Let's start with the philosophical bit. Choice is good but you can have too much of it. If you're picking a mobile and don't make the right choice, tough, but if you're picking a career the wrong choice is total meltdown time.
So where do you begin? If you aren't one of those dreary types who's got everything lined up already, time gets short as summer rolls in and you want a salary cheque by September.
Yes, you can use the internet for a job search, and careers experts say it's worth doing as a back stop, but it's all a bit hit and miss zapping round the websites. How will you ever know what you've missed ?
And, say the experts, you should take a look through job ads in the press - specialist publications for the career you fancy are the obvious place to look so you know who's who and what they have to offer.
But in the end, graduate fairs still come out best as a job hunting ground, because, like sex, both parties know what they are there for. If you have spent the last 12 months studying for your degree, with time out for those little things called exams, you are likely to be one of the thousands of people who are having to panic now and get themselves along to a summer jobs fair.
These started back in the 60s as a mopping up operation for graduates who failed during the milk round, but now they are a major source of job opportunities.
"Employers come back year after year," says Anne-Marie Martin, director of the University of London's Careers Service. "They spend a lot of money so they must find it worthwhile. And it's worthwhile from a student's point of view because they get jobs."
London's is the last of the summer fairs on June 28 and 29 and it's a big bash with 168 exhibitors. Anyone with a degree can go. It's at the Business Design centre in Islington and the organisers say that at least 12,000 people come through the doors each year.
"Those who are well prepared and have researched the companies and are clued up and make their pitch will do very well at fairs," says Martin. "But there is always that 1% who haven't done anything at all and just wander in with no idea of what the employer wants."
What you want the employer to want is you. They bring along their personnel - or human resource -team to see you in person and give you a chance to meet them.
Martin adds: "Some employers treat fairs as a primary interview and some students won't make it past first base."
Those who do will be invited for a more formal interview at the company's premises and everything goes from there. There are urban myths about companies who make job offers on the spot, but this doesn't happen in reality, says Manchester University's employment liaison officer Jan Hewitt.
Manchester's summer graduate fair is another two-day event,on June 21 and 22, held in the Armitage Centre at the Firs Athletic ground. It claims to have ousted London for top slot with 180 exhibitors this year. Unlike London, Manchester makes it a condition of agreement with employers that they do have jobs to offer when they sign up.
Birmingham is another biggie on June 16 and 17 at the NEC. Free coach transport from a number of UK cities is available.
Some exhibitors use fairs to raise their own profiles and hand out information, some use fairs as a vetting procedure while others treat it as a first interview and expect you to fill out an application form and do all that sort of stuff.
London has some add-on attractions to take the grief out of the process. There are seminars and presentations, experts to clock your CV and give you advice as well as cybercafes for you to check out company websites. Manchester will have experts to help with your application forms and interview techniques.
"The advantage of a fair is that you have a chance to talk to a potential employer and to sell yourself," says Martin. Even better, if you aren't that sure about what career you want, graduate fairs can give you ideas.
"There's a serendipity element to fairs," adds Martin. "You might be in a long queue for one company and wander off to something that looks a bit interesting and find it suits you better than the first one. Graduate fairs are like a series of shop windows."
So you might come back with something you didn't set out for in the first place. The experts tell you to put job stereotypes to the back of your mind. You don't know until you find out. IT is a growth area, but for a lot of people it's just one long groan. Nobody wants to be a nerd. It's only when you talk to IT companies that you will discover that they desperately need creative types for all those sexy new websites. And then there's new media as well.
The sort of companies you can expect to find at graduate fairs range from household names to complete unknowns - to you that is. At Manchester you can meet people from the Carphone Warehouse, Andersen Consulting, the government's Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, McDonald's, The Guardian (of course) John Lewis, Morgan Stanley Dean Whitter, Rolls Royce, Scottish Power and the Royal Marines among many many more.
London has some of the same big names plus the Metropolitan Police, ASDA, Barclaycard,Waitrose, Pizza Express, Tesco, Shell International, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Alternative Network Ltd and Dow Jones International Ltd.
Whatever you are going for, it's also time to smarten up, get that suit on, take the ring out of your eyebrow (you can keep the one through your navel) and strut your stuff. By July somebody will be paying you for your stunning personality and megawatt brain.
Birmingham: 0800 856 2492 and www.gradjobs.co.uk
Manchester: 0161 275 2828 and www.netwise.ac.uk
London: 0800 252 183 and www.careers.lon/ac/uk
