Best Of: Starting Your First Job

Chasing that first job may feel something like pursuing a unicorn. The hunt takes you on a wild goose chase of resume and cover letter-crafting (32 revisions and counting), anxiety-ridden interviews and unreturned thank-you emails. When you think you've finally got it, it slips away, disappearing into a cloud of mysterious sparkles.

One friend advises you never to start letters with To Whom It May Concern ("too passé"), while your mom stresses that you're not hearing back from the companies you like because your resume is missing a good old fashioned objective. But at last, after all that hard work and many missteps, you have it in your grasp. It's a marvel to behold: the first job. You quickly realize it's no mythical flying beast, but you feel like you're hanging on for dear life. The new job landscape may feel unfamiliar and full of rules everyone but you seems to understand. What if you say or do something really stupid?

For that, AOL Jobs has compiled a comprehensive must-read list of posts for anyone just starting out in his or her career. Just read through it, take a deep breath and don't curse on air during a live broadcast.