Need to be convinced that a career change makes sense? Consider  Salman Khan, a 33-year-old, who quit his job as a financial analyst with expertise in hedge fund management. Today, Khan  has a thriving business, creating video lectures on algebra, calculus, valence electrons, the circulatory system, and hundreds of other topics. He has turned his passion for knowledge into the Khan Academy, a popular educational website.

None other than software industry billionaire, Bill Gates, spends hours with his 11-year-old son watching Khan’s videos. Said Gates at the recent Aspen Ideas Festival, “It was a good day his wife let him quit his job.”

Having Bill Gates endorse the idea of career change may help a lot of us feel better about making a change. After all, Gates left his job as head of Microsoft to focus on his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest private foundation in the world. If you haven’t  changed careers a few times, you are the exception. It is becoming common at any age. AARP has reported that many over 50 are reconsidering their careers. To do so entails careful thought and perhaps guidance from a career change expert. You may need a career change resume. But consider the success of Khan and Gates and tens of thousands of others. If the economy forces change upon you, sometimes it just makes sense to embrace it.

There’s no denying that the job market for New Grads is still tough. But there a few signs of improvement. CareerBuilder’s Annual Job Forecast reports that 21 percent of companies hiring New Grads will hire more than a year ago. And 16 percent plan to offer higher starting salaries. Neverthless, there’s a long way to go as the number of firms planning to hire recent college graduates is basically unchanged at 44%, down from a high of 79% in 2007. Companies planning to hire list the following activities as pertinent experience to include on resumes:

• Internships - 62 percent

• Part-time jobs in another area or field - 50 percent

• Volunteer work - 40 percent

• Class work - 31 percent

• Involvement in school organizations - 23 percent

• Managing activities for sororities and fraternities – 21 percent

• Sports activities - 13 percent

This list of activities is encouraging. There are techniques to make these most effective on your resume as well as in a cover letter. Be certain to learn how to include as many of these activities as possible. They are the evidence that you can get a job done. In addition, you want to be prepared to discuss them in detail during job interviews. Figure out strategies to describe them so they resemble tasks in a job. Employers are looking to see that you undertake challenges and meet them effectively.

Networking is so important in your job search. But it’s easy to lose enthusiasm for it. As part of your networking strategy, you should identify events to attend that offer opportunities to meet a lot of people in one place. You can network intensely for a few hours and come away with quite a few new connections. What kind of events? Job Fairs, Industry Conferences, Trade Shows are a few examples.

Pick an event where the content interests you so you can circulate and meet people to discuss the field and you won’t be obvious that you are just there to try to find a job. Show an interest in a company and try to get a chance to follow up with some of the people you meet. If you go to a computer software event, seek out people and companies that have an interest in the technical expertise you have. If you like to write Java code, then hang out at company booths that use Java. Talk shop and show your knowledge.

If you’re a business development manager then look for senior level managers where you can meet people who may share information on which companies are thriving and what their strategies are.

Career Fairs can be disillusioning these days. Many report to me that the best companies don’t feel that they have to utilize these events. Nevertheless, it’s worth checking into them. If you see a Career Fair promoted in the newspaper or online, you can often see a list of the companies planning to attend. Again, these events offer you a chance to network. If nothing else, you should come away with some connections at companies where you previously had none.

Add these connections to your database. Follow up with these new contacts by having lunch or coffee, and see what can happen.

It happens. Microsoft recently commissioned a survey of 1,200 hiring managers and recruiters. The result: “…79 percent of United States hiring managers and job recruiters surveyed reviewed online information about job applicants. Most of those surveyed consider what they find online to impact their selection criteria. In fact, 70 percent of United States hiring managers in the study say they have rejected candidates based on what they found.”

So Microsoft, Facebook, Yelp, and others create the online world and encourage its proliferation. Then they monitor it to make hiring decisions.

Additional highlights from the study include:

“The recruiters and HR professionals surveyed are not only checking online sources to learn about potential candidates, but they also report that their companies have made online screening a formal requirement of the hiring process.

“Of U.S. recruiters and HR professionals surveyed, 70% say they have rejected candidates based on information they found online. Though not as frequently, respondents from the U.K. and Germany report the same trend.

“Recruiters and HR professionals surveyed report being very or somewhat concerned about the authenticity of the content they find.

In all countries, recruiters and HR professionals say they believe the use of online reputational information will significantly increase over the next five years.

“Positive online reputations matter. Among U.S. recruiters and HR professionals surveyed, 85% say that positive online reputation influences their hiring decisions…

Consumers surveyed have mixed opinions about the appropriateness of recruiters and HR professionals examining some types of online content. Most find it reasonable that recruiters and HR professionals check information on professional sites. There is greater concern, however, about recruiter scrutiny of photos, videos, and other personal content including blogs, personal social network pages, organizations they are affiliated with, financial information, and the like.

“Consumers surveyed use a variety of methods to monitor and manage the information posted about them online. Most notably, they use multiple personas, search for information about themselves, adjust privacy settings, and refrain from posting content that they believe could damage their reputation.

“Though most consumers surveyed do manage their reputation at least to some extent, there are a significant percentage of respondents (between 30% and 35% depending on nationality) who don’t feel their online reputation affects either their personal or professional life. Consequently, they are not taking steps to manage their reputations.

“As job seekers struggle to find work today, understanding how information posted online can affect their chances for employment is even more critical than in strong economic times.

“Fewer than 15% of consumers surveyed believe that information found online would have an impact on their getting a job. Those consumers surveyed in the United States and U.K. significantly underestimate the level of data mining that recruiters and HR professionals conduct and the impact it can have on hiring.”