Bad Career Advice: Six Tips You’ll Often Hear But Should Usually Ignore

College students who are about to cross the threshold between academia and working life are typically besieged with well-meaning advice. Some of this advice is wise and useful, some of it is suspect and some of it is just plain silly. But when you’ve never actually taken a single step into the professional world, it can be hard to sort the good advice from the clichés, the popular myths and the questionable nonsense. Here are six common words of wisdom for young graduates that may warrant a closer look. Continue Reading

Securing a graduate role in Financial Services

Bank lender shaking hands with customer. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Financial services’ as a career choice can be difficult to define. One organisation’s financial services position constitutes another’s banking and investment role, meaning the variety of graduate jobs available defies easy clarification. The higher levels of remuneration at most financial organisations means that jobs are more sought after by graduates, but in the current climate of redundancies at many of the leading investment banks, securing a graduate role is becoming increasingly difficult. In this blog post, we discuss 3 key pointers for graduates looking to secure a role within financial services. Continue Reading

Engineering Majors Are The Highest Paid College Grads

Engineering degrees account for four of the five most highly paid majors among the college Class of 2010, according to a new study conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

NACE’s Summer 2010 Salary Survey shows that petroleum engineers earned the highest starting salary offer—$74,799—followed by chemical engineers ($65,628). (See Figure 1.)

The only non-engineering degree to crack the top five was computer science, coming in at third with an average starting salary offer of $61,112.

Rounding out the top five were computer engineering ($59,917) and electrical/electronics engineering ($59,381).

Despite the high salaries, the current averages actually represent lost ground for all but chemical engineering graduates.

The average offer to chemical engineers gained 1.1 percent over last year at this time, but the average offer to petroleum engineers fell 10 percent compared to July 2009.

Losses were smaller for graduates in computer science (down 0.5 percent), computer engineering (down 2.9 percent), and electrical/electronics engineering (down 1.2 percent).

“Those high starting salary offers reflect the uneven supply and demand that exists for these graduates, even in the current economy,” says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director.

In fact, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), all engineering degrees accounted for just 5.4 percent of the 1,563,069 bachelor’s degrees conferred in 2008.* Just 521—or 0.03 percent of the total number of bachelor’s degrees—were conferred in petroleum engineering.

“All of the top five earners are in short supply,” says Mackes. “Each accounts for less than 1 percent of the degrees granted.”

New Grads – Tips For Moving Out, On and Up

The first thing that comes to your mind after getting your degree is to find a lucrative job in your chosen field. The job market is highly competitive and it is important to prepare yourself before you start your job search. Multiple careers, downsizing workforces, and a lack of job security are realities of today’s job market.
There’s nothing called a ‘lifetime career’ anymore – and on average, college students can expect to pursue about five different careers and change jobs about twelve to fifteen times during their working lives.
Planning
While most of us would love to get a job that pays well, what good is a job if it isn’t satisfying? You need to identify your goals and conduct a careful analysis of your skills and interests before heading out to find a job. Once you have a clear objective, it’s easier to focus on specific jobs that will give you both money and job satisfaction in the long run.
For a more effective job search, focus only on target industries and companies that are located in your geographical area (or an area where you would like to live). Put your research and networking skills to work – during your job hunt, if you get any good consulting assignments or temporary job offers, don’t turn them down. These jobs will give you good exposure and experience, along with a decent paycheck.
Do Not Underestimate The Power Of A Good Resume
If you lack the skills to write a dynamic resume, then don’t waste time – seek professional help from a career coach. After all, you need a well-written resume to get interview calls. A career coach not only knows what impresses potential employers, but can overcome the hurdles that a first-time resume presents, such as lack of experience.
A good career coach can not only help your resume present you in the best possible way, but can also help you clarify your career goals and evaluate potential employers. Best of all, they represent you and your best interests.
Your First Job Interview
Making a good first impression is important for successful job interviews. Make sure that you wear formal clothes for interviews unless you have been specifically asked to dress casually. Remember that on your first job interview, you are bound to be very nervous – that’s why you should be as well-prepared as possible, so there is less chance of you doing or saying something that could sink your prospects.
A career coach can help you be more successful on interviews – helping you to master such topics as asking the right questions and the art of negotiating salary. Your first job interview may not necessarily end up with you getting the job, however you must know how to deal with different situations gracefully.
As with anything worth having, the one thing that will help you find a good job is practice. Going on all types of interviews, even informational ones will help you become more comfortable and know what employers are looking for in candidates.

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