(MONEY Magazine) – If job hunting were baseball, Steven Froot, 25, would have gone down swinging. Strike one came when, seeking any job the baseball team had available, the 1990 Florida State graduate sent his resume to the new Florida Marlins in July 1991; he got back a form rejection letter. Strike two followed three months later when Froot answered a Marlins employment ad and scored another form rejection. Six months after that, spotting another Marlins ad in a week-old paper, he called, only to learn that the deadline for submitting applications had passed. But Froot, a finance major and lifelong ball fan, wouldn't be benched. He convinced a secretary to let him apply despite the missed deadline by sending his resume by fax. He beat out 500 other applicants to become the team's $25,000-a-year manager of ticket operations. Says Froot: ''It's the next best thing to being on the team.'' With a sluggish employment market producing only six new entry-level slots for every 10 young people who'll be graduating this May, you'll need Froot's persistence and then some to get a hit. Here are four more tips: Get your foot in the door. If the company you're interested in won't give you the job you want, consider taking a lesser one so you can demonstrate your skills, style and commitment. Two years ago, Dara Metz, a 1991 art history graduate of the University of Arizona, set her sights on working as a registrar -- a person who keeps track of an artwork's ownership history -- for a leading art gallery in New York City, the Pace Gallery. Unfortunately, Pace said no. When the interviewer mentioned a temporary secretarial position at Pace, though, Metz jumped at it. Today she earns around $20,000 as assistant registrar. Says Metz: ''I was here, knowledgeable and eager, so they let me move up.'' Work as an intern or a volunteer. Businesses and nonprofit organizations alike often take on eager learners as unpaid help, an opportunity that gives you the experience to land a salaried job. After graduating from the University of California at Riverside in 1992, Amy Klabunde, 23, spent three months as an intern at a Department of Energy lab near San Francisco. By doing research there, she learned a lot about environmental policy. That made it possible for her to snag a $28,000-a-year job at Woodward-Clyde Federal Services, a San Diego environmental engineering firm. Network. ''The No. 1 job-search tactic is making and using connections,'' says Jerry Houser, director of the campus career center at the University of Southern California, ''but few students do it well.'' Houser suggests calling alumni and asking them for leads. To meet more people, join professional organizations such as the Junior Chamber of Commerce and turn out for workshops, seminars and charitable events. ''The more visible and active you are, the sooner you'll find a job,'' says Houser. Be flexible. Don't be rigid about where you live, what you earn, your hours and duties. Darren Gordon, 25, a 1990 Syracuse University graduate, hated his first job -- selling Grolier encyclopedias door to door in suburban New Jersey. But he saw the position as a first step in a sales and marketing career. Sure enough, after six months, he found a sweeter spot at the Hershey Foods Corp., where he earns $31,000 a year selling Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Kit Kats to supermarkets in the same area as his old Grolier route.