Gen Y Grad Sues College Because She Cant Get Job

Gen Y Grad Sues College Because She Cant Get Job This cracks me up.   An article on NYC NBC site says College Grad Cant Find Job, Wants $$$ Back. Check out the image from the site (ouch!): OMG, where to even begin on this one. In summary, this person went to school, apparently got a BA degree in something to do with information technology, and I guess couldnt land a job.   So she is suing saying her career services office didnt [live] up to its end of the deal [by] offering her the leads and employment advice it promised. This recent grad has lived at home with her mom, who is a substitute teacher and is the only one of the two who makes any money. I know school is hard, but I also know that thousands of people work during the time they went to school.   You gotta do what you gotta do living off of $70k in student loans is not a way to finance your education. In my post Letter to University Professors: Stop Failing Us, I said that I went to school to position myself for my career (well, I was looking for (cough cough) job security).   NOT for learning. I definitely got learning-loving-people who beat me up for that, but I dont care.   I think they are the exception (and I respect them for wanting to learn, blah blah blah).   Apparently this new graduate agrees suing the school because they didnt land her a job is like saying I dont give a crap about any of the junk I learned in this program! I paid you $70k to land me a job, and that didnt happen, so give it all back! I think thats taking my point a little too far (:)), but I still think that our educational system is set up to help us become more career-worthy, not to fill our heads with all kinds of goodness (we have Google for that :p). Here are some misc. thoughts: If I knew about this lawsuit when I got a resume from her, or before an interview, I would NEVER, EVER, EVER hire her.   EVER. Gen Y Id love to hear you weigh in on this.   The NBC site has over 400 comments, and the NY Post article has a bunch (I cant figure out how many) how many of you feel this way?   Does the word entitlement have any negative meaning anymore?   I hope the Brazen Careerist, who seems to be the spokesblog for Gen Y picks up and opines on this. Career centers are not to blame, really, for any of this.   Ive seen a number of career centers throughout the country.   Some are so underfunded they are only there so the school can say yep, we have one!   Others are very well-funded and have overqualified (read: awesome) staff, Im surprised they arent losing the staff.   But most of them (99%) have a singular problem: A MAJOR DISCONNECT BETWEEN THE CAREER SERVICES AND THE PROFESSORS.   There is a wall that has to come down between career services and the professors who should be promoting them. This is not a wall that was put up by career services this is a wall that professors built and honor.   Its crazy, and it does a gross disservice to the students. Update: heres an interesting thing, from an anonymous person Monroe Colleges Career Center has a Platinum Club which is invitation only.   It strives to provide selected students with career planning privileges at the Office of Career Advancement.   I doubt that this persons 2.7 GPA would have qualified her to be in the Platinum club What do you think? (hat tip to my Allan T. Young who sent me the link to the NBC post) Gen Y Grad Sues College Because She Cant Get Job This cracks me up.   An article on NYC NBC site says College Grad Cant Find Job, Wants $$$ Back. Check out the image from the site (ouch!): OMG, where to even begin on this one. In summary, this person went to school, apparently got a BA degree in something to do with information technology, and I guess couldnt land a job.   So she is suing saying her career services office didnt [live] up to its end of the deal [by] offering her the leads and employment advice it promised. This recent grad has lived at home with her mom, who is a substitute teacher and is the only one of the two who makes any money. I know school is hard, but I also know that thousands of people work during the time they went to school.   You gotta do what you gotta do living off of $70k in student loans is not a way to finance your education. In my post Letter to University Professors: Stop Failing Us, I said that I went to school to position myself for my career (well, I was looking for (cough cough) job security).   NOT for learning. I definitely got learning-loving-people who beat me up for that, but I dont care.   I think they are the exception (and I respect them for wanting to learn, blah blah blah).   Apparently this new graduate agrees suing the school because they didnt land her a job is like saying I dont give a crap about any of the junk I learned in this program! I paid you $70k to land me a job, and that didnt happen, so give it all back! I think thats taking my point a little too far (:)), but I still think that our educational system is set up to help us become more career-worthy, not to fill our heads with all kinds of goodness (we have Google for that :p). Here are some misc. thoughts: If I knew about this lawsuit when I got a resume from her, or before an interview, I would NEVER, EVER, EVER hire her.   EVER. Gen Y Id love to hear you weigh in on this.   The NBC site has over 400 comments, and the NY Post article has a bunch (I cant figure out how many) how many of you feel this way?   Does the word entitlement have any negative meaning anymore?   I hope the Brazen Careerist, who seems to be the spokesblog for Gen Y picks up and opines on this. Career centers are not to blame, really, for any of this.   Ive seen a number of career centers throughout the country.   Some are so underfunded they are only there so the school can say yep, we have one!   Others are very well-funded and have overqualified (read: awesome) staff, Im surprised they arent losing the staff.   But most of them (99%) have a singular problem: A MAJOR DISCONNECT BETWEEN THE CAREER SERVICES AND THE PROFESSORS.   There is a wall that has to come down between career services and the professors who should be promoting them. This is not a wall that was put up by career services this is a wall that professors built and honor.   Its crazy, and it does a gross disservice to the students. Update: heres an interesting thing, from an anonymous person Monroe Colleges Career Center has a Platinum Club which is invitation only.   It strives to provide selected students with career planning privileges at the Office of Career Advancement.   I doubt that this persons 2.7 GPA would have qualified her to be in the Platinum club What do you think? (hat tip to my Allan T. Young who sent me the link to the NBC post) Gen Y Grad Sues College Because She Cant Get Job This cracks me up.   An article on NYC NBC site says College Grad Cant Find Job, Wants $$$ Back. Check out the image from the site (ouch!): OMG, where to even begin on this one. In summary, this person went to school, apparently got a BA degree in something to do with information technology, and I guess couldnt land a job.   So she is suing saying her career services office didnt [live] up to its end of the deal [by] offering her the leads and employment advice it promised. This recent grad has lived at home with her mom, who is a substitute teacher and is the only one of the two who makes any money. I know school is hard, but I also know that thousands of people work during the time they went to school.   You gotta do what you gotta do living off of $70k in student loans is not a way to finance your education. In my post Letter to University Professors: Stop Failing Us, I said that I went to school to position myself for my career (well, I was looking for (cough cough) job security).   NOT for learning. I definitely got learning-loving-people who beat me up for that, but I dont care.   I think they are the exception (and I respect them for wanting to learn, blah blah blah).   Apparently this new graduate agrees suing the school because they didnt land her a job is like saying I dont give a crap about any of the junk I learned in this program! I paid you $70k to land me a job, and that didnt happen, so give it all back! I think thats taking my point a little too far (:)), but I still think that our educational system is set up to help us become more career-worthy, not to fill our heads with all kinds of goodness (we have Google for that :p). Here are some misc. thoughts: If I knew about this lawsuit when I got a resume from her, or before an interview, I would NEVER, EVER, EVER hire her.   EVER. Gen Y Id love to hear you weigh in on this.   The NBC site has over 400 comments, and the NY Post article has a bunch (I cant figure out how many) how many of you feel this way?   Does the word entitlement have any negative meaning anymore?   I hope the Brazen Careerist, who seems to be the spokesblog for Gen Y picks up and opines on this. Career centers are not to blame, really, for any of this.   Ive seen a number of career centers throughout the country.   Some are so underfunded they are only there so the school can say yep, we have one!   Others are very well-funded and have overqualified (read: awesome) staff, Im surprised they arent losing the staff.   But most of them (99%) have a singular problem: A MAJOR DISCONNECT BETWEEN THE CAREER SERVICES AND THE PROFESSORS.   There is a wall that has to come down between career services and the professors who should be promoting them. This is not a wall that was put up by career services this is a wall that professors built and honor.   Its crazy, and it does a gross disservice to the students. Update: heres an interesting thing, from an anonymous person Monroe Colleges Career Center has a Platinum Club which is invitation only.   It strives to provide selected students with career planning privileges at the Office of Career Advancement.   I doubt that this persons 2.7 GPA would have qualified her to be in the Platinum club What do you think? (hat tip to my Allan T. Young who sent me the link to the NBC post)

Lets Dance Out Loud Chicago

Lets Dance Out Loud Chicago My name is Kovie Biakolo and I am the Events Coordinator for Ms Career Girl Meda. It has taken me a while to post an entry because I wanted to gain some experience writing (on my own blog) and because I have been following a couple of amazing bloggers like Nicole and thought it would be best to learn by observation as well as experience. Event Coordination is something I have a passion for. Event Coordination for  benevolent causes is a potential long-term career path. So what better way  to begin my first guest blogging experience, than to talk about a fabulous event that is taking place in Chicago called Dance Out Loud; I couldnt think of any, so here it goes: DanceOutLoud  is the brain child of an amazing lady, Stacy Bennett. Stacys story begins with her mother, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 Ovarian cancer seven years ago and  passed away five years ago.  Although she was not able to have surgery, given the stage of the cancer, chemotherapy was an option and gave Stacy and the family, two more years with their mother.  Whilst alive, and after her diagnosis, Stacys mom learned that she had the BRCA 1  mutation (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/BRCA)   and  shared this information with all the women in the family.  Stacy learned that she too has the gene and since then has undergone a preventive surgery and will undergo another one to fight cancer and specifically Ovarian and Breast cancer. The story is much longer than this and much more complicated than one can put in a paragraph but ultimately it is a story about turning a challenging and trying period in ones life, into something positive. Thats where Dance Out Lo ud comes into the picture. On 11/11/11/, Dance Out Loud will be held at the  Brownstone Tavern  from 7PM-1OPM. If youre like me and wondered why on earth Dance Out Loud and why 11/11/11 (other than it being a cool date), there is in fact a method to the madness. Ovarian cancer is known as the silent killer so it is easy to understand how dancing out loud would be countering that. As for 11/11/11, thats Stacys birthday, and if youve ever seen an ad for more birthdays, it makes perfect sense and is quite frankly, pure genius. So, why should you go to and/or support this event? Here are my 3 reasons: All the proceeds go to  Bright Pinks  ovarian cancer awareness. You get to dance to music  from the 80s, 90s and 00s AND dress up as your favorite decade! (Plus prizes will be given fr the best ones). If youre reading this, you either are a woman or know a woman who is a mother, a wife, a sister, a cousin, a friend, and you never know whose life you could be changing. As for me, my Halloween was kind of a fail so I am so excited to actually get dressed up and for a good cause too! Im also really excited to meet Stacy in person, because I think she is truly an inspiration.  So, let me know: who and what will you be dancing out loud for on 11/11/11? As I am the  TheEventMarketingRookie, I will also be helping Stacy out with the event and to be quite honest, I cannot think of a better way to celebrate someones birthday, help out with an event or spend the night on 11/11/11. When people ask me what I did on 11/11/11, Ill say, I DANCED OUT LOUD. I hope you will say the same.  For more information, go to  http://danceoutloud.org/dol/  or follow  Dance_OutLoud  on twitter. Cheers, Kovie

Yahoo column Five financial tools you shouldnt use

Yahoo column Five financial tools you shouldnt use One of the ways I got my nearly disastrous financial life back on track was by reading a lot of economic advice online. It helps to be part of a community of people thinking hard about their values and their money and the alignment of the two. And it helps to read a wide range of opinions. I also experimented with various online financial tools, and while some were helpful, I realized that there are five common ones to use only with caution: 1. Salary comparison tool The reason salary comparison tools exist is so people can make sure theyre getting paid enough. If you need to use such a tool, however, your career is in trouble. First of all, most comparison tools give you an average salary within a 25 percent margin of error. If you dont know what youre worth within a 25 percent margin of error, thats a problem. Why not just compare salaries with friends who are in your field? If youre in a business in which you have no contacts, youre not worth the average amount anyway, because youre so ineffective at connecting with people around you that youre compromising your ability to add value to a company. Finally, these tools presume an outdated notion that people work only for the money. Sure, money is good, but people rank other things as way more important. So until theres a salary comparison tool that takes flexibility, opportunities for personal growth, and available health care providers into account, theyre not worth your time. 2. Cost of living calculator The problem with this kind of tool is that it gives you information you cant use. You need to know which city will make you happy, not which city will save you $20,000 in housing costs. Lets say youre thinking of moving from San Francisco to New York City. Theyre both really expensive to live in, so the difference in your salary isnt going to matter. You should probably think harder about their respective cultures than about money; very few people fit in well in both cities, and most feel like they belong in one or the other. A calculator cant tell you that. Now lets say youre moving from New York City to Los Angeles. Youll save money on housing, of course, but youll need a really good car. In L.A., a BMW is totally reasonable. Youll end up spending more time there than in your apartment. In NYC, however, owning a BMW is commonplace only among millionaires. For most New Yorkers, having such a car is absurd they just dont drive enough. But online cost of living calculators dont have a BMW: yes or no option. And what if youre moving from Chicago to, say, Kankakee, Ill.? You can compare home prices and taxes, but heres something a calculator wont tell you: Whether theres a Nordstrom store there. If you have to drive 100 miles to shop anywhere besides Target, then the cost of living calculator is pretty much irrelevant the parameters of living change significantly depending on the services available where you end up. Read the rest at Yahoo Finance.

How To Quantify The Unquantifiable On Your Resume - VocationVillage

How To Quantify The Unquantifiable On Your Resume - VocationVillage Dear VocationVillage.com, Career experts always stress the importance of quantifying results (numbers tell a story, right?) on your resume, but I’m in a field where results are often difficult and sometimes impossible to quantify (mental health counseling). For instance, how would you quantify the improved mental health of your clients? I suppose I can quantify my caseload, but that doesn’t necessarily suggest success. The resume advice I’ve come across seem to be more relevant for professions in which you can “increase productivity by %,” but I’m not sure that would be appropriate for my resume. At the same time, I want my resume to stand out and to communicate my specific contributions. What are other ways to do this? Thank you!Signed, Molly Austin, TXDear Molly, Great question! I work in the counseling field, too, so I am familiar with the dilemma of trying to create metrics for accomplishments that involve a lot of subjectivity. Counseling shares this challenge with a lot of other fields such as human resource management and education.You already know that metrics are good for resume building, but they are also good for overall job security, too. In an organizational setting, the projects that receive ongoing funding and support are the ones that can prove effectiveness. In a private practice setting, you also want to be sure you are being as helpful as you can be to ensure ongoing work with satisfied clients and to increase the likelihood that they will refer others to you.The outcome measure you choose can be selected based on psychometric reliability and validity but also on face validity, ease of use, and affordability. There are two types of measurement that are common in counseling: treatment outcome and client satisfaction. In the tr eatment outcome arena, you measure reduction in symptoms or increase in well-being. In the client satisfaction arena, you measure things like the clients satisfaction with the ease of scheduling an appointment, whether the client is pleased with the overall progress in treatment, and whether the client would return to work with you again or would recommend your work to others.For example, you could use a Likert scale where 1 = Strongly Disagree and 5 = Strongly Agree for a question like, I feel confident that my therapist understands the life challenges I describe to her. If the average response is 4.8, you know you are doing something well!I hope this helps! .Likert Scale photo courtesy of official powerset via Flickr Creative Commons

Using a Freelance Writing-Resume Example

Using a Freelance Writing-Resume ExampleHaving a free freelance writing resume example can really help you with your ability to find writing jobs. There are many ways that you can use them, whether it is as a way to show potential employers who you are and what you have done in the past. They are a great tool for anyone who is going to be doing this kind of work in the future.Even if you are just starting out and have no experience with writing before, there are many ways that you can get a job, but sometimes, the only way to get the kind of work that you want is to look at the job description. It might seem like a waste of time to even try, but there are many times that you can actually get a job based on the description of what you wrote down on your resume. That is why it is important to use a freelance writing resume example to see how much work you might actually get on your first few jobs.You can also use a freelance writing resume example to give to potential employers, but it would be a good idea to follow up with one or two jobs yourself. If you did this, you can see which ones they liked and what they thought about the jobs. This will help you learn more about what kind of work you might be best suited for, because you might have some areas where you can do the best job.One of the ways that you can use a freelance writing resume example is to show potential employers how you came to be in their field of work. Sometimes, it is not so much the actual work that a person does, but it is more about what you learned in school and how you were trained to do the work. You can show a potential employer that you know how to go about doing the work that they are looking for. Even if you did not go to school for it, but it was something that you were interested in doing, then it will show that you have some knowledge and expertise in this area.Another way that you can use a freelance writing resume example is to show that you are creative and you can write to you r strengths. You can have a little bit of creativity in just about every part of your life. There is something about your personality that makes you want to have some of the things that other people do.You can even use a freelance writing resume example in an interview to show that you can write that you can understand what your interviewer is saying. Just because you have no experience in the work that they are trying to get done, does not mean that you should be more of a hindrance than a help to them. Be honest and focused, and focus on the job that you are being interviewed for.As long as you are able to show that you can do the job that you are interviewing for, it does not matter if you do not have experience with it, but instead, you are only wasting everyone's time is not worth the effort. This is something that you need to understand. If you think that a person is overreacting, you can be sure that you are doing the right thing, even if it does not look like you are trying too hard.Using a freelance writing resume example is one of the best ways to show that you are serious about getting a job and showing that you are a serious writer that can do the job that you are interviewing for. There are many people who are thinking about this, and this can be one of the most powerful ways to be able to land a job.

Everyone Loves A Parade

Everyone Loves A Parade What does this have to do with career managementnothing, yet. Mytown loves parades. We haveat least 3 a year: Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and 9/11.There are impromptu drive-bys too, when streams of cars drive down Main Street honking their horns and shouting out of windows.The High School Boys Lacrosse team won the state championship yesterday. Thatjustified a parade.This parade had firetrucks, police cars and cars packed with cheering kids and parents. It wasAmericana at its finest. The Main Street was lined with smiling and waving observers dressed inred, the school color. Being connected, being part of a community, isfulfilling. I suppose being part ofa company family can be fun too, but that, as we know,can be verylimiting.We might make a better choice by choosing our city or town due to the variety of people who are connected with the entity. What will it take to be more involvedin and with your community? Yesit can be a commitment oftime, money, or otherresources. But first it takes a commitment tomake it happen.Having an interestis important too. How do you show your support?You get to decide whether you want to give your time, money or other resources to the community. You could also ask someone what kind of help they most need. Diversifying your circle of friends and acquaintances will provide a wider network when you need it!

How To Avoid This Embarrassing Mistake In A Meeting

How To Avoid This Embarrassing Mistake In A Meeting I had a big meeting last week and I blew it. It was so embarrassing, and particularly painful because it was such a “rookie mistake”. Here’s what happened. This was a first time meeting on a topic I know a lot about â€" leadership development, creating a coaching culture, being strategic about your career. Plus, I really enjoy meeting people and getting to know them. So, this should have been a walk in the park. My “happy space”. Not quite. Here’s how it went down My embarrassing mistake We got started on the wrong foot because of a mix-up at reception â€" I was kept waiting in the downstairs lobby, and they were waiting for me in the upstairs conference area. So I was late. Unfortunate, but it was no one’s “fault”. Then I walked in expecting to meet with one person only to find that it was a two-on-one situation and much more formal than I thought. Since we were late, we plowed right into the meeting and the first question they asked me was what I thought about the recent company announcement. I’m thinking, “What company announcement?!” Then they told me, and that’s when I slammed into the brick wall. It turned out to be a major announcement that was sure to be in the industry press. How embarrassing. I started explaining that I had just gotten back from vacation abroad but quickly realized how lame that sounded. It was no excuse that I had been away and then gone straight into a 2-day offsite, plus was working on writing a book and so forth. The truth is that I had failed at meeting preparation 101 â€" I didn’t Google the company. The thing is, I’m KNOWN for my preparation â€" even over-preparation. So I’m thinking, “Really? An ‘own goal’ at this stage when I should have known better?” I spent the rest of the meeting scrambling to recover. Now, I’m sharing this painfully embarrassing tale with you in the hope that you won’t make the same silly mistake. I don’t want you to face 45 minutes of sheer embarrassment and dent your reputation and ego in the process. My 3 takeaways from this painful learning experience 1. There’s no such thing as a “no-prep meeting” A colleague told me this when I was a junior Associate, but somehow I needed a reminder. Boy did I get one! Even when you know your subject, it’s important to learn the context and do your homework so you can relate what you know to their situation. In this case, I had actually done some preparation by organizing my thoughts on my end of the topic, but forgot to do the Google check. Which brings me to the next learning point… 2. Create a checklist Even seasoned professionals can make silly mistakes. It reminds me of the checklist protocol for surgeons that Atul Gawande wrote about in the book The Checklist Manifesto. Sometimes the most brilliant surgeons forget to wash their hands. And the same goes for pilots and cockpit checklists. To protect me from myself, and so I don’t make this mistake again, I’ve started a checklist of the things I need to prepare before I head into a big meeting: Agree the agenda and find out who I will be meeting with. Decide what constitutes success for this meeting. Organize my thoughts into “3 key points” to get across, key questions / information I want to find out. Do a background check on the company, and the people I’m meeting with, which can be as simple as a Google search or reaching out to my network. I’m curious what you’d put on your checklist? 3. When you make a mistake, own up to it Don’t think that no one notices the “elephant” in the room! In this case, as we closed the meeting I said, “I’d like to apologize for not doing my homework before our meeting it’s totally out of character, and I can assure you I won’t be making that mistake again. Thank you for this learning experience.” It turns out that that was a saving grace because their reaction was, “we’re glad you said that. When everyone in the room knows what’s happened, it can add a drop of redemption to just “fess up” and admit your error. After all, it’s human to make mistakes. Do you have stories of when you’ve “blown it” in a meeting? What did you learn and how did you recover? Free Meeting Checklist Whether you’re hosting or attending a meeting, you have a golden opportunity not only to impress but also to deliver outcomes. Get this FREE checklist of eight items to think about and do to prepare for a great meeting. Click here to get the FREE Meeting Checklist