LaunchingU_Founder

You know this changes all the time and varies by location etc. Right at the moment for example lawyers are having a tough time. In the Northeast, people in manufacturing are finding it tough to find entry level jobs. But this is not how I think about the relationship between college degrees and employment. I think people should study what they love and that if they are willing to do the work and learn how their skills connect to jobs, build their network and become an excellent candidate, they can get a job in any field.

I was shown a great example the other day. A young woman had majored in Ancient Languages (not 100% sure that was the name of the major). She loved languages of all kinds and along the way had gotten interested in computer languages. She applied for an IT job and made a brilliant case in the interview that her facility with languages meant she was going to pick this up really fast. They hired her.

I don't think it is a total waste of time to use the job boards, but you have to realize that they are a very low yield activity. If you are going to use them remember: 1. Don't waste your time applying for jobs unless you are out of central casting in terms of the job requirements. If you don't have exactly what they are looking you are not going to get a response. I do think the hire rate is a bit better than 3%. In part it depends on the level of the job. 2. Don't take it personally when you don't hear back from posts that you sent in. Recruiters are completely overwhelmed with resumes. There is no excuse for not getting something that tells you that your material got to them and then another email telling you when the job is filled but you just have to remember that it is a low percentage shot. 3. Job boards are useful in giving you a sense of how the company thinks about a given role, what key responsibilities there are in a position etc. So if you have targeted a company as being a place you really want to work, one valuable thing to do is to look at the job postings to understand more about the skills and experience that they value. Then figure out how to network your way into the company.

I will try and circle back to your other questions later.

It is incredibly rewarding. I decided to do this because my clients knew my background and asked me to talk to their kids who were graduating and didn't seem to know how to make the move into the workforce. It turned out that there were often such simple things they could do to focus in on what they loved, get people to be interested in helping them and find a job where they can thrive. I found myself paying more and more attention to this work, and now it is my career. I made this move because I love this work.

Don't assume you can't move into a non-profit four year college. If you had a 3.5 in your previous program I believe a four year program will take you.

But before you invest more money to get that four year degree I would get out and talk with all kinds of people who are in the kinds of roles that you are interested in getting into in 5-10 years and see whether the four year degree is going to be important to that goal. It could be that in your field additional certifications or technical training will end up being more valuable. By all means continue to network and develop relationships in your field. If you have a moment can you share here how you used networking to get into your current role?

We have a negative view (unfortunately) of many of these schools. However, that may not be the case for all employers. Are you considering a for-profit because of the higher acceptance rate? It may be better to attend a community college first, and then transfer into a non-for-profit four-year college.

If you are going to, or are currently attending a for-profit college then maintaining a high GPA, getting and being successful at great internships, and holding other leadership positions on campus are critically important.