Welcome to the Daily Roundup. Each day at the ThinkTalk Blog we will post some links that we find informative, interesting, or just plain funny. The goal is to let you know what else is going on out there, and ultimately help you with the development of your career.

At ThinkTalk we do our best to provide you, the student, with as much advice as possible to help you choose and succeed on your career path. To do this, we bring you advice from proven, accomplished individuals who have succeeded at the highest levels of their industry. Sometimes we will interview these guests directly, allowing you to interact with the subject. But sometimes, this simply means digging up advice from other sources and providing you with this information.

On Friday I came across a post at one of my more favorite personal blogs, Kottke.org. Proprietor Jason Kottke links to a 10-minute video featuring Randy Nelson, the Dean of Pixar University, discussing what Pixar looks for in employees. See the video below:

Welcome to the Daily Roundup. Each day at the ThinkTalk Blog we will post some links that we find informative, interesting, or just plain funny. The goal is to let you know what else is going on out there, and ultimately help you with the development of your career.

Mentors are important. This is non-negotiable. If you are a college student and you want a leg up on your competition for job placement, there are few resources as valuable as having a mentor.

What we advocate at ThinkTalk, perhaps more than any other idea, is that advice from proven professionals who have succeeded at a high level is indispensable. The type of advice and feedback you can receive from a mentor can be the deciding factor in how you build your resume, format your cover letter and operate in an interview.

Today's Wall Street Journal reports that finding a mentor in this economy might not be so easy, but it is still possible - with some hard work.

[F]inding and developing a relationship with a career sage takes more legwork than it did during boom times. During economic upswings, managers feel positive and less hassled about taking on a mentee. You need to be more thoughtful and strategic when times are tough. First, take a personal inventory of your mentoring goals. What would you like to gain? Do you want to learn more about project management? Are you interested in learning about the people side of the business? Do you want help navigating corporate politics? Make a prioritized list of your goals.

The article's author, Toddi Gutner, also points to some resources for helping out your mentor search. These include looking within your current employer (if you currently have a job or internship), as 70% of Fortune 500 companies offer mentor programs. Also recognize that mentoring "is a two-way street." This means that you need to recognize the limitations and pressures that your mentor is under in this climate and attempt to offer something back. Play to your strengths, and consider "teaching a mentor how to use Twitter, setting up a page on Facebook or helping a manager figure out how to get the most out of a LinkedIn page."

For your mentor search, I would also add talking to your professors or college career center. Often, schools will have an alumni mentor program that you can utilize to connect with former students who had similar majors or are currently working in similar fields. However you go about finding a mentor, I cannot stress enough how important it is to actually do it. In this job market, a mentor could make all the difference.

Enough jibba jabba, on to The Links . . .