succinct and to the point, it should also reflect the applicant’s experience. Some applicants obviously have more experience than others; in that case, a two-page résumé is appropriate.

Walker does emphasize, however, one point that all people in the position of hiring others agree on: Proofread, proofread, proofread, then proofread some more, and then have someone else proofread your résumé and cover letter behind you.

“Make sure that there are no mistakes, and you probably want a second pair of eyes on there just to be sure that you don’t have any mistakes,” Walker says.

Acxiom’s Nicholas says, “The résumé creates a picture of the individual’s skills and abilities when they [the job applicant] can’t be there.”

A well written résumé can be “the difference between getting the interview and not getting the interview,” Nicholas says. She also urges job seekers to learn the application process used by companies because “paper and online résumés are very different.”

Nicholas, who focuses on college recruiting, advises applicants to list all the technical skills they possess, such as familiarity with computer programming languages and databases. She also urges job applicants just out of college not to hesitate to list on their résumés classes and special projects where they have been able to apply their skills in a team-based setting. “Technology is important to any job today,” Nicholas says.

Nicholas echoes Walker in urging job applicants to list on their résumés leadership positions they’ve held, such as serving as officers in professional clubs or associations. “If they want to stand out, they need to present a well-rounded résumé,” Nicholas says.

The Cover Letter

The goal of the cover letter is to secure an interview. Walker advises job seekers to try to find out who will be doing the hiring and then to address their cover letters to that person — the hiring manager or the person who actually makes the decisions. “You should not address a cover letter ‘To Whom It May Concern,’ which makes it seem as if you did not do your research,” Walker says.

“The cover letter should serve to get you the interview. You should definitely sell yourself, your skills, your abilities in that cover letter and make that person reading that cover letter want to call you and set up an interview.”