background preloader

College & careers

Facebook Twitter

Why We Wind Up on the Wrong Career Path and What To Do About It - Employment Spot. You don’t have to look very far to find people who are trapped in the wrong job or profession. Carpenters who should have been accountants. Accountants who should have been horticulturists. Horticulturists who should have opened an animal shelter. Having worked with career changers for nearly a decade, I’ve found there are four reasons why people get, or stay, on the wrong career path. You’ll soon see that the obvious reason — money — didn’t make the list. That’s because, unless you are truly at the subsistence level, I find that money is all too often an excuse used to mask deeper issues. Let’s take a closer look at what some of those issues might be. 1. Billy Wilder once said, "Trust your instincts. I learned the hard way about ignoring these internal yellow, green, and red lights.

He seemed like a decent enough guy, confident and amiable in that way people in sales often are. A flag went up immediately. Of course my instincts were right. 2. 3. 4. Take my friend Donna. By Valerie Young. 7 Things Graduating Seniors Should Know About College. Lynn F. Jacobs and Jeremy S. Hyman As graduating seniors prepare for their freshman year in college, we’ve asked Lynn F. Jacobs and Jeremy S. Hyman, authors of “The Secrets of College Success,” to provide tips for incoming college freshmen. What follows are excerpts. — Tanya Caldwell Here are some things that incoming students should know about college: You Have Control Over Your Courses You do not have to confine yourself to a set of preselected courses that are designed to help incoming students fulfill general education requirements.

Every Class Counts There is a lot of redundancy built into high school courses. In college, it’s different. You Are Expected to Do a Lot of the Work on Your Own You need to be your own boss. You will also need to propel yourself to study. The Testing Is Often by ‘Sampling’ Exams in college are not 100 percent comprehensive — that is, the tests will not cover every topic or problem discussed in class. College Papers Are More Than Just Reports. Schumpeter: In praise of misfits. IN 1956 William Whyte argued in his bestseller, “The Organisation Man”, that companies were so in love with “well-rounded” executives that they fought a “fight against genius”. Today many suffer from the opposite prejudice. Software firms gobble up anti-social geeks. Hedge funds hoover up equally oddball quants. Hollywood bends over backwards to accommodate the whims of creatives. And policymakers look to rule-breaking entrepreneurs to create jobs. Unlike the school playground, the marketplace is kind to misfits.

Recruiters have noticed that the mental qualities that make a good computer programmer resemble those that might get you diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome: an obsessive interest in narrow subjects; a passion for numbers, patterns and machines; an addiction to repetitive tasks; and a lack of sensitivity to social cues. Wired magazine once called it “the Geek Syndrome”.

Similar traits are common in the upper reaches of finance. Geekery in the genes Economist.com/blogs/schumpeter. National College Student Satisfaction and Priorities Reports | Noel-Levitz. Noel-Levitz annually publishes national reports summarizing the composite results from campuses using our Satisfaction-Priorities Surveys, including the Student Satisfaction Inventory (SSI), the Institutional Priorities Survey (IPS), the Adult Student Priorities Survey (ASPS), the Adult Learner Inventory (ALI), and the new Parent Satisfaction Inventory (PSI). These reports are the national standard for student satisfaction assessment and have appeared in higher education publications as well as USA Today. Current reports Satisfaction-priorities 15-year trend studies How have student satisfaction and priorities changed in the past 15-years? Find out in a report comparing student satisfaction and priorities data between the 1994-95 and 2009-2010 school years.

Read the 15-year trend studies » Previous reports See the National Satisfaction and Priorities Report archive for previous editions of all the reports. Complete College America. Complete College America | KSA-Plus Communications | Strategy. Substance. Style. PICS : Personal Inventory of College Styles. The college selection process is tough enough. Don't let the myths about college scare you away from a college or university that might be just right for you. Year after year students settle for a second and third choice college because they listened to the half-truths or downright false statements concerning the college selection process. We want to explode these myths so you can choose the college or university that is best for you.

MYTH 1: It's better to get good grades than take challenging courses. Even modest success in advanced or accelerated courses indicates to a college that you seek and can handle challenging courses -- like those you will find in college. A challenging college preparatory program or some advanced placement courses will help you get into more selective colleges. MYTH 2: The standardized tests (ACT, PSAT, SAT) are more important than your high school grades.

Your performance in high school is a better predictor of college success than the standardized tests. How Is College Different From High School? - - SMU. Welcome to the A-LEC! Our mission is to help students become more independent, self-confident, and efficient learners who are able to respond effectively to specific academic challenges, to articulate their own educational goals, and to succeed at any level of the undergraduate curriculum. Rather than primarily responding to perceived academic weaknesses or helping students overcome academic difficulty, we seek to build success from the beginning, offering both developmental and accelerated programs designed to maximize students' learning potential, personal adjustment, and academic performance. We seek to create an environment that encourages students to integrate the academic side of their lives more fully with their understanding of themselves and their goals.

We also support students in their efforts to become full participants in a university community in which the life of the mind is developed and valued. This mission is supported by these specific goals. Transition to College: Separation and Change for Parents and Students. Introduction Going to college is more than just "going back to school. " The departure is a significant milestone in the life of a family and ushers in a time of separation and transition, requiring an adjustment on the part of parents, the college-bound teenager and the whole family.

Practical Advice for Parents Practical Advice for Teens College students today Who goes to college? In October 2009, 70.1 percent of 2009 high school graduates were enrolled in colleges or universities, with women outpacing men (73.8% vs. 66.0%). College and careers Students are apt to find their parents were right when advising them to get a college degree or at least obtain additional education after high school. College and finances Financing higher education is a source of stress for many college-bound students and their families, especially in today's troubled economy. Adjusting to college life The stress levels of college students have been on a constant rise. Challenges for parents Feeling a void Fitting in 1. The College Transition – New and Current Student Parents – Parents & Family – New Student and Family Programs – Minnesota State University, Mankato. No matter how prepared students think they are starting college is the beginning of something new. Understanding your student’s new way of life, and being available to listen and make suggestions, if asked, is important to your student’s new way of life.

Your continued support is important to your student’s adaptation to the college experience. In popular television and movies, college is often shown as a place where students’ primary goal is socialization. This is an inaccurate depiction, though much value does come through out of class and co-curricular activities. More and more, students are working and balancing their class work with multiple responsibilities. College is a time of change for students as they struggle with identity issues, often they may test themselves and push the limits they have previously accepted. During the first year of college, many students find their first opportunity to test their decision-making abilities in real-life situations.

Www.almanar.jo/almanaren/portals/0/pdf2/skillsrequireden.pdf. Www.urgjobs.com/pdf/Skills.pdf. Blog.espol.edu.ec/vicenteriofrio/files/2009/06/topqualities.pdf. Essential Data on Colleges and Careers | Curran Career Consulting. Information gathered by Sheila J. Curran, March, 2009, revised July, 2012 Across the country, colleges and universities are re-thinking goals and aspirations in light of diminishing revenues and falling endowments. At the same time, prospective students and their families increasingly seek an economic value for their tuition investment. These realities conflict when it comes to providing exceptional career assistance to students and alumni. The following data support the assertion that colleges and universities need to focus not only on student learning outcomes, but also on ensuring the success of their graduates. DATA ON COLLEGE GRADUATES (Bachelor’s degree and above) Source: Chart A-4, Employment status of the college-educated civilian population 25 years and over, Bureau of Labor Statistics Source: BLS Table Ten (unpublished), Employment status of college and high school graduates under the age of 25, Bureau of Labor Statistics Degrees conferred in FY08 Student Employment 1.