Letters to the Editor
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The first step is to smile and say 'hi'
To people in your classes, to friends of your friends. Concentrate on remembering names. A simple 'Hi, Judy' is generally perceived as friendly even if you don't stop to talk.
The next step is to get people to talk about themselves. Ask questions. And keep a watch on yourself if you tend to go off on boring monologues (about say, German class).
Remember what people said and follow up. 'Judy, you feeling better?' 'Joe, pass the test you were worried about?'
Relax. I tend to forget names and go off on boring monologues when I am nervous or depressed. Don't tell yourself that you should be someone you aren't. Just figure out how to have friends being yourself.
Social skills can be learned. You just need practice. Don't beat yourself up for each failure. Some people are naturals, but there are a lot of us who had to work to get out of our shy awkward shells.
Job interviews: practice. Talk about why you are right for the job. Buy a book with interview questions and work up 3 sentence answers to most questions. You probably won't shine compared to your more extroverted classmates, but many interviews are to make sure you can do the job -- in short, all you need to do is pass the interview, not ace it.