Right Your Resume - Harper Career Center - Harper College: Fill & Download for Free

For decades the parents and youth in our country have been the target of societal, familial, educational, and political propaganda stressing the point that:To be a success in life you MUST graduate from a four year college.This pressure has led a lot of young people to make some really naïve post-secondary education choices, the result of which is an investment of time and money with little or no return. Often this poor investment choice has had the corollary effect of running up debilitating debt.The reality is that too many young people (40+ percent of high school graduates) are marching, off to four-year colleges like lemmings. Only one in four who matriculate will graduate and get a good job. College is a competition for a few good jobs. Half of all college graduates are going to be under employed or unemployed in today’s job market. Plus some number end up in serious financial trouble because of student loan debt.There may have been a time many years ago when a college degree almost guaranteed financial success, but nothing could be further from the truth today:There is a huge disparity between supply (graduates) and demand (suitable jobs).Colleges, by and large, are operating on an obsolete business model--pre-Internet/pre-globalization.Not only is the business model obsolete, the education they are providing has devolved over time.There is a gap between skills acquired and skills required.There are businesses making a nice profit providing camps that teach college graduates the skills they need to get a job.At the same time the cost of college has soared.You’ve got some work to do if you are going to have a successful plan. I’m going to offer you a prescription on how to approach college planning. It doesn’t involve visiting a dozen schools. It’s based on one of the seven “habits” identified by Steven Covey over a quarter century ago in his famous management book, “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” Habit 2 is “begin with the end in mind.” The “end in mind” is NOT acceptance into a top school or even earning a bachelor’s degree. Your objective should be to help your students create an exceptional resume and get a great job.Go to the library and get the book, “Right College, Right Price.” Do the “affordability” exercise. Using FAFSA4caster begin preparing a financial plan. It is very important to avoid excessive debt. Things may not work out as expected, and, even if they do, debt can severely restrict your students’ options when they graduate.I highly recommend the method the author describes in the book for identifying potential colleges. His unique approach is to find a school that wants your student. This really influences the financial aid. You are going to look at a lot of schools on paper, but when it comes to making visits the list is going to be pretty short.You need to identify a marketable major. Begin exploring potential careers. This doesn’t have to be a chore. Make it fun. Here are some ideas:Go to career night at your local hospital.Organize a shadow day with a professional. (This sounds a little intimidating. Trust me. The professional will be thrilled. You’ll be the only person in the world who ever expressed any interest in what he/she does—including their spouse and kids.)Attend STEM night at a local community college.Join clubs.Talk to teachers.VolunteerYou get the idea. It’s best to enter college with a good idea of where you are headed. Changing majors a lot is a very expensive hobby. You can’t make an intelligent decision about student loans unless you have a targeted occupation.Take challenging courses in high school and perform academically.Prep for those SAT and ACT tests. Those scores will impact your financial aid.Here is a college game plan derived from the best resources on the subject:Choose a marketable major.Identify the best school (strong in your major) that will accept you, and that you can afford without excessive debt. A key function of affordability is the degree to which that school wants your student.Another criteria for the school you choose is their connectivity to the business world. Most students don’t start thinking about “Career Services” until their senior year. (In some cases departments have their own career services. For example at Texas A&M the Honors Business program places 98% of their graduates.)Have a written plan that includes academics and finances. Most students don’t graduate in four years. Often this is a result of poor planning. The financial plan needs to cover the expected term of the degree--let me repeat—without excessive debt.Perform academically.Incorporate experiential learning in their resume. This is a big factor in differentiating them when they enter the job market. Experiential learning includes co-op experiences, projects, externships, internships, research, community service, student organizations, and studying abroad.The relationship between the job market and college doesn’t work the way it used to. Employers today have a lot of choices. They are looking for hands-on or job specific training as well as demonstrated soft skills, e.g. work ethic, teamwork, oral communication, and problem solving.Yes, it really is this complicated. The cost has become astronomical for most families, and there are too many students going to college given the number of suitable jobs available.(My frame of reference is fifty years ago. Only 7% went to college and jobs were plentiful. My bachelor’s degree cost $4500. The playing field for my grandchildren is a whole different ballgame. I’ve talked to a lot of young college grads who are devastated that they can’t get a good job. The conversation usually starts in the same way, “I did everything I was told.” I collect student loan stories. The record for a bachelor’s degree is in excess of $100K.)Here are some of the best resources I have found:VideoIvory Tower, Andrew Rossi, January 18, 2014, dvd.BooksJeffery J. Selingo, “College (UN)bound,” (New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2013).Jeffery, Selingo, “There is Life After College,” (New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, 2016).Frank Palmasani, “Right College, Right Price: The New System for Discovering the Best College Fit at the Best Price,” (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2013).Richard Arun and Josipa Roksa, “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses.” (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2011).William J. Bennett and David Wilezol, “Is College Worth It?” (New York, NY: Harper Collins Christian Publishing, 2013).Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, “The Second Machine Age,” (New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014).Robert Franek and the Staff of The Princeton Review, “Colleges That Create Futures: 50 Schools That Launch Careers By Going Beyond the Classroom,” (Natick, MA: Penguin Random House, 2016).Articles, Blogs, etc.Jack Hough, “College: Best Investment or Big Risk?” MarketWatch: Stock Market News - Financial News, May 7, 2012.Frank Bruni, “The Imperiled Promise of College,” New York Times, April 28, 2012.Robert J. Samuelson, “It’s Time to Drop the College-for-all Crusade,” The Washington Post, May 27, 2012.Marty Nemko, “We Send Too Many Students to College,” Career Advice, Education Advice, Life Advice by Marty Nemko.Charles Murray, “Are Too Many People Going to College?” American, September 8, 2008.Kathy Kristof, “The Great College Hoax,” Forbes, January 15, 2009.David Stockman, “Jobs Friday—When Bubblevision Misses The Epic Failure Of The US Labor Market,” Stock Market Insights | Seeking Alpha, September 11, 2014.Jordan Weismann, “53% of Recent College Grads Are Jobless or Unemployed—How?” Atlantic, April 23, 2012.Anthony Carnevale, Nicole Smith, et al., “Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Educational Requirements Through 2018,” Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, June, 2010.Naomi Schaefer Riley, “What is a College Education Really Worth?” Washington Post, June 3, 2011.Andrew Martin and Andrew Lehren, “A Generation Hobbled by the Soaring Cost of College,” New York Times, May 12, 2012.Katrina Trinko, “Choose Your College, Major, and Loans Wisely,” USA Today, April 22 2012.Robert Farrington, “Parents: Stop taking Out Loans For Your Child’s College Education,” Forbes, July 14, 2014.Mellisa Korn, “A Bit of College Can Be Worse Than None,” Wall Street Journal, October 13, 2014.MaryJo Webster, “Where the Jobs Are,” USA Today, October 1, 2014.