A few years ago I wrote a post on how to get a job in venture capital.&160; It was lucky enough to get broad distribution and remains my most viewed and linked to post.&160; I've had a number of questions about it over the years and have tried to respond to people who wrote in to ask my opinion about their VC job search.&160; One of the most common questions I've received runs something like: "I get it - finding a venture job is hard.&160; I still really want to try and I have a 5+ year outlook on this.&160; What should I do during that time to work towards my goal of landing a venture job?"

Of course the real answer depends a lot on the individual asking - where they are in their career and life, where they live, what their educational and work background is, etc.&160; That said, let me try to provide a few ideas.

Go to business school.&160; As much as it pains me to say it the fact is that it's a lot easier to get a job in venture capital if you have a degree from a top business school (pains me not because I don't have many VC friends who attended such schools, but because I have many that have not, and I don't personally feel not having a degree from Harvard should be such a barrier to obtaining a venture job).&160; While there are a lot of reasons to go to all sorts of different business schools and while many very successful venture capitalists have either never been to b-school or didn't attend a top 10 school - if you're intent in attending school is to land a job in VC you are MUCH better off going to a top school.&160; MUCH.&160; I know of several firms that simply won't even consider associate candidates that haven't attended a very short list of top chools (Harvard, Stanford and a few others).&160; In fact, going to a non-top 10 business school could actually hurt your chances vs. not going at all. Not fair, I know (and I didn't attend b-school at all, so who am I to even suggest this) but true.

Work for a start-up.&160; This may seem obvious, but almost no matter what your background if you're trying to build a resume to land in VC, having start-up experience is extremely helpful (preferably from a start-up that ends up well).&160; As a practical matter, it's helpful to have this experience as a VC - it will give you insight on what works and what doesn't in the start-up world; will test whether you really like start-up environment and potentially expose you to venture finance and other areas of company formation and growth that will serve as a helpful backdrop to your venture career.&160; In addition, if your company has institutional investors, you will hopefully get the opportunity to spend some time with your would-be peers which may help jump-start your eventual search (make that happen - its one of the key reasons you took the job working for a start-up in the first place!).

Start a company of your own. If you can't find a start-up you're excited enough about to join, why not start one of your own?&160; Many successful venture capitalists have started their own companies.&160; Its a great way to gain operating experience, test out your technology ideas and, of course, meet venture capitalists.

If you're early in your career (and/or have the inclination), work for a bank or consulting firm.&160; Like going to a top business school, having banking or consulting on your resume is an indicator to potential venture employers that you're smart, aggressive, willing to work hard and well trained.&160; Having been a banker myself at the start of my career I'm not entirely sure these adjectives always apply, but there is clearly a bias in the world of finance towards these types of jobs as training grounds.&160; It will also bring you into contact with people who are likely to have networks that include venture capitalists as well as potentially up your chances of getting into a top school (see the first point above).&160; This is especially true if you're thinking of later stage venture or private equity who - much more so than early stage venture - tend to look kindly on the training one gets in these jobs.

Put yourself out there. Union Square Ventures famously asks potential applicants not to send in a traditional resume, but instead to point to the applicant's various activities around the web (their blog, articles they've authored, companies they are helping out with, etc).&160; While this may be an extreme example of a firm valuing the online presence of potential colleagues (and one that has worked very well for the firm), having a visible profile online that you can reference and point to will be helpful in many a VC job search (especially so if the firms you are seeking employment from invest in these areas, as USV does).&160; Your online activity can and should extend to reading and sometimes (thoughtfully) commenting on the blogs of the now vast list of VCs that write a blog.&160; These sorts of interactions are just one way to start to engage in a conversation with people in the industry you might one day work with.