In Thomas Friedman’s article, “The New Untouchables,” he identifies the qualities of 21st century workers that are indispensable to our global marketplace. Schools, which focus traditionally on analytical skills, will also need to emphasize the skills which employers will both demand and reward. Analytical skills, according to Daniel Pink, can be outsourced, but other skills such as thinking critically and creatively to solve problems and produce new opportunities, work effectively with people from different backgrounds and cultures, and have vision for possibilities, cannot be outsourced. It’s time that educators and parents at all levels ask:
Newest Professions, Growing Salaries
CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Yahoo! hotjobs posted an article this week on new careers from the Occupational Information Network’s latest directory. Employment expert and author, Laurence Shatkin, stated “O*Net [Occupational Information Network] officially recognizes job titles once there is a critical mass of workers in those jobs and a clear road map for attaining the position.†According to the BLS, small companies have the highest percentage and large companies have the lowest percentage of new and emerging occupations. Small companies— those with fewer than 50 employees— often lead the economy in innovation. They can respond quickly to consumer trends and advances in technology. Professional associations and trade groups are good sources to identify jobs in emerging occupations. Some international careers open to new college graduates include global business credit risk analyst, trade relations coordinator, and import and export specialist. A software localization engineer translates and adapts programs to a foreign country, with sensitivity to customs and cultural values. Most international positions are held by employees with experience or graduate degrees.
Among the new jobs mentioned in the article below are wind farm engineers, business continuity planners and directors of social media. Many new occupations, especially those in the technical and scientific fields, require diverse skills. Multidisciplinary occupations may be a good match for the increasing number of students who choose to double or triple major. This trend was highlighted in “So, What’s Your Other Major?,†an article in the March issue of Counterpoint: The MIT-Wellesley Journal of Campus Life. Career advisers often see students with wide-ranging interests who choose multiple majors (or majors and minors) because of those broad interests
In order for students to effectively compete in a global marketplace amid today’s restricted economy students need 21st century skills, particularly problem-solving and critical and creative thinking abilities. That’s why each LifeBound book offers a corresponding curriculum that includes rigor and relevance activities, as well as powerful questions for discussion within a cross-disciplinary context.
Questions to consider:
As educators, how can we challenge and best prepare students to enter emerging career fields and acquire 21st Century Skills?
How do we engage students in meaningful lessons that build the necessary skills to compete in today’s global marketplace?
To learn more about LifeBound’s books and curricula, visit www.lifebound.com
ARTICLE:
Yahoo! hotjobs
Newest Professions, Growing Salaries
Larry Buhl, for Yahoo! HotJobs
The latest directory of job titles from Occupational Information Network (O*Net) features a variety of new entries that many people have never heard before.
Some of these jobs — at least the duties — have been around in some form for a while. What’s new is a “professional pathway” for these careers, according to employment expert and author Laurence Shatkin. “O*Net officially recognizes job titles once there is a critical mass of workers in those jobs and a clear road map for attaining the positions,” he says.
To view this entire article visit www.yahoo.com
An Internship From Your Couch
CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Every college student needs at least two internships under their belt in order to show prospective employers their potential for future jobs. In light of today’s global competition for talent, where U.S. students not only compete with American graduates but with their counterparts in other countries, internships allow job seekers to show a proven track record of results and to model tenacity in a fiercely competitive market. Another upside to internships is that many employers consider this experience in the hiring process, and often look to their own interns as the best potential candidates for full-time positions. Employers look for analytical, creative and practical intelligence in potential hires, and internships give students the playing field to demonstrate and grow these skills.
Particularly in a recessive economy, virtual internships offer an affordable and creative way for college students to gain real-world experience about a career field. Virtual or remote internships allow students to develop professional skills and get a bird’s eye view of a career they may want to pursue without having to relocate and often with more time flexibility than traditional office hours require, as the article below iterates. And similar to traditional internships, students typically receive school credit for their work.
One of the keys to a successful remote internship is frequent and consistent communication between the intern and company or organization’s manager or supervisor. Conversely, internships give students the opportunity to receive feedback on completed assignments and mentoring from a supervisor or manager. You can read more about how to make the most of an internship in LifeBound’s book, Majoring in the Rest of Your Life: Career Secrets for College Students. Additionally, LifeBound offers a variety of internships both live and virtual throughout the academic year and in the summer. For more information, visit http://www.lifebound.com/interns.html.Â
 ARTICLE
Wall Street Journal
By Jonnelle Marte
Natalie Ann Roig completed a marketing internship last spring—while riding the bus, sitting on her parents’ couch and lounging at home in pajamas.
The internship, in which she worked 15 hours a week researching and blogging about corporate workplace benefits, was virtual—she needed only a computer and Internet access. Ms. Roig, a senior at the
“I didn’t have to dress up. I didn’t have to sit at a cubicle for hours,” says Ms. Roig, a senior studying graphic design. “It was more like work at your own pace and get the work done.”
To view the entire article visit
Incomes of Young in 8-Year Nose Dive
SUMMARY:
The gap between rich and poor isn’t only connected to race and gender, now it’s between young and old. According to the article below from USA Today, many young people (particularly those in the 25 to 34 year-old age bracket) are losing ground as their incomes shrink compared to earlier decades. One reason behind declining wage potential, economists say: The caliber of jobs available in a recession, and their accompanying wages, tend to suffer. High-end firms hire fewer people and drive down salaries because jobs are in such demand. The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), an organization of career counselors, reports that employers will hire 22% fewer college graduates than last year.
If you are a recent college graduate, or you are preparing to graduate, take heart. Hard work, perseverance, strong thinking and decision-making skills and a commitment to your own competence is generally recession-proof. Here are some tips for turning this situation around from someone who got a job right out of college in the last bad recession:
1) Show a willingness to learn, to grow, to work hard and to do high quality work. To be credible you will need to share examples from school, work and community service that show exactly how you do this when you are interviewing for jobs.
2) Get internships which will attest to your business acumen and maturity. While many internships don’t pay, what you learn during an internship can be priceless and often lead to part-time or full-time work. Try on your career interests through seeing first-hand if you are cut out for what you think you love.
3) Develop a strong academic record complemented by leadership experiencee. You may not be at the top of the class, but if you work hard to learn all that you can and you get involved in activities to make a difference, you may be more valuable to an employer than the 4.0 student who isn’t as well-rounded. Show your employer that you are passionate and you know how to make a difference and provide specific examples.
4) Have a creative, determined and resourceful attitude which involves making a difference. If you are out of work right now and you have time on your hands, find a cause—any cause—that you value where your contributions can help. It could be reading to students, it could be teaching handicapped children to ski, it could be volunteering at an old folk’s home. Any of these activities—if your heart is in them—will make you a more valuable employee. When you interview, describe what you learned from this work, how it challenged you and how you grew. You may also get some valuable insight as to what you are called to do for your career.
If you are a graduate who really offers value, focuses on results and is a delight to work with you will have the strongest chance of landing a job as a starting point which can blossom into a career for you. Don’t worry if the job isn’t paying much, focus on what experience it provides to you so that when the economy turns around you will be ready to soar. Each experience is a stepping stone. You may need to work two jobs right now to make ends meet. You may have a lot less free time. But, when the economy turns around if you have worked hard in the tough times, you will have the resilience to do well when things are better. It is like storing up for the winter. And this is a good winter to store up with strong skills, more savings and good planning for the future.
ARTICLE
USA Today
by Dennis Cauchon
The incomes of the young and middle-aged — especially men — have fallen off a cliff since 2000, leaving many age groups poorer than they were even in the 1970s, a USA TODAY analysis of new Census data found.
People 54 or younger are losing ground financially at an unprecedented rate in this recession, widening a gap between young and old that had been expanding for years.
While the young have lost ground, older people have grown more prosperous over the years and the decades. Older women have done best of all.
To view entire article visit
http://bit.ly/2guuW6
As Riches Fade, So Does Finance’s Allure
CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Over the past 20 years, many bright minds were lured to careers in finance because of lucrative salaries, but when the bubble burst hundreds of thousands of employees had to search for other work and new graduates are looking elsewhere for careers. Today’s article from the Wall Street Journal describes a migration of workers drawn high money-making jobs to lower-paying ones that may more closely align with their personal values. The health care and education fields are experienceing a surge of applications from laid-off finance professionals, and the recent downtown also appears to coincide with a rising interest in government and public service. According to a Gallup poll conducted in April for the Partnership for Public Service, 40% of U.S. workers are open to considering federal careers, up from 24% in 2006.
This kind of adapatability is necessary in today’s global landscape; where statistics from the BLS show that workers between the ages of 18 and 38 change jobs an average of 10 times. Whether that number indicates a change in place of employment or career field, it is a big one. If you’re rebounding from a lay off, here are tips that can help:
- Take the time to work through your frustrations and disappointment. It is hard to move on to the next phase of your working life without making peace with this last stage. Once you have accepted the reality of the situation, you can go full force into your career search.
- Ask yourself what you can learn from your most recent work experience. Do you want to work in the same type of organization or are you ready for something different? What did you like the most? The least?Â
- Take stock. What is important in your life right now? What work will best to promote the life that you are trying to create? Are you willing to make less to have more time? Are you willing to have less free time for a job which will require more of you? What is your mission? Your goals? Defining what matters most will help you to recognize the best opportunity and be clear on whether or not it is good match. Organize your finances, redo your budget and keep expenses to a minimum.
- Hire a business or career coach.  People need help in times of transition. If your last company did not provide a formal outplacement service, consider hiring an advisor to help you analyze your strengths, interests, and abilities. This person can also be your personal champion as you pursue the frustrations and the upsides of this process. If you are changing careers, it is useful take career inventories to give you a better sense of what is out there based on your interests, and coaching skills can teach you how to tap your internal motivation, as well as clarify life and career goals.Â
5.       Know what you have to offer in terms of your skills and your abilities. Determine the field and the job for which you have the most passion then research those companies and jobs so that you can narrow your focus. When you interview, think about the unique things you can offer the position for which you are interviewing. Be specific about how you can contribute to the company as a whole.
- Network with people who can help you. Set up appointments and lunches for informational interviews in the field that interests you. Meet with alumni from your college. Get together with friends and family members who may know someone who can help. Finding the right job is often a numbers game. The more people who know you and your abilities, the more likely you are to connect with the best job for you.
- Canvass on-line services. Services like monster.com or hotjobs.com are an effective way to generate instant activity with your resume. You can also learn about many jobs you may not have known existed. Keep an open mind.
- Practice interviewing. If you are out of practice in describing what you have accomplished the last few years and what you have to offer now, rehearse. Sometimes the most qualified people don’t adequately express themselves. Work through any fears or limitations you might have on presenting yourself so that the confident, competent person whom you are emerges.    Â
     9.   Form a support network. Plenty of people are unemployed right now. Form a breakfast group with friends or other laid off co-workers to generate leads and share useful tips. Keep the complaints to a minimum and focus on the actions that will move you forward. Reserve some time to have fun and to be with the people who matter most to you. They will sustain you during the more challenging parts of the search.
    10.   Have faith in yourself. You have gifts and talents to offer, both personally and professionally. If you take this time to really align yourself with your values, mission and goals, you will find your true life’s work. Â
LifeBound offers individual and corporate coaching. Please contact our office toll free for more information 877.737.8510 or email contact@lifebound.com.
ARTICLE
Wall Street Journal
by Lisa Bannon
Like nearly 30% of Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates in recent years, Ted Fernandez set his sights on finance. Though he majored in materials science and engineering, he was wowed by tales of excitement from friends who went to Wall Street.
But when he stopped by an investment bank’s booth at a job fair a year ago, it was eerily empty. The booth belonged to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., and the date was Sept. 18, three days after the 158-year-old bank filed for bankruptcy. Now Mr. Fernandez, 22 years old, is getting a master’s in engineering at M.I.T. and aiming for a career in solar-power technology.
To view the entire article visit
What Traditional Academics Can Learn From a Futurist’s University
CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Singularity University, founded by futurists Ray Kurzweil and Peter H. Diamandis, forward-looking thinkers who share ideas about where technology is headed in the near future and in the long term, is designed to study technologies that are manifesting exponential change. The first ever nine-week session was held last summer and cost $25,000 per student. The course was divided into three parts: In the first three weeks, students attended lectures by experts from business and academe. Over the next three weeks, students each chose one of four areas to research. And the final three weeks, students worked in groups on global challenges that aimed to help at least a billion people around the world.
The article below cites that more than 1,200 students applied to fill the 40 slots, making the program more selective than Harvard University. James A. Dator, director of the Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies, at the University of Hawaii-Manoa says Singularity University is an example of the rise in interest in futurology with courses offered at Anne Arundel Community College (Arnold, Maryland), the University of Notre Dame and San Diego City College.
The article also mentions that higher education has experienced relatively small changes: “Compared to most other markets, higher education in particular really hasn’t felt the earthquake,” says Paul Saffo, a technology forecaster who is a consulting professor at Stanford University, and chair of the futures-studies track of Singularity University. More “futures studies†at the university level would require better preparation of high schools students. LifeBound’s new book, Critical and Creative Thinking for Teenagers sparks innovative thinking, is cross-disciplinary by examining critical and creative thinking through various lenses and promotes media and technology skills. Such a curriculum would equip today’s high school students with the skills necessary to brainstorm and tackle the world’s greatest problems. For more information about this resource visit www.lifebound.com.
What steps can higher education take to embrace the technological strides over the last 50 years?
How can we promote critical and creative thinking in the classroom via technologies?
How can “futures studies†enhance 21st century skills among today’s students?
ARTICLE:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
September 14, 2009
What Traditional Academics Can Learn From a Futurist’s University
By Jeffrey R. Young
Moffett Field, Calif.
“We’re going to be unapologetically interdisciplinary,” said Neil Jacobstein, chairman of the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing, during one of the first lectures at Singularity University. “That’s not because it’s fashionable, or because the faculty took a vote, but because nature has no departments.”
The students burst into applause.
That dig against traditional institutions was par for the course at the unusual new high-tech university, which wrapped up its first nine-week session at NASA’s Ames Research Center here last month. Students were asked to come up with technological projects that would help at least a billion people around the world, reflecting the techno-utopian vision of the institution’s founders.
To view this entire article visit www.chronicle.com
Experts Point to Five Emerging Majors
CAROL’S SUMMARY:
New occupations develop when employers need workers to do tasks that have never been done before. Based on employment forecasters and other educational and career experts, The Chronicle of Higher Education points to the following five new majors related to emerging career fields:
service science, health informatics, computational science, sustainability, and public health.
For students, these emerging careers offer a chance to be on the leading edge of their fields. For adults, a shift within their career field can be the path out of a slow-growth career and into work with a more promising future. According to Career Voyages, a website collaboration of the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Department of Education, these five areas of study fall into three growing industries:
1. Biotechnology: The areas of research and development, quality control and assurance, manufacturing and production, agriculture, and bioinformatics all offer in-demand occupations in biotechnology. In bioinformatics, one of the newest sectors, specialists organize and mine huge amounts of biomedical data, such as research related to the study of the human genome, clinical trials, or diseases.
2. Nanotechnology: This field includes research and development of practical commercial applications using particles of matter the size of atoms.
3. Geospatial technology: This emerging field encompasses photogrammetry, remote sensing, and geographic information systems (GIS). The most widely known application is the GPS (global positioning systems) that are familiar to many of us in our vehicles and cell phones.
Source: http://www.careerpath.com/career-advice/209482-emerging-career-fields
As cited in the article below: “Most of the interesting work today is done at the interstices of disciplines,†says Robert B. Reich, a former U.S. labor secretary and a professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. While not all colleges and universities are offering these majors, most do offer courses in related subject areas. For example, in the field of service science, 250 colleges and universities in 50 countries offer courses, mostly for graduate students. Often these are specialties that build on more general experience within a career, like a move into a homeland security role for a police officer. On the other hand, some of these emerging careers creatively link together two or more fields of expertise, such as nursing and computer science. Here are questions to consider:
How might high school curricula need to change to better prepare students in these emerging career fields?
What steps can students take to analyze opportunities in these new areas and figure out which ones might be a good fit for their interests, gifts and talents?
To view the entire article visit
http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/experts-point-to-5-emerging-majors/
Free Education Changes the Game for Students, Colleges
Rising tuition costs. Waiting lists at many community colleges. Dwindling savings. Shrinking availability of financial aid at many colleges. Fewer jobs available after graduation. Sound familiar? In these tough economic times, access to higher education has become increasingly challenging. Coupled with a tough job market, these grim realities have prevented many students from completing their college degree.
In the face of these realities, a wide array of institutions and governments are working to create free online courseware for students of all ages and stages. With efforts ranging from interactive, discussion based courses to ready-made study materials, organizations ranging from M.I.T. to the United Nations are joining the movement. As computer and web-literacy continue to spread across countries, generations and income levels, these online courses become ever more feasible and valuable.
As access to knowledge becomes increasingly open and low-cost, higher education institutions must examine ways in which they can adapt to this new reality. If free online courseware becomes widely accredited, what benefits can traditional universities offer to their students? As endowments shrink and more required courses are taught through a large, impersonal lecture hall format, the benefits become even harder to define. At this juncture, it is critical for colleges and universities to focus on the essentials: brand, reputation, classroom experience, extracurricular activities, social opportunities and that elusive must-have – the delivery of a transformational experience.
In the Future, the Cost of Education Will Be Zero
July 24th, 2009 | by Josh Catone
The average cost of yearly tuition at a private, four-year college in the US this year was $25,143, and for public schools, students could expect to pay $6,585 on average for the 2008-09 school year, according to the College Board. That was up 5.9% and 6.4% respectively over the previous year, which is well ahead of the national average rate of inflation. What that means is that for many people, college is out of reach financially. But what if social media tools would allow the cost of an education to drop nearly all the way down to zero?
Of course, quality education will always have costs involved — professors and other experts need to be compensated for their time and efforts, for example, and certain disciplines require expensive, specialized equipment to train students (i.e., you can’t learn to be a surgeon without access to an operating theater). However, social media can drastically reduce much of the overhead involved with higher education — such as administrative costs and even the campus itself — and open source or reusable and adaptive learning materials can drive costs down even further.
The University of the People
One vision for the school of the future comes from the United Nations. Founded this year by the UN’s Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technology and Development (GAID), the University of the People is a not-for-profit institution that aims to offer higher education opportunities to people who generally couldn’t afford it by leveraging social media technologies and ideas.The school is a one hundred percent online institution, and utilizes open source courseware and peer-to-peer learning to deliver information to students without charging tuition. There are some costs, however. Students must pay an application fee (though the idea is to accept everyone who applies that has a high school diploma and speaks English), and when they’re ready, students must pay to take tests, which they are required to pass in order to continue their education. All fees are set on a sliding scale based on the student’s country of origin, and never exceed $100.Read more…
Retention & First Generation College Students
For many students, the road to college is a familiar one. Many graduating high school students have heard their parents reminisce for years about their college days and provide advice about how to succeed. For most, college isn’t merely a privilege: it’s an expectation, a necessary step on their career path.
This is not, however, the reality for all students. Nationally, around 30% of all graduates are the first in their family to attend college. The vast majority of these students are low-income, and many face passive reactions or even opposition from their family when they decide to attend college. If the United States hopes to reach Obama’s goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world, this population is especially important: only eleven percent of these graduates actually finish college within six years.
How should higher education institutions support and retain these students? As many first-generation students enter college without the support network that other students have, colleges and universities must work hard to create in-house networks for these students. The University of Cincinnati provides one excellent model: help students with study skills, time management, the college transition and – especially key – dealing with their families during this new and confusing time.
While some might argue that such efforts – special housing for first generation students, additional coursework, staff support – would be exceptionally expensive, I would argue that higher education institutions cannot afford to ignore these students and let them drop out. Consider the situation from a business perspective: if you knew that you would have a 27% customer attrition rate, wouldn’t you focus your resources and efforts at lowering this number? Of course, it makes sense to also consider this issue from a social perspective: what impact, what new achievements would be possible for the US if we helped these highly motivated, resilient and tenacious young students develop to their fullest potential?
Second Home for First-Gens
COMFORT ZONE The Gen-1 Theme House at the University of Cincinnati gives first-generation freshmen a place to settle in to college life.
As thousands of low-income, first-generation freshmen flock to campus in the next two months, many, despite their intelligence and optimism, will arrive only to be gone in an academic eye blink. Just 11 percent of them earn a bachelor’s degree after six years, according to the Pell Institute, compared with 55 percent of their peers.
That fact was frustrating administrators at the University of Cincinnati, where more than 40 percent of its 5,000 freshmen this fall will be the first in their families to go to college. In its mission to get low-income, first-generation students through its doors, the university was succeeding. But once in, many were failing.“These students find themselves on campus, and overwhelmed quickly,†says Stephanie A. Cappel, the executive director of Partner for Achieving School Success, a center devoted to university-community partnerships and outreach programs.“They don’t even know what questions to ask.â€
Department of Education Stresses Job Skills
Today’s article discusses the link between education policy and the skills needed for a successful career. As Martha Kanter clearly knows, students are too often allowed to leave school without the necessary emotional, social and practical tools to be effective in the world of work. The sweeping movement towards educational standards in the United States must include skills and metrics that stretch far beyond test scores and graduation rates – and Kanter’s efforts to link labor and education are a step in the right direction.
 In order to be successful, students need critical thinking skills, an awareness of their gifts and talents, the emotional intelligence to build up a network of supporters and the internal motivation and maturity to make a positive impact both in the classroom and in the workplace. LifeBound’s Critical and Creative Thinking for Teenagers helps students develop all of these skills through the lens of medicine, nature, entrepreneurship and other core subjects. Learn more here: http://lifebound.com/lifebound-books/critical_creative_thinking.html
Job Training Is Stressed at Education Dept., State Leaders Are Told
By SARA HEBEL
Santa Fe
Martha J. Kanter, the
She said she wanted to better align federal education and labor programs that often operate in isolation from one another even though they have complementary goals of preparing people for the work force.
“I really want to marry work and education in a more systematic way,†Ms. Kanter said. More than half of the nation’s college students work while they are enrolled, she said, and federal policy does not do enough to make sure they can effectively balance work and study.
Ms. Kanter spoke to the State Higher Education Executive Officers’ meeting on her 15th day in office. In those first few weeks, she said, she had already met three times with officials at the Department of Labor. Today she and Jane Oates, the Labor Department’s assistant secretary for employment and training administration, will appear together before a Senate subcommittee on employment and work-force safety to discuss their priorities for revamping the Workforce Investment Act, which provides money for job training at community colleges and elsewhere.
As an example of the disconnect in the current system, Ms. Kanter cited a federal youth-employment program. She said money was distributed through local Workforce Investment Boards without any emphasis to program recipients that they should continue their education to improve their long-term job prospects.
State officials praised Ms. Kanter’s remarks.
Jack R. Warner, executive director and chief executive of the South Dakota Board of Regents, told Ms. Kanter he was “very pleased to hear†that she planned to push for better coordination and alignment in job-training programs. “I really find a disjunction there,†Mr. Warner said. “Higher education needs to play a stronger role†in such training.
The question of how state and federal governments should help working students came up at a conference session about rethinking student aid. Sandy Baum, senior policy analyst for the College Board, said that one needed public-policy conversation was how to best allocate financial aid to adult students. The central question for many students is not how they are going to be able to pay tuition itself—the focus of much current student-aid policy—but how they can afford to pay basic living expenses while classes and study are preventing them from working as many hours as they could, Ms. Baum said.
Global Competition
On the issue of global competition, Ms. Kanter reiterated the Obama administration’s goal of stepping up American performance so that the
Canada’s experience, she said, showed that an emphasis on helping colleges, students, and others adopt best practices—rather than putting a focus on accountability alone—could foster rapid improvement in student success. Her talks with Chinese officials demonstrated how actively other countries were also seeking to move up, she said.
During a question-and-answer period following her speech, Ms. Kanter fielded a question about whether the federal government should make at least some education beyond high school available to everyone.
Ann E. Daley, executive director of the Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board, asked whether the Obama administration had considered a new financing model for higher education, in which the concept of the government’s providing everyone with a public education through the 12th grade would be extended to at least a 13th year.
Ms. Kanter said the idea was “certainly worth looking at,†although she did not know whether it was something administration officials were specifically considering.