January 30th, 2008
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(Editor’s Note: A client e-mailed me yesterday about her student loan debts that netted her 3 college degrees and a job without a commensurate income and future. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from New York University, a second Bachelor of Arts Degree from the London Institute and a Master of Arts Degree from the University of London. My unvarnished answers to her questions follow. I changed her name since I could not contact her in time to use her name.)
Happy Holidays Ed Bagley,
I had a follow-up question to your three-part series on "Six Power Secrets of Getting Hired and Promoted."
If education is not a great factor in making the "big bucks" why do people stress that, especially a lot of companies that only want to hire college educated employees?
OK, I don’t have a source for those stats, just stuff I have heard. I am guessing just media hype. Nonetheless, if there is any validity to that, why is that the case?
Because I so regret the major amounts of money I am in debt for because of higher education, and the three degrees I have have not gotten me any further than anyone else.
I am not surprised. I guess life isn’t fair.
Happy New Year, Carolyn
Fasten your seat belts for my reply to Carolyn the same day:
Carolyn,
You are reading my blog! This can only help you, and you have the added benefit that I am not going to try and collect on your student loans! (it is OK to smile)
You ask an excellent question and you shall receive an excellent answer.
Here are some considerations in no particular order:
1) Colleges and universities are not part of the same world that exists around them. They are isolated special interest groups with no other primary purpose than to ensure their continued existence.
Job one for them is to stress education as the answer to all of life’s issues and ills, thus, get a degree and earn a lot more money, get a degree and start doing something you really want to do, get a degree and get hired quicker, get a degree or many corporations will not hire you, etc.
Their real purpose is to generate enough income to support the salaries and lifestyle of those involved in perpetuating the enterprise. A tenured professor must be paid even if the subject he or she is teaching has almost zero demand in our economy.
If colleges and universities really told the truth about what you could reasonably earn after you acquire your degree, enrollment would plummet in certain subject areas. Students would stop being skydivers without parachutes.
Colleges and universities will put 120 students into a program that there is absolutely no need or demand for in the marketplace. What will a student do with an art history degree when there is zero need for people to run the few museums that exist.
You cannot turn out 120 students a year at each university when the annual demand for what they have to offer is 22 openings at all levels nationwide. This is why education majors who do not want to teach in South Central Los Angeles end up as shift managers at a McDonald’s restaurant, or as a life insurance agent for Prudential.
2) Not all degrees are equal. A Bachelor of Arts in history is pretty useless unless you switch to teaching history. Get a Master of Business Administration degree from a top 20 school and your chances improve. Get a Doctor of Medicine Degree, become a physician and surgeon and your chances are even better.
Degrees that lead to a high paying profession pay off, everything else has little real impact on your salary.
3) Corporations want to hire college graduates not only because they believe educated workers will make them more money, but also because it is their best guarantee that the person they are hiring is literate.
They want to be assured that the new hires can speak and be understood by fellow staff members, and are not so illiterate that they will drive away customers and clients by showing, through their lack of communication skills, that they are stupid, lack grammar and diction, and have the personality of an ashtray.
4) Facts: Results from the 2004 Census Bureau report shows a $23,000 difference between the average annual salary of adults with a bachelor’s degree ($51,554) compared to adults with a high school diploma ($28,645).
In what may or may not be an anomaly, the income gap narrowed slightly from five years earlier when bachelor’s degree graduates made nearly twice as much as high school graduates.
Notice the fact says "the average annual salary" which means that in this total is a brain surgeon making $1.2 million a year and a ditch-digger making a minimum wage of approximately $7 an hour or about $14,000 a year. This produces an average difference of only $23,000.
Throw out the brain surgeons and ditch-diggers of which there are very few and the difference is even less.
Copyright © 2006 Ed Bagley
Ed Bagley is the author of Ed Bagley’s Blog, which he publishes daily with fresh, original writing intended to delight, inform, educate and motivate readers with articles about Internet Marketing, Careers, Movies and Life. Visit Ed at . . .
http://www.edbagleyblog.com
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With the advent of the Internet, the degree mill industry has exploded onto the scene. In the old days of fake schools, there was a real monetary investment required, but now you can throw up a website with a shopping cart and you are in business. These degree mills, schools with no educational standards, are growing exponentially. Getting a degree from one of these supposed schools can kill your career.
There are ways, though, to discover which are legitimate and which are not. Use the advice below and you are much closer to the truth. It is important to understand that meeting one of these qualifications alone does not make a school a diploma mill. Neither does meeting two. It is a compounding of evidence that hits that target.
The criteria are:
1. Does it have a .edu suffix? While this is not the best measure (because there are few degree mills that have this), it is a good place to start.
2. Does it offer a one-price-for-all pricing policy? This is very unusual at the college level and rather common for these types of “schools.”
3. Does it offer an unrealistic timeline to complete the degree? “Earn your degree in only one month!” While it may be possible through a combination of credits, credit-by-exam, and portfolio to earn a college degree quickly, it is not possible to do this by submitting a resume.
4. Is it accredited? While new schools, usually less than two years old, cannot be accredited, they should be well down that path. Also and importantly, is their accreditor recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (http://www.chea.org)? Yes, there really are also accreditation mills.
5. Can you contact the schools? Many of these fakes only allow you to communicate through email. This is not a good sign. Real colleges have ways to talk to someone on the phone.
6. Is it listed in Bears’ Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning, on the CHEA website under schools, or at the U.S. Department of Education’s new website (http://www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation)?
There are many other ways as well to determine validity, but this is a good beginning. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Do your research and make sure it will be acceptable to other colleges and to employers before you make the decision to pay out the money.
Writer and college expert Thomas Nixon is the co-author of Bears’ Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning. He is manager of CollegeAdvocates.com and CollegeOfTheWeek.com. Tom can be contacted through his website, ThomasNixon.com.
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College students and graduates are finding today that it is much more difficult to launch their career. In an increasingly competitive market place, many companies have dramatically reduced their recruiting efforts and now include only a handful of annual campus trips. Even those students, who attend the right school for their preferred employer, find that they are unable to meet recruiters due to the competitive and often dreaded interview lottery system. Those without on-campus interviews will usually get involved in a myriad of ineffective and inefficient tactics.
A survey conducted by the Census Bureau of 10 million job seekers found that the typical methods used in finding a job failed as much as 95%. Given that, job seekers should stop doing what has always been done and continuing to expect a different result. Be proactive. Instead of sending out hundreds, or even thousands, of resumes to prospective employers and reacting to their response, follow a proactive methodology used by successful professionals for years to launch your career.
First, before you can communicate why a prospective employer should hire you in an interview, you must first know the answer yourself. Speaking from direct experience, it is very frustrating to interview someone who is not able to articulate his or her skills, talents, and capabilities. Johnny Sellers, formerly of Chevron says, When I meet with students, if they are unable to convince me of exactly who they are and what their goals are, it is impossible for me to help them.
Second, make a list of all the companies in which you are interested. Determine whether the companies you select are a close match for your skills and talents. Use a structured methodology to narrow your focus to a specific industry and only a handful of possible employers. Then, learn all you can about that industry and each company on your focused list. Your research should begin with recruiting literature from your placement office and a general industry overview. You should also read recent articles and annual reports about those companies.
In short, your focus during your research is to discover and become familiar with the particular challenges your prospective employers face. With this knowledge, you can ascertain how you may be an asset to the organization. There is always room for someone who knows how and where to make a difference.
Next, prepare and practice. The most common question in an interview is, Can you tell me something about yourself? It is said that every battle is won before it is ever fought. Determine how you will answer this question before it is ever asked. Start by finding a place, free of distractions, and write a paper telling the imaginary reader about you. This worthwhile exercise forces you to recognize your skills and abilities, and develop a clear concise answer.
For each skill and attribute you highlight, write a paragraph emphasizing at least three examples. Andrea M. Williams, a Compensation Analyst at American Express says, My ability to provide multiple examples demonstrating my skills and attributes was critical to winning my position. Then, listen to yourself answering questions that youd expect to be asked. If possible, buy a small tape recorder and record your answers. Play them back and listen to them as if you were the interviewer. Ask a friend to help you with role-playing. Better yet, if your career services office has mock interview workshops, take full advantage. Practice as if it was the real thing so that the real thing feels just like practice.
These three steps are the backbone of every successful job search. Master them, and in turn, you will become a master communicator of who you are and how you can make a difference. And, that will help you launch your career.
Mr. Block publishes, Why Are You S.P.E.C.I.A.L.? http://www.how-to-find-your-dream-career.net He provides individual one-on-one and on-campus career counseling and placement services to college students and graduates throughout the country. Discover how you can find your dream career and achieve your career goals. Follow his 7-step career process, Why Are You SPECIAL? You can contact him directly at: SWB@how-to-find-your-dream-career.net
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