I know a lot of people here are still in college, so I figured you might be able to benefit from the wisdom of a guy who's been there, done that, and learned the do's and don'ts which could help get you a job right out of college.

First of all, there's a kind-of popular idea that a college degree is a magical key to career success, and that most kids get amazing jobs right out of college.

This is a myth. It is false.

Once you graduate college, you're stuck in the unemployed worker pool just like everyone else. And with probably little to no experience, either. You're not entirely screwed, but it will probably be really tough to land anything decent. You'll end up wading through job boards looking for entry-level positions that pay low rates, you just barely qualify for and probably aren't significantly competitive in.

So how do people "get lucky" and land jobs out of college, then? The key to success is knowing that a lot of companies recruit for "true" entry-level workers via internships and co-ops *only* while they're still at school. Junior and especially Senior year are the best chances you have to impress an employer who's specifically looking to hire people without a lot of experience directly out of college. If you do a good job, you may get that coveted offer letter before you've even graduated.

Once you know this, you have to start thinking about what it really means. You need to figure out what you want to do as a career. You need to find internships that match the skills you *already have* to a good degree, where you won't need to be extensively trained to be effective. Some companies that do internships have good training programs; other do not, and just drop you on a team to use and expand on skills you already have. You can't rely on "learning everything on the job". You have to choose carefully and target an internship that you could actually see yourself doing as a job right out of college, and where you already have most of the skills necessary to succeed.

The point of a real internship or co-op is not to gain experience. Real internships are extended job interviews. You want to come into an internship, impress the crap out of your potential employers, and walk away after a few months with them wanting you back after you finish your schooling. But you DO need experience in order to know what you're doing, develop skills, and impress people during that internship. Use student jobs, summer jobs, volunteer work, etc. to do that on your off time.

For example, if you're into computers, ask yourself if you want to work in development or in a support role. Make up your mind and start taking classes that will give you the skills the need, and find jobs/volunteer opportunities to help out. If you want to be a programmer, ask yourself what kind you want to start out as. Web programmer? Learn web technologies like PHP, Java, JSP, ASP, C#, LAMP, whatever appeals to you (keeping in mind that many of these technologies are often used together to the exclusion of others).

Take a look at the companies you might want to work for and see what skills they focus on for their entry-level positions. Going back to my example, Microsoft loves C# and .NET; ASP.net and SQL are pretty much required for any web role. Amazon and Google love JAVA and JSP in additional to SQL, as well as Linux and Unix. If you don't want to work in the web sphere, learn C++ because there are a million companies that still use it. For example, if you want to be a game programmer, learn C++. And go learn an engine like Unreal, Source, the XNA platform, etc.

Then, take what you're learning and find a student job or volunteer opportunity where you can show it off on real projects. Do whatever you can to get your skills prepped and ready for an internship / co-op. Schooling is part of what makes you competitive, but past experience in a similar role will push you to the top of the candidate pile.

So, to sum it all up:
1) Identify what you want to do for a career ASAP. Don't be wishy-washy, and don't choose a major just because it "sounds fun", unless you're willing to bust your butt and find jobs in that major.
2) Prepare yourself to do your career in an entry-level capacity by at least the beginning of your Senior year so that you can apply to internships.
3) Have real job experience before you apply to an internship or, at the minimum, do volunteer projects that you can show off.
4) Use internships and co-ops as extended job interviews to try to wow potential employers.
5) Profit.

Any questions? :)