If you looking for an internship or full-time entry-level job, you will find many opportunities within government agencies. A public sector career can feel different from a career in the private sector. To sort out the differences and help you understand whether to pursue a government job, we asked Jamey McNamara, the Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer at U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). McNamara draws his advice here from years of experience developing employees and leaders, in recruitment and retention, performance management, compensation and benefits, and labor relations.  Continue Reading

As an entry-level employee who wants to grow professionally, you hear constantly that you must build your leadership skills. What does that even mean, and how do you know you’re building the right leadership skills? I interviewed Cy Wakeman, an international speaker on leadership and management, and President and Founder of Cy Wakeman, Inc. She has a fantastic and authentic philosophy of leadership, and I’ve shared major takeaways from our interview below, including what not to learn from your manager, how to request and handle feedback, and tips for women.  Continue Reading

Jobs in the aviation, airline and airport industries go beyond pilots and flight attendants. Often, these jobs provide competitive wages and travel benefits. Luckily, there are many open jobs, and recruiters are actively trying to attract recent college grads. The U.S. airline industry supports nearly 10 million jobs total according to Airlines For America (AFA). Continue Reading

There is a disconnect between employers and younger employees about the skills which are important in the workplace.

As far as I can tell, managers have almost always been, on average, older than their employees and those managers have almost always fretted about the lack of skills those employees bring to the workplace, especially younger employees. This isn’t a millennial phenomenon but an age-old generational phenomenon.

For a while now, I have noodled on why so many employers spend so much time and energy complaining about young adults and their lack of workplace-related skills. These employers want to pay these people entry-level wages, and yet they seem to forget that means that their employees will have entry-level skills. But maybe they don’t need to. Maybe the employees can have better skills before they report to their hiring managers. Continue Reading

Congratulations, you landed a job out of college! You’ve launched your career, but to make sure you keep going in the direction you want, keep your eyes on the ball. You (not your employer) are the owner of your career. I learned a few lessons early in my career that I share that career guidance here. Things worked out alright for me, but looking back I believe the following four points can increase your chances of starting off in the right direction and excelling in your chosen career. Continue Reading

You have worked in customer service, maybe for longer than you planned. Working in customer service can be exhausting, and you really want to launch a new career. Before you get disillusioned (or especially if you already are), take heart. You likely have many skills that will help you get out of customer service. Here we list six skills you’ve probably built that you can transfer to a new career, and we also give you a list of jobs to consider that might be your ticket out.  Continue Reading

We wanted to know how employers are addressing the tech skills gap and learning to prepare their future workforce pipeline. We met with Parvathi Sivaraman and Maan Hamdan from Education Unbound, which was formed to build up STEAM in education. By supporting education, they also help reduce the expected tech skills gap and mitigate some of the negative impact automation will have on many traditional jobs. Continue Reading

A new employee who is not onboarded the right way is going to have difficulty finding a sense of belonging inside an organization, says Scott Redfearn, executive vice president of global HR at Protiviti, a global business consulting and internal audit firm.

“Employees who don’t have a meaningful career experience aren’t going to last, and they will not perform to their full potential,” says Redfearn. Continue Reading

Many recent college grads head into the job search just hoping to land that first job to start their career. Others graduate from college with a clear goal in mind: To become a corporate leader, company president, CEO, or major industry influencer.

If the latter fits your career aspirations, and you are a female seeking to climb the corporate ladder to career success, then follow the lead from Melissa Greenwell, author of Money On The Table: How to Increase Profits Through Gender-Balanced Leadership (Greenleaf Book Group, January 2017).  Greenwell is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of national retailer The Finish Line, Inc., and a certified executive coach who helps women and men understand how they can leverage natural strengths to identify and make behavioral changes that help them succeed as senior leaders.

Greenwell’s book, Money on the Table, includes several stories from women who didn’t follow a corporate path and leveraged their passion and leadership skills to build their own businesses.

“When you are someone that others follow or look to for help, you will stand out from the crowd,” says Greenwell. “You won’t need to push your way through.”

To get started on the path to career success, and to become an influential female leader, follow these tips and advice from Greenwell:

1. Be the best team player one can be: The first thing a recent grad should do, beyond mastering their subject matter, is to learn how to be the best team player they can be. Help others, volunteer for assignments, and make the extra effort to move projects or initiatives forward that will enable the organization to be successful. “When leaders see you working for the good of the organization, they will notice,” says Greenwell. “This is the behavior they want to see in their future leaders.” Pay close attention to the best leaders in the organization. Ask one to mentor you. Make it known that you want to earn a position in leadership. Continue Reading

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Analytics, big data, data mining, and data science. Those are not just buzz words, but job titles for some of the hottest jobs of the future. And actually, the present. Especially in health care careers, where professionals throughout the world are using a variety of analytics and data to help cure diseases and solve business problems.

How so?

The Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. used data mining to model patient populations and define chronic disease groups, which ended up improving their ability to help diabetic patients manage and reduce complications of their disease. Health care providers are using predictive analytics to find factors associated with high-cost patients. They can detect insurance fraud and even forecast medical outcomes. Analytics and data continually make more impact in health care. And so do the job opportunities. But for recent college grads, understanding the job titles and career paths of analytics and big data careers can be confusing.

“The good news is that opportunity is abundant,” says Kevin Purcell, Ph.D., a Professor in the analytics program at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology in Harrisburg, PA. “As with any new field, sometimes deciphering job titles is the first hurdle.”

Purcell breaks down these potential job titles and what the job entails:

• Data analysts: Responsible for gleaning information from data using various software packages and their knowledge of SQL on databases. This is often combined with intermediate level statistics.
• Data scientists: Responsible for gleaning information from data, but at a larger scale and also often tasked with more open questions. The skill also demands more advanced statistical knowledge such as machine learning as well as programming skills to better manipulate data to his or her own will.
• Data engineers: Typically software engineers that focus on building robust data pipelines that clean, transform and aggregate messy and unorganized data into usable data sources.
• Big data architects: Develop plans for integrating, structuring, and maintaining a company’s data sources often employing big data technology such as Hadoop

Chris Lee is the Manager of Performance Measurement at Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) in Orange, California. He sees two key skills that are crucial to success working in analytics and data in the health care industry. Those skills are analytical and technical skills – combined with interpersonal skills. Sure, it’s important to have advanced Excel skills, knowledge of databases, strong data mining and presentation skills. However, the most technical people need interpersonal skills to work with others, including non-technical co-workers.

“The main thing I’ve learned in the field that students can’t learn in the classroom is the interpersonal aspect of working with people who request data,” says Lee. “The people you will work with in the real world have all sorts of personalities and traits. Great interpersonal skills will help one foster relationships and make the data analysis portion of the job much easier when you can clearly define and understand the data elements that the requester is asking for. Most successful analysts have that right balance that enables him or her to interact with the data requester to generate/create the correct data analysis.”

Purcell agrees: “It is imperative for both data analysts and data scientists to be competent communicators,” he says. “Data storytelling is an indispensable skill needed to communicate technical findings to non-technical audiences with a focus how the findings can impact the business or organization.”

Purcell says employers look for other core skills such as intellectual curiosity, analytical thinking, and knowledge of software tools such as R, Python, a high-level programming language (Java or C++), and GUI-based visualization.

Kevin Huggins, Ph.D., also a Professor in the analytics program at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, says getting hands-on, real-life experience is crucial to launching one’s entry-level analytics and data career.

“Nothing can replace practical experience,” says Huggins. “Internships are excellent options, but sometimes not available to everyone. Since most platforms are open, contributing to open competitions or open-source collaborations can provide experience where professional opportunities are scarce.”

Carolyn Thompson, Managing Principal, Merito Group, LLC, a talent acquisition and consulting firm, says the single most requested skill set in healthcare analytics that employers seek is revenue cycle experience. “Because of the complex nature of payment and provider relationships, this is an area where the demand is literally never fully met,” says Thompson. “These people have strong Excel skills, good business judgment and can do modeling and forecasting around all the various aspects of healthcare revenue.”

Andrew S. Miller, President & CEO of BrainWorks, a leader in big data recruitment, says employers want recent college graduates who are trained in statistics, math, quantitative analysis, using programs, and algorithms. But ultimately, recent college grads also have to be able to communicate and present the data.

“The ability to take your finding and present to key business stakeholders is critical,” says Miller. “Employers want a person who can not only massage and manipulate data, but interpret the data into insights and meaningful conclusions. If they can’t convey the information in a way that makes sense or sells management or what action to take, their value to the employer becomes limited.”

Analytics and big data jobs are hot and in demand. Especially in the health care industry. Use these tips to advance your career and land that first job or internship.

Want to learn more about the latest in analytics and data careers? Stay connected to College Recruiter by visiting our blog, and connecting with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.