Ok, a question from an (almost finished) student: how do you get to know recruiters? In my experience, recruiters are generally temps that come and go. In the last couple internships I've had, I changed recruiters at least once in each hiring process. Even if I wanted to keep in touch with a recruiter, I wouldn't know how, since they seem to move on in a matter of months.

Is there a different class of recruiters you're referring to? Or am I just unlucky?

Starting out is always tough. Your experience has been somewhat unlucky and somewhat true. Recruiters your age are going to have a high turn over. Lots of people get out of school and go into high tech recruiting. There's no barrier to entry, but it takes a lot of hard work to stay one. They bop around for 3-6 months, and if they don't show some aptitude they get cycled out. See if you can get to know people a little older and have been out there a couple of years. Don't just work with one recruiter. Have several from different companies looking for you.

Go to your local user group meetings. Java, Ruby, Php, Python, .Net, Flex, whatever. (If you get too niche chances are you'll strike out). Typically there are always someone there handing out business cards, or job postings. Take it and send them a nice email introducing yourself the next day along with your resume.

If you have friends that have been out of school for a while try and connect with them. They might know of good people to put you in contact with.

LinkedIn is like crack for recruiters. Make sure you're on there and have some of your experience on there. Connect with people. You'll start to see who is a recruiter very quickly (500+ connections) chances are they're a recruiter. LinkedIn helps you keep in contact with recruiters if they move companies too.

Put your resume on Dice. It can take a month before that pays off because it takes a while for your resume to make the rounds.

The economy sucks, but IT is bouncing back quicker than other sectors.

Thank you. I'm a sophomore CS student who's recently been going through huge amounts of "I'm never going to be qualified or find a job" moments and this post is the single most helpful thing I've seen.

I think right now my biggest weakness is that while I've done bits of work in a variety of languages, I don't have one that I'm really fluent in and thus could try to get recruited for. But the ideas you have here and the information in this whole thread will definitely be helpful as I try to orient myself towards the market.

Primarily, make sure you're on LinkedIn and one or more specialized job-hunting networks like WorkingWithRails. Put up some code samples on SourceForge or GitHub or RubyForge or similar, and link them from your various social sites.

Put up a resume online, and link it from at least the social sites. A blog is optional, and will help less with recruiters, but is worth considering. It's a good habit in any case, but lower effort-to-results ratio than the other things I'm suggesting. A portfolio, like a blog, is more effort but will pay off in the long run. Don't do it first, but do it eventually.

Recruiters do a lot of "networking" -- scraping the web for resumes and addresses, sending messages on LinkedIn, et cetera. Usually that's annoying, but in your case it can be a way to meet recruiters quickly.

All the above, in addition to attracting recruiters, gives you something to show them and gives them something to show potential employers. So you'll also be somebody they want to show off, because you make them look good. You're looking for recruiters, but you're also competing with other candidates for their attention, and to be suggested to potential employers.