December is quickly approaching. It's graduation time. People don't normally associate the two (unless you are graduating - congratulations). I was a December 1992 grad from Wayne State University. So this time of year gets me thinking about the new workforce out there now competing with the unemployed.

(Deep sigh) I know. Depressing.

How's your job search? Are you looking for jobs in all the same places? Creatives, let's get, well, creative with your search strategy. I've said that most advertising jobs aren’t advertised. I've also said you can get ad agency experience without the ad agency. So where do you find these positions?

Let's work together to broaden your job search a bit. For the next five Mondays starting today (11/23), I'm going to post 51 positions - one from each state, including D.C. That's 10 each week (11 one week) through December 21.* It's an effort to demonstrate what kind of digging you can do to possibly uncover some overlooked opportunities across the country. I don't guarantee I'll find something in every state, but I'll give it one hell of a try. I'm just helping you jumpstart your own detective work.

For each posting, I will provide the following:

• Research behind the information. It could be unique sites, my contacts — anything except Monster or CareerBuilder. This exercise demonstrates how to utilize alternate methods to gain an advantage.
• Links to apply. If you're interested, move quickly. I will be revealing these positions to several hundred subscribers of this blog.
• Internships and entry-level positions. Professor Ad Man is about breaking into the industry. Still, many of these sites and contacts may have mid- or senior-level opportunities. Frankly, I think the industry will put interns to work sooner than full-time employees. So students, grab the experience wherever possible. It will become valuable when the market eases up.
• Recent positions. I will not post anything over a month old.

Week 1's findings...

YouIntern. It is a site dedicated to advertising internships. I found them by typing "internships" on the group search on LinkedIn. (I'm a regular cyber Sherlock Holmes.) That poses the question: are you just collecting LinkedIn contacts or are you using them? Are you even on LinkedIn? I can't believe that YouIntern has less than 300 group members listed on LinkedIn. But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Most of you registered directly on the YouIntern site, right?

Before you even register on YouIntern, I found these posted internships:

Advertising Internship - all depts at Partners and Simons (Boston, Massachusetts)
Guerrilla Intern for ENC Press (Hoboken, New Jersey)
Social Media Strategist for Energy People Connect (Houston, TX)
Internet Radio/Content Internship at Xhang Creative (Portland, Oregon)
Online Marketing Intern for GrouperEye (says Washington, D.C., but it's a virtual job- You can work from anywhere.)

Imagine what's waiting for you once you register.

YouIntern. Sign up. Follow them on Twitter. Get the experience that may launch your new career.

*Because of my poor math, this entry has been updated. See here.

Image courtesy of chris2k and stock.xchng.