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.)?

Fearless interview preparation

After applying for the summer internship program at Burson-Marsteller, the world's sixth largest public relations agency, I never expected to make it an interview from nearly 800 applications nationwide.

Sure enough, this was the position I found myself in. Looking at my dream internship straight in the face, I spent hours researching the ins and outs of Burson. I read every single employee testimonial on the 'Burson Person' page on their Web site and I feel like I read every single page on the Burson Web site.

I accessed my internal memory for questions that I was asked during previous interviews. I prepared responses for every one of them. I practiced them out loud to MYSELF. Yes, this felt weird at the time, but it helps to practice articulating each answer. It also helped to make mental notes of when I said something especially dumb or especially engaging. I had the responses typed out neatly with talking points for each area.

My preparation paid off and after the first interview I advanced to the final round of interviews. From the 120 applications submitted to the Chicago office, 10 were selected for final interviews. After the first interview the field was narrowed even further which I was still a part of.

Unfortunately, a phone call informed me that there was no funding for the public affairs practice for which I was applying. No dream internship, not now at least. There was nothing I did wrong, just the economy and bad luck.

While I didn't get the internship, my intense preparation will make the next job/internship interview that much easier. I also got practice interviewing for a worldwide PR agency and learning how to act on a phone interview.

My advice would be to fearlessly prepare for every interview like it's the only one you get; because even if you don't get the job, you'll be that much more prepared the next time around.