What are you going to do after you graduate?
Graduate School
Professional Studio Artist
Teach
Work in Industry( Gallery, Artist Assistant, Fabricator)
Residency
Public Art
The Curriculum Vitae (CV) is a longer resume that includes a list of exhibitions, public talks, and technical skills.
Generally, most applications ask for 20 images of your work. At some level you may have to ask yourself whether you want to showcase a diverse body of work, or a concise, focused body of work with multiple images of a few projects. You should have an image description sheet that lists all of the relevant info about each image- I have found that making this as a pdf with large thumbnail images is best.
Having your work on the web is a great way to make connections and generate interest in your work and presence in the field. Remember that it takes time to get this established, maybe years before internet searches point back to you....But the longer your site is up and if it continues to represent consistent content, you will get more traffic and better search engine visibility. Also, blogs are a great way to get your work out there, like other people's blogs. Make a list of relevant blogs that you like, and submit your work to these, or build your presence by making comments on other blogs.
Area specific magazines usually have an opportunities posting somewhere in them. Sculpture magazine has a small section devoted to this each month and lists open calls to artists as well as residencies and grant opportunities. Check with your local and state arts organization as well, Iowa Arts Council. CAA has a listing also.
This is a great way to get curators to see your work, and they may not use it immediately, but they might contact you in the future... Finding curators who are interested in the type of work you do would be very smart.
Public Art is a huge opportunity that exists everywhere, as most states have laws that ensure any publicly funded building will have a percent of it's budget for public art. Looking for RFQ's online or by using sites like CAFE Call For Entry is a great resource, or by getting on various mailing lists. You can look for Public Art programs at almost any public university, and cities.... email them and ask to be on their mailing list.