On a mission with a vision - but when do I start?

I have a mere 20 weeks left of college before I graduate from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in May 2010. I'm excited. I'm nervous. I'm curious.

Many people (i.e. Career Services, friends, professors) have suggested to start hunting for jobs early. I am more than willing to start a search for my first job out of college, but it seems too early to start applying for jobs.

If a business has a job posting on their site or another recruiting site, I assume they are looking to fill that position within the at least the next month of the original posting. If they aren't planning to hire that early, they will probably at least review applications and start to interview people within a month or two.

My point is, I am not technically available to start a full-time position until May 17, 2010. Therefore if I apply for a job now, what employer is going to wait for me to graduate five months later?

At five months from graduation, what kind of things should I being doing to "look" for jobs or put myself in a position for a job after graduation?

How far out from graduation should I actively pursue jobs (fill out applications, send cover letters, inquire about job openings, etc.)?

Exciting way to highlight your talent

Sorry about the long hiatus of posting, I got caught up in the end of summer/beginning of school whirlwind and left this blog empty for a while. My goal for this blog during my senior year at UW Oshkosh is to keep you updated on everything I do related to public relations.

I will try to offer short, but very useful tidbits of information to help you separate yourself from other PR students. I will detail every step along the way of my job search, student involvement, my current internship, etc.

Professional advice:

At the end of the summer I agreed to help with social media for a real PR plan for Weidert Group (a full-service marketing agency in Appleton, WI). After chatting with the PR manager (Thanks Abby Gutowski!) from Weidert at a meeting, she suggested www.weebly.com, a FREE Web site creator that works well to showcase your talent, portfolio, résumé, etc.

I would also highly recommend this site to create an online presence for yourself. The interface is very user friendly with drag and drop customizable features (no html programming needed). So, if you are looking for a way to impress employers and organize your accomplishments, weebly is an excellent and FREE way to do so.

For an example, feel free to check out my weebly site (still a work in progress!) and e-mail me at armans84@uwosh.edu with any questions OR suggestions you have. Thanks for reading.