This edition of “The Steam Room” is a little less steamy and a little more helpful than the last. Today’s guest blogger goes by the nom de guerre, Penelope Golightly.
The blogosphere is full of top ten lists and do’s and don’ts for searching and landing a job.

Here’s another list on that theme, but with a twist; instead of do’s and don’ts, ratings of the most mentioned tips are served up for your summer salad of job-hunting:

1. Networking events in your core industry – 1 Stars
Regular life is networking, events are good to be seen, catch up with people and say hello. Expectations should be kept at a minimum for these.

2. Networking events slightly outside your core industry – 2 Stars
A winner because the business has more overlap then ever before. Spent your career in the TV sales? Maybe it’s time to attend one of the great digital conferences that are out there. You’ll see some folks you know, and meet some new people. You’ll also learn some things!

3. Reading-up – 4 Stars
There’s so much to read out there everyday and week (especially Bev’s column!) But I was once told that if you want your boss’s job, read what they read. So do a few trade-offs each week of something that you’ve been devouring forever for something new. It will broaden your perspective.

4. Twittering, Facebooking and Linked-In’ing – 5 Stars
Digital social networking has become so usual that it’s pretty much a must-do these days. To make this work stronger for you, create a regular plan for your Facebook and Twitter status updates and become someone that people want to read posts from.

5. Create a core group of advisors – 10 Stars
Pick people that you admire to be an advisor that you can check in with at least twice a month on a regular basis. Selecting people who are not only in a position to help you think through situations but can advance your brand is a plus.

6. Exploratory Interviews – 8 Stars
Practice will make you a better interviewer because you will get more comfortable hearing yourself talk. It will also take out any sting you may be feeling over leaving your last employers. Plus, exploratory interviews are a great way to meet recruiters and potential hiring managers. Someone recently told me to ‘practice your story about yourself and like it, because you are going to be telling it over and over’. These types of interviews are great to hone your story.

7. Create your Own Job – 6 Stars
This has been a frequently mentioned tactic; find a company you want to work for, look for gaps in their current staff and approach them on a role. Sounds good. Also sounds hard to do.

8. Be a guest Blogger – 7 Stars
Driving traffic to your own blog is tough, but being a guest-blogger gives you a built-in audience for what you want to say.

9. Polish Your Resume – 3 Stars
It’s hard to know if professional written resumes (or CV’s) are worth it because it depends so much on the audience. Polishing your resume might not be that important, but keeping it current, especially if you are doing pro-bono work is key.

10. Do some pro-bono work – 10 Stars
You want to work, right? Then take the plunge, and work for free in an area that interests you. You’ll broaden your mind, meet new people and maybe even create your own job along the way!