With a degree in hand, you’re a freshly-educated job seeker ready to take on the world. You just have to get a job first — preferably in your major.

You’ve had an internship or two and plenty of coursework that helped you build skills. Your challenge is communicating that experience in a way that captures employers’ attention and convinces them you’re the right person for the job.

In fact, half of employers say they have trouble finding candidates with the skills needed to fill open positions, according to CareerBuilder’s 2015 Candidate Behavior Study.

Here are a few creative ways to prove your skills to employers and help you get a job:

Job seekers are more optimistic now than ever.

For the first time since 2009, employee job market confidence has reached beyond half of the population surveyed, according to Glassdoor’s new study.

Yet, the reality is, fewer than half of 2014 graduates have professional jobs — those which require a college degree, a new Looksharp report shows.

As a career counselor, you’re likely to run into some ambitious job seekers with high expectations for their career. Though, overall, unemployment is declining and job openings are slowly becoming more abundant than years prior, role requirements are becoming more specific. Save your job seekers some disappointment by helping them manage their expectations and giving them the resources they need to succeed.

Here are a few tips to help job seekers manage their expectations and achieve their career goals:

Not everyone’s a public speaking virtuoso, but that doesn’t mean it’s an area to be ignored. 

In fact, a 2014 study published in PLOS ONE shows how vocal fry — or squeaks and cracks in your speech — can be perceived negatively and hurt your chances of getting a job. The study found young adult females with vocal fry are perceived as less competent, less educated, less trustworthy, less attractive, and therefore less hirable. 

While the negative perceptions of vocal fry are stronger for females than for males, men are still susceptible to undesired voice cracking. That means all young job seekers could potentially be at risk if their recruiters have picky ears. 

It is bad form to criticize someone’s natural way of speaking. But if you want to sound more professional and have your voice leave a lasting impression on hiring pros, it is worthwhile to try these techniques.

Here are a few tips to help you train yourself to speak like a leader so that you can be prepared to ace your interview:

You’re all set for your interview. You’ve read plenty of job interview tips. You know how to dress to impress, your resume and cover letter are flawless, and you’ve got your references ready.

Perfect. But, there are few other things you should be aware of, which could affect your chances of getting hired. In fact, a new study reveals how interviewers make decisions about the candidates they interview.

The study, published in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology in April, notes three not-so-obvious factors in a job interview that could give you a competitive advantage or disadvantage in being the employer’s chosen candidate.

Here they are, along with some job interview tips to help you leverage them to your advantage:

You’ve been sending out resumes like rapid fire and have probably done plenty of preparing for a job interview. You’ve gathered your references, list of accomplishments, and sorted out ways you’ll answer any crazy interview questions.

But, there’s another thing to consider when preparing for a job interview. Employers have had some memorable interview experiences, both good and bad. And they don’t always cue the candidate when their chances of being hired are going south.

If you want to leave a good impression at your job interview, be aware of what information the employer is looking for and what you shouldn’t bother saying. They often won’t tell you directly.

Here are a few things you might never hear an interviewer say, but you can bet they’ve thought:

Your job interview is coming to an end, and you really nailed this one. You’ve built rapport with the interviewer, given strong answers to everything you were asked, and kept cool under pressure. But just when you think it’s in the bag, the interviewer looks at you and asks, “Do you have any questions?”

Sure, you prepared interview questions about the company and position, but the conversation went so smoothly that the interviewer has already answered them. Now what?

Don’t panic, there’s always more to learn about a job opportunity. You’ll just need to think outside of the box. Ask these creative questions to impress the employer and learn more about the job:

Graduation season is in full swing. As a hiring manager, that means you’ll have a whole new crop of recent graduates looking to impress you with their resumes. But it also means you’ll have a whole new crop of talented candidates your organization needs to impress or risk losing to the competition.

In the past, large organizations have had the advantage when it comes to recruiting top talent, but data from the recently released Accenture Strategy 2015 U.S. College Graduate Employment Study suggests recent graduates are looking for something entirely different. Today, only 15 percent of recent graduates are interested in working for a large organization, while 45 percent express interest in working at a mid-size or small company. Clearly, smaller is better for 2015 graduates.

So, what do you do if you’re a hiring manager or HR professional at a large organization? You need to make your organization feel smaller during the hiring process, so recent graduates don’t feel like they’ll be just another rung in the corporate ladder.

Here are 3 strategies that will help you compete for the most talented recent graduates on the job market:

When you realize the career you chose as an undergrad isn’t really the right one for you, the thought of going back to school can be comforting. After all, wouldn’t getting a graduate degree help refocus your career? With the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting a decline in hiring rates, the idea of going back to school might seem like a no-brainer, but reality is never that simple.

If you’re thinking about putting your career on hold to get an advanced degree, consider these five things before making your decision:

Have you been laying pavers of opportunity? Take a look at your social contacts and think hard about your professional ambitions because when you’re trying to advance in your career, it’s all about who you know.

A new friend could get your resume in the door of a company you’ve been following. An old classmate could tell you about an open position at the firm where he works, well before it’s posted publicly.

Networking is the lifeblood of your career. In fact, 40 percent of job seekers surveyed by Jobvite in 2014 found their job through personal connections.

Before you amp up your game, consider what makes for successful networking. The best networkers aren’t just advantaged extroverts, with a lot of social opportunities. They are strategic and carry themselves with a specific mindset.

Adopt these 10 qualities, and you could follow the path to success just by making connections:

Interview tomorrow? You’ve got it covered. You’ll just wing it, answering questions like you’ve done before…except for one problem: “winging it” won’t work anymore.

Today’s workforce is highly competitive. In fact, 85 percent of employers plan to receive more, or at least the same amount, of applications this year as last year, according to Snagajob’s 2015 Summer Hiring survey.

If you don’t take the time to prepare, you could end up committing some of today’s worst interview faux pas by answering questions poorly and completely ruin your chances at being hired.

Here are some examples of what a hiring manager thinks when you respond to interview questions in the following ways: