How Vo-Tech Career Centers Can Use Twitter

Career Training and Vo-tech programs put a lot of emphasis on career planning and career advising with their students.  One of the best new tools that career centers are using to connect with students is Twitter.

Here are 7 ways that Vo-Tech career centers could be using Twitter.  Whether you are a career advisor or a student, Twitter could play a really important role in how you move through the job search: (Read the complete article here)

• Use Twitter to inform students; not stalk them 
• Twitter Lists can help students catalog information by subject
• Share information about career workshops and events as they happen
• Vo-tech students can help to market career center services using Twitter
• College students can tweet questions to presenters during workshops
• Twitter helps career advisors direct the research of career information by students
• Career centers use Twitter to connect with employers who don't recruit at their school

Why do Bright Employees Get Fired?

I first shared this list about 3 years ago when a colleague told me the story of a bright mid-career professional who was terminated for saying too much to a client.

No one, including her immediate supervisor, stood up for her. Why? They all felt she had it coming. Everyone felt it was just a matter of time before this bright employee imploded her own career.  It turns out the fired employee had told a client about some of the logistics issues her company was having delivering services. She actually encouraged the client to find a different provider, since her own company "couldn't seem to get anything done". The client called the CEO and the employee was fired.  This really bright employee had crossed the line and jeopardized her own career.

It turns out that bright employees get fired all the time.  Sometimes for making dumb mistakes.  Here is my list of why bright employees get fired. After 13 years in the career management field, I think I might have seen all these before.

1. Someone else who is better connected wants their job.
2. They don't know when to stop talking and say the wrong thing to the wrong person.
3. They are too cocky to learn anything new. They have all the answers.
4. They are in the wrong job and under performing.
5. They refuse certain assignments they think are beneath them.
6. They show no respect for the corporate culture or chain of responsibility.
7. They mix work and play and have Facebook running on their desktop all the time.
8. They whine about everything from salary, to assignments, to co-workers
9. They have offended so many people, no one is looking out for them.
10. They wait too long to get a mentor.

10 Reasons Some College Graduates Can't Find Jobs

We are fast approaching graduation season.

Although the economy is bouncing back a bit, it will still be challenging to find a job.  New graduates from vocational or career training programs need to remember that job search success requires constant effort.  Use this list as a checklist to ensure you are doing everything you can with every job opportunity that comes your way.  This list of the 10 reasons some vocational and career training graduates can't find jobs can keep yourself on track.  In most cases, you can do something about a job search if things are not working out.

• Using bad resumes and cover letters.  Find sample resumes at TheHBCUCareerCenter 
• Not using their college resources.  Check out the alumni network and VISIT the career center.
• Overlooking internships after graduation. Internships are still possible after college.
• Engaging in negative social networking. Clean up your online persona.
• Resumes show a lack of leadership experience from college.  Not all experience has to be paid.
• Not understanding what employers want. Do your research.
• Poor networking skills.  Networking doesn't just mean asking for help.  It means helping as well.
• No job interview preparation.  Find a way to do a mock interview.
• Little or no follow-up.  Every lead is important.
• Too much career ambiguity.  If employers think you don't know what you want, they might not hire you.

Resumes for STEM Majors Should Include These Items

There is huge demand for students, college or vocational, to focus on education in one of the STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).  The career prospects for students in these majors are very good.  So says the US Department of Labor.  

As STEM students seek internships or jobs after graduation they should be thinking about how to include information on these four things in a STEM resume.   

PROJECTS - Include relevant information from non-trivial projects.  Don't forget to add information about what role you may have played on a team or what lab equipment you used.

RESEARCH - Lots of STEM majors collaborate on research with professors on and off their college campus.  Add information on research methods etc.

INTERNSHIPS AND CO-OPS - Successful STEM majors do their share of internships and co-ops.  STEM students should know that employers want students who have completed internships.

SUMMER FELLOWSHIPS - Many STEM majors spend summers during summer fellowships.  This is a great way to show employers and graduate schools that you have had productive summers.

How to Get a Great Summer Job

Was doing some research today to compile my list of favorite summer job resources for high school and college students. I found a great blog post at Bobcat Career Advice.  Please read the entire blog post, but I wanted to share their sample list of suggested summer job sites:

A sample list of suggested summer job sites:

·         Theme and Amusement Parks

·         National and State Parks

·         City Park and Recreation Departments

·         Camps (Types of camps: single sex, co-ed, day camps or overnight, athletic camps, camps for physically or mentally disabled, church or religious sect camps, and wilderness camps)

·         Hotels, Resorts and Spas

·         Dude Ranches and Country Clubs

·         Local Recreation Centers

·         Companies with service related positions such as Retailers and Call Centers

·         Federal Government summer job program

·         Market Research Firms such as The Gallup Organization

·         Employment and Temporary Agencies

·         Non-Profit Agencies

·         Museums, Libraries and Theatres

·         Health Fields (hospitals, clinics, labs, doctor’s offices, etc.)

·         Restaurants and other Food Industry employers

·         Service Providers (Supermarkets, Courier/Delivery Services, and Daycare Agencies)

·         Construction Companies

4 Engineering Careers with Two Year Degrees

Many people do not know that it is possible to have a successful job in engineering jobs with a two-year degree.  These 4 technician jobs in the engineering field have relatively higher wages and good potential growth for the future. (Source Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Electrical Engineering Technicians
Electronic Engineering Technicians
Nanotechnology Engineering Technicians
Environmental Engineering Technicians

Details of salary and training.

Job Search Advice for Teens Looking for Summer Jobs

I know teens just went back to school after the break, but it is not too early to start thinking about summer plans.  The summer plans for many high school and college teens include finding a summer job.  If you have read my blog for the last six years, you know that this time of year is when I start to speaking to teens about the summer job search.

Teens should know there is a lot of competition for summer jobs in a bad economy.  Although employers are hiring in greater numbers than they have in the last few years, teens still need to think about the old adage - the early bird gets the worm.  The summer job worm that is.  These articles will help you or your teen get an early start on the summer job search.

Teens Looking for Summer Jobs Should Write Cover Letters Too
Why American Teens Need Summer Jobs
How Summer Jobs can Impact a Community
4 Steps for Teens to Get a Summer Job in a Government Agency
Looking for a Summer Job?  Government Agencies Hire Students
5 Ways Teens Can Shine in the Summer Job Interview

What do You get from a Job Besides a Paycheck

Great post by Paul Crowley from Recruiting Blogs.

His article takes you step by step through some of the questions you really need to ask yourself about your work and what you do for a living.  Some of the questions are particularly appropriate when you are trying to make a decision about a new job or new assignment. 

If you are at a career crossroads ask these questions.  Some of the questions Paul Crowley encourages you to ask:

Does this role provide the opportunity to develop my career?
Is the work I am going to be doing marketable?
Are the companies values and corporate philosophy in line with mine?

Read the entire blog post to learn more about what the answers could reveal about the prospect of longer term career satisfaction with the job.   

How to Find Good Career Advice on the Internet

The internet has EVERYTHING!

In fact so much stuff is floating around in cyberspace, it is hard to keep track of what is real and what isn't.  One of the things career management folks talk about all the time is when job seekers preface comments with, "I saw on the internet that I should do this or that..."

The same advice teachers give to students sometimes about being leery of internet sources, is the same advice I will give here.  This advice on how to find good career advice on the internet is not new.  I wrote about it in an article here, but wanted to summarize the tips for the BullsEye blog:

When sifting through career information on the internet:
- Still ask other real people you know or are connected to through networks for recommendations

- Read online endorsements or testimonials or the career professional online such as through a LinkedIn profile

- Check out their tweet timeline on Twitter if they have a twitter account. What kind of advice do they offer?
- Check out their their career blogs for longevity and current information.
- Look at how someone is connected on the internet.
- Use links from a trusted source.  For example check out the list of BullsEye Faves.
- Find information relevant to your career niche or needs.  
- Look closely at what qualifies them to be a career professional. Be careful of the certifications. They are everywhere and sometimes not worth the paper they are printed on!


Read How to Identify Free Good Career Advice on the Internet

Land a Job on the Top 10 List of Hard to Fill Jobs with a Vo-Tech Degree

Have you seen this list of the Top 10 Hardest to Fill Jobs in the U.S.?  It might surprise you that many of the jobs on the list requires vocational training or an Associates Degree that you can complete in eighteen to twenty-four months.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for example, becoming a Machinist requires vocational training, on-the-job training or an Associates degree.

The Top 10 Hardest Jobs to Fill in 2011 were identified in the annual Manpower Talent survey as:

• Skilled Trades
• Sales Representatives
• Engineers
• Drivers
• Accounting and Finance staff
• Information technology staff
• Management and executives
• Teachers
• Secretaries and administrative assistants
• Machinist and machine operators

Many of these positions from Skilled Trades to Machinists and Machine Operators require an Associates degree which you can get from a good Vocational training or career training program in twenty four months or less.   

Read How to Land One of the Jobs on the Top 10 Hardest U.S. Jobs to Fill to get six additional tips on how to get one of these jobs.

The Types of Tech Jobs President Obama Wants

Payscale.com says there are three kinds of tech jobs that President Obama wants to fill.  These are tech jobs in Science and BioTech, Software Engineers, Professional, Scientific & Tech Services and Engineers.

In the most recent state of the union address, you probably heard the President speak about these millions of jobs globally that Americans can't fill.  Why?  Our workforce just doesn't have all the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills our industries need.  

We can change that.  Check out the article from Payscale.