I have a 23-year old client who is doing a one year, post-graduate fellowship. During our call this morning he told me that while he enjoys his work it can be slow and that his bosses don’t give him as much work as he’d like. In fact, they expect him to take initiative and suggest work he thinks needs to be done. While he has some ideas for new projects he struggles with how to initiate conversations with his boss who seems so busy with more important work.

Dear Ms. Cheston,

I am graduating from college this May with a B.S. in Public Health from Syracuse University, but I’m no longer sure I want to go into this field. While I’ve taken some business courses as well, I don’t know what to look for in a job, and when I apply to jobs online, I never receive a call back.  As I move closer to graduation, I am nervous that I don’t have a job lined up for after graduation. Please help! I’m getting desperate.

Leadership is one of those terms that is so ubiquitous it’s hard to define. Everyone aspires to be a leader, feels pressure to be a leader, is building their leadership capabilities. Every company is looking for leaders. Sure there are natural leaders, those with charisma to burn whose disciples will follow them anywhere. But leadership is not just the purview of those with rare talents; most people can become leaders if they take an interest and a methodical approach.

A question I frequently hear from job-seekers at all stages is, “Why do I need to be on Twitter?” Twitter is a platform for interests of all kinds, and many users abuse its power by over-tweeting—so its value is sometimes misunderstood. But Twitter is an amazing career and job search tool, and can be used to help you pinpoint what you’re interested in and who can help you find the right job. Here’s how.

I’m helping my son, a college sophomore, find a summer internship. I’ve mentioned before in these pages that I find college sophomores to be ideal clients. For one thing, they’re over the shock of the newness of college. With established friendships and some newfound maturity, life at school is a bit more predictable. They’ve had the benefit of a year’s worth of classes that hopefully provided a window into some new subject areas. And at most schools, by the end of sophomore year students must declare a major.

Whether you’re a college freshman or a junior, the holiday break is an important time to start planning for your summer internship. Banks and consulting firms do their internship hiring in January and February, but even if you’re interested in non-profit, government, start-ups or something non-traditional, now’s the time to get started. Here’s how: