Posted: 14 Sep 2010 01:15 AM PDT

Philadelphia -- As college freshmen nationwide continue exploring their campuses -- finding dining halls, laundry rooms, bookstores and gyms -- officials at many schools say the newbies are increasingly finding their way to career centers.

Once considered the place for panicked seniors to look for jobs ahead of graduation, college career offices are reporting dramatic hikes in use by first-year students looking for the earliest possible jump on the employment market.

"College is expensive and difficult ... probably the largest single investment that our students will ever make," said John Kniering, career services director at the University of Hartford. "It seems natural that freshman year is not too early to start."

Hartford has seen a 37 percent increase in freshman career counseling appointments since 2006, Kniering said.

Freshmen who are concerned by the nation's 9.6 percent unemployment rate and the prospect of repaying college loans don't want to squander tuition money on irrelevant coursework.

The so-called Millennial cohort is also filled with go-getters, said Nancy Dudak, director of the career center at Villanova University near Philadelphia.

"This generation of college students is used to being busy and having it all," Dudak said. "They had really packed careers in high school. They just look to continue that intensity when they come to college."

Career centers are also making a concerted effort to target first-years to ensure more relevant guidance and increase student retention. Duke University has seen a 33 percent increase over previous years in freshmen attendance at career center programs, due in part to outreach, said spokesman Chris Heltne.

Outreach is "a matter of self-defense" for career counselors, Kniering said.

Knowing students' skills and passions is important in an age where some professions can appear -- think social media consultant -- or disappear -- think of the financial collapse -- in the course of a college career. Encouraging early internships and coursework can help students find the right path without requiring extra classes and tuition money.

"If we see them on the cusp of graduation, often it's too late to make a significant difference," Kniering said.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured article: Beyond Hiroshima - The Non-Reporting of Falluja's Cancer Catastrophe.

Hot jobs available in health care - WQAD

Posted: 13 Sep 2010 07:10 PM PDT

Jennifer Jenkins and Tanya Belt aren't worried about finding jobs.

In a state where the unemployment rate is hovering around 11.5 percent, they have plenty of options.

Both women quickly landed jobs at Orlando hospitals after graduating from the University of Central Florida's Medical Laboratories Sciences program recently.

The program's current job placement rate: 100 percent.

"I just knew there would be so many opportunities for jobs," Belt, 23, said of choosing health care as a career.

In a chronically weak job market, the health-care industry is offering a lot of hope for new college grads. Not just for today, but for years to come.

Jenkins' and Belt's prospects are highlighted by federal job projections.

Thousands more health-care workers, from doctors to nurses to physical therapists, will be needed in the coming decade in Florida and across the country to treat the increasing number of older Americans — particularly the enormous baby boom generation.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, health care is expected to generate 3.2 million new jobs through 2018, more than any other industry and mainly because of the increasing number of elderly.

In Florida alone, U.S. Census data shows, the population of persons 65 and older is projected to increase by nearly 82 percent through 2020 to 5.1 million.

Add to that scenario the game-changing effects of federal health-care reform and the rapid evolution of medical technology in diagnosing and treating disease and it's easy to see why job-growth projections in health care are so robust.

"I'm very optimistic about the immediate future — it's an almost can't-miss opportunity," Aaron Liberman, a longtime hospital administrator and chairman of the Department of Health Management and Informatics at the University of Central Florida, says about jobs in health care.

Jobs aplenty

Belt, who works as a technologist in the microbiology laboratory at Florida Hospital Orlando, had multiple job offers before graduating in spring.

She likes the flexibility her education offers. While her current job involves examining human body fluid and tissue samples for the cause of disease, her license allows her to practice a variety of lab work.

"Coming out of high school, I knew I liked biology," Belt said. "After looking into laboratory sciences, I discovered you have many, many options in terms of jobs. It's very detailed work. It's like working a puzzle. I like that."

UCF's medical laboratories sciences program is offered through the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, part of the College of Medicine.

Students learn over a four-year bachelor's degree program how to conduct and read lab tests on blood, urine and other fluid and tissue samples. Graduates who pass a licensing exam can work in hospitals or independent labs.

Bottom line: The opportunities in health care go far beyond just doctors and nurses, Dorilyn Hitchcock, director of UCF's Laboratories Sciences Program, says.

Stockbroker, ad salesperson among 8 fastest growing, high-paying jobs - MLive.com

Posted: 14 Sep 2010 07:13 AM PDT

Published: Tuesday, September 14, 2010, 10:04 AM Updated: Tuesday, September 14, 2010, 10:17 AM

After the financial meltdown that prompted investment firms to layoff tens of thousands of their employees, stockbroker has emerged as the fastest growing and best paying job in the U.S., followed by advertising salesperson, biologist, geologist and stenographer/court reporter, according to CareerCast.com.

The job growth for stockbrokers is projected at approximately 25 percent and income growth potential is estimated to be up to 452 percent. CareerCast notes that the growth for stockbrokers and for many of the top-rated jobs comes after several years of cutbacks in those fields and a reduced base, which amplifies the new growth.

"One key to finding employment in a poor economy is to target positions that have suffered significant cutbacks in recent years, and are now poised to recover to previous or even higher levels," said Tony Lee, publisher of CareerCast.com. "Although many of the fastest-growing jobs require additional education, on-the-job training may be all that's necessary for a career in one of the top two jobs — stockbroker and advertising salesperson."

Annual salaries for stockbrokers start around $31,000 and can rise to $171,000 for top performers. An advertising salesperson's starting salary is $23,000, while top salespeople average $94,000.

8 Fastest-Growing, High-Paying Jobs