This is a great list! I would also recommend finding a networking group or two - many job-seeker groups have formed in the last year to provide support to seekers in this very difficult market.  You will have a chance to polish your answers and connect to the jobs you won’t find posted on a job board.  I had inexpensive business cards printed for this purpose which clearly state what I’m looking for.  Also, it’s a very good idea to create a LinkedIn profile that mirrors your resume - in the headline under your name make it clear you are ISO (in search of) a specific opportunity.  You will be shocked how many recruiters or company HR reps will contact you as a result.  Finally, don’t be shy about reminding everyone you meet that you are still looking for a job. People really do want to help you and this is not a time for you to be too proud to ask.

I have to disagree. We sent our daughter to an all-girls private school until the end of her sophomore year in high school when she begged us daily to “get me out of here!” We were hoping that she’d graduate with bullet-proof self-esteem ready to achieve anything she set her mind to do. What she experienced was vicious, petty treatment from peers and rapid pigeon-holing from faculty. She was a gifted high school athlete who because she could help the school contend for State titles was only permitted to concentrate on her sport – no debate team, no literary magazine, no school newspaper, etc., etc. because “you run – that’s what you do here.” Worse, as a freshman student in her first weeks of school was hounded by upper class mates when they saw her eat anything at lunchtime telling her (and the coach) she’d get fat and slow down; when she suffered a hip injury where she literally detached her growth plates from excessive training the team trainer would daily have her stand in a garbage can filled with ice so she could “run through the pain” rather than take time off to heal; and, when attending an information session about debate team was physically removed by her coach who announced to the assembly “you don’t have time for this – you need to suit up and support your team.” All this because most all-girls schools have something to prove – they produce champion athletes-students-everything. What they don’t tell us is at what cost. Enrolling in public high school changed my daughter’s life and outlook on life. She continued to run (and won awards and was elected team captain her senior year) because she loved it. She continued to write (and won awards and freelanced for several publications to supplement her college savings) because she loved it. She continued to try new things because she is smart, curious and fun-loving. And, as a bonus, adding boys to the mix helped to keep the nastier interactions between young women to a minimum. My husband and I regret every minute she spent in the all-girls environment and wish someone had alerted us to the potential down-side so we could have made a better informed decision.