STEM Careers: Women in the Workforce

You have probably heard about the need for more workers in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields, especially women.  Because of the demand in these areas, women have a chance to close the gender gap that exists, as well as be part of the closing wage gap with their male counterparts.  However, in order to see more women enter STEM careers, there need to be opportunities for them to succeed.  The following infographic has more information. Continue Reading

1.8 Million 2013 Four-Year College Grads Entering Improving Job Market

John Challenger of Challenger, Gray & Christmas

With college seniors around the nation returning to their respective campuses following spring break recess, many will undoubtedly turn their attention to their impending graduation and the search for their first post-collegiate job.  A new analysis of the entry-level job market estimates that while the job market continues to strengthen for college graduates, the environment remains highly competitive, which may force some to pursue unexpected career paths.

In its annual college graduate job-market outlook, global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. says this year’s crop of 1.8 million bachelor’s degree recipients will be able to take advantage of the 36 consecutive months of private-sector employment growth that has occurred since the jobs recovery began in earnest in March 2010.

“Job creation has been slow, but it has been steady.  Over the past 14 months, private payrolls have grown by an average of 190,000 new workers per month.  There are a growing number of opportunities for job seekers, but the search definitely requires an aggressive approach.  This is especially true for new graduates, who are likely to have less real-world experience to point to in job interviews,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Continue Reading

Internships Open the Door to Getting and Keeping Jobs

Students in the Class of 2013 can boost their chances of finding jobs by taking advantage of internships.  Learn more in the following post.

For the sixth consecutive year, two annual nationwide surveys, both conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), indicate that performing a college internship not only increases one’s opportunities to land a job, but also to keep a job. The 2012 Internship and Co-op Survey and the Student Survey Class of 2012 revealed that 63% of paid interns received at least one job offer upon graduation. In contrast, only 36% of graduates who have no internship experience received at least one job offer. Continue Reading

The Best Internship on Earth for Summer 2013

The Best Internship on Earth is back for 2013.  If you care about the environment and enjoy the outdoors, then you may have an internship in your future.

The Sierra Club is making it possible for two young adults to spend the summer enjoying, exploring, and protecting the planet.  From historic climate rallies and high-adrenaline outdoor adventures to student leadership gatherings and celebrity experiences in nature, two outdoor enthusiasts will get VIP access to go inside America’s most effective grassroots environmental organization. Continue Reading

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

Cool College Majors: Liberal Arts with an Edge for Emerging Occupations

Sharon Jones of Career Thought Leaders

Can you imagine designing websites for CBS prime time shows such as CSI and Survivor or holding the title of ‘Game Guru’ at AOL? 

Would you like to evaluate global threats such as terrorism, cyber-crime, or human trafficking for agencies such as the CIA or FBI?

If you are fascinated by liberal arts subjects (e.g. graphic arts, geography, history, foreign languages) but concerned about finding a job, score major marketability through liberal arts with an edge.

Some interdisciplinary college majors prepare you for new and emerging occupations. These academic programs may make you especially attractive to employers due to a shortage of qualified applicants. Continue Reading

What do Google, the CIA, United Health Group, IBM, and Bloomberg have in common? They hire Computational Linguists.

Sharon Jones of Career Thought Leaders

Do you know more languages than you can count on a single hand? Do you read wikipedia articles for fun in your spare time…we need outstanding people to help solve the following problem: How to organize ALL of the world’s data.  

Data Specialist, Factual

Do you dream in MapReduce? Can you imagine ways to predict the downfall of civilizations or the next American Idol winner from internet traffic? Can you herd yellow elephants to solve Big Data problems?

Senior Big Data Developer, Dell

If you have a unique combination of language and computer science or mathematics skills, computational linguistics (sometimes called human language technology or natural language processing) may be the perfect degree—and career—for you. Continue Reading

3 Ways to Make Your Resume Look Brilliant

If you’re a recent college graduate, you’re probably looking for work.

According to data conducted for The Associated Press, half of young college graduates in 2012 were unemployed or underemployed. This issue could be compounded if recent graduates don’t have enough experience to get a job in their fields, which brings us back to that classic conundrum: You can’t find a job without experience and you can’t get experience without a job. 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

Five Career Predictions for 2013

In the following post, Dr. Tracey Wilen-Daugenti offers five career predictions for 2013 that identify workplace trends and job opportunities.

1.     Six sectors will offer on-ramps to career growth

Six career areas provide a snapshot of the new economy: business services, education, healthcare, IT, nonprofits, and manufacturing. Healthcare, the fastest-growing sector in the nation, offers obvious opportunities, but less intuitive choices such as nonprofits—which will need a projected 80,000 senior managers a year by 2016—also offer attractive prospects. Continue Reading