She was working the lunch shift in a busy Pittsburgh beer bar when the call came. Laura took the phone from her apron and glanced around at the ten tables she was covering. The caller ID indicated it was a prominent technology company where she had recently interviewed. She was afraid to get her hopes up as she ran to the bathroom to take the call.

Since graduating from Lehigh University more than a year ago, Laura had applied for at least 100 jobs where she might use the writing skills from her journalism degree. But all she had to show for her efforts was an endless string of rejections and four waitressing jobs. She recalls:

I was so frustrated with the whole process. You work so hard. You do everything right. I was sick of waiting on tables. At happy hour I’d wait on people my own age who looked successful, and I’m thinking, ‘I should be you!’

Then in a moment she was. Standing in the ladies room of that Pittsburgh bar, the cell phone pressed to her ear, Laura finally got what she had been waiting for – a job offer from a company she really wanted to work for.

Laura’s post-college job search had a happy ending, but it took a long time to get there. Three lessons from her story will help you land a job faster.

1. Write down your assumptions about job prospects in the fields (and cities) you’re interested in.

Laura spent her first year after college pursuing journalism jobs in New York City. Journalism is a shrinking field, and the Big Apple is flooded with recent grads aspiring to careers in communications.

Unless you have a killer job search network and tons of relevant experience, keep testing your assumptions about the level of competition in the fields you’re pursuing and the job prospects where you’re looking. Maybe you need to broaden your search to other cities or consider other types of positions for now.

2. Keep asking about the value of your relevant, marketable experience.

Laura changed her major four times as an undergrad, and she had no significant journalism internships on her resume at graduation. Changing your major is fine, but get a realistic assessment from recruiters, industry insiders or veteran counselors: How will potential employers judge your course work and experience? Laura had to do multiple internships after graduating to build her resume so she was more marketable.

3. Set realistic expectations about the length of your job search

Laura worked a series of waitressing jobs to get by, but it took her more than a year to find work that put her college degree to good use. Job searches today routinely take 3-12 months. The longer you wait to get started the more time you’ll spend on your parent’s couch. Better to know this ahead of time.

Sure, a few people get lucky. But, in most cases, success goes to those who are proactive, persistent, and who continually improve their job search techniques. Learning from the experiences of those who have recently graduated – and succeeded in finding work – will get you employed faster. Check out my book Graduate to a Great Job for more stories about what works – and what doesn’t – in today’s job market.