Those pesky student loans

Aaaaah, college. The place that teaches you just how much pizza one person can consume in a single week. The place where you learned that one red shirt can, in fact, ruin an entire load of laundry. The period of your life when you find out just what your limit is on having an obnoxious roommate. It’s a life changer, college is.

Just as essential to the experience, at least for many students, is the ritual of taking out student loans. Say “FAFSA” and students will cringe at adding to their debt, yet run wildly to fill out the form each year to get survival money. ‘Tis life.

Apparently, it’s becoming a more expensive one. I came across this article in Wichita Business Journal that discusses “Drowning in Debt: The Emerging Student Loan Crisis,” a new release from the think tank Education Sector. Kelly Johnson breaks down some of the findings from the analysis, and one that sticks out is the following:

Borrowing has gone from being the exception for undergraduates in 1993, at only 32 percent, to the rule. As of 2008, more than 50 percent of students at public four-year universities borrowed for their education. In for-profit education, the percentage of borrowers went to 92 percent in 2008 from 53 percent in 1993.

Why do I tell you this? Not to be a Debbie Downer, I promise. And not to say you shouldn’t take out student loans or that you need to only think about making a ton of money when you graduate. Instead, I point this out and encourage you to read the article because every student should be aware of their financial situation. Even if you’re like most college students and that financial situation is, well, dour because you’re focusing on your studies and not on raking in the dough.

When you’re looking for a job after graduation you should see if your employer has any type of loan repayment plan or will pay some or all of the tuition for you to earn another degree. Also, in some industries (often education and social work) your employer (often the government) will pay off your loans after you’ve worked a certain job for 10 years or more. There are these opportunities out there for you to look at. I recommend doing your research because each industry has its own opportunities and it’s just one factor worth considering when you’re looking for work.

Employers intend to maintain staff levels

The bad news: We’re still in a recession. A bad one.
The good news: Most employers don’t plan to decrease staffs.

In the upcoming months (Q3), most surveyed employers expect their staff levels to remain the same as recruiting patterns hold steady and job losses trend downward, according to a new survey by CareerBuilder and USA TODAY’s.

The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive among more than 2,600 hiring managers and human resource professionals, predicts several emerging trends in hiring, compensation and how employers are dealing with the effects of the economic downturn.

“The latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that job loss is moderating, a trend that will hopefully continue in the second half of the year as the financial system and economy move toward recovery,” said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder.  “Though we’re headed in the right direction, we’re not likely to experience significant movement in job creation in 2009.  Jobs will be added, but overall, businesses will continue to be conservative in their hiring and maintain focus on existing human capital.  Sixty-eight percent of employers said they don’t anticipate any change in their full-time, permanent headcount in the third quarter.”

Click here to read the full report.

What does this mean for you? Well, if you have a job, you can feel a little confident that bosses aren’t planning to drastically cut their staff. If you’re looking, there’s hope! As long as you have employers who need to keep staff levels at a certain point,  you have a better shot at finding work.

Of course, we all know it’s a tough time and we’re working hard to stay employer or get a job. So no one’s saying Q3 will be easy, but it’s a start.

Graduates learning to be more persistent in their job searches

I suspect most of us who were born in the 1980s and even into the 1990s grew up with the assumption that getting a degree would make our lives easier. And, on a whole, I think it’s true. For many careers, you need at least a bachelor’s degree just to get an interview.

But our parents and grandparents grew up in a world where a degree was somewhat a rare commodity and college graduates seemed almost untouchable in the job market. Now, with more people earning degrees and the recession giving everyone a kick in the pants, no one’s immune to tough times. I’ve seen it happening to friends and the friends of colleagues. And I’m sure you’ve witnessed it, if not experienced it firsthand.

I ran across this article in the Gaston Gazette that talked about the hardships Teaching Fellows are facing. Several Fellows are finding themselves without the jobs they had envisioned by the time graduation rolled around.

Manning said that teaching fellows were conditioned their freshmen year that a job would be ready and waiting when they graduated.

“It’s not looking good,” Manning said. “I don’t think it’s just teaching fellows.”

Manning said she’s debating applying to teach in South Carolina, though she knows she’ll have to repay her scholarship with interest if she doesn’t fulfill her required years of teaching.

“I’d rather have a job than not have one at all,” Manning said. “It’s a scary thought. I’m trying to be positive.”

I’m not posting this to scare you, because the point of this blog isn’t about gloom and doom.  Instead, it’s to remind everyone that regardless of the economy and your situation, you should always be thinking about alternatives. Nothing’s set in stone. These schools had the best intentions when they brought on this Fellows, and most employers in today’s economy had the same positive outlooks. The economy’s tanking messed up everyone’s plans, and there was little they could do about it.

Here are some things to think about:

• If your current plan doesn’t work out, where else could you get a similar job?
• What else would you like to do?
• Do you want to stay in this city or would you be willing or prefer to move somewhere else?
• What are the financial repercussions of changing your career objectives?
• Are you contractually obligated to fulfill any duties as part of your current job?

Simple questions, but something to keep in mind when you’re mapping your future.

Source: Gaston Gazette

Prove that you can think outside the box

I’m guessing many of you are looking for work these days. Post-graduation and summer job searches are a little tougher this year than they have been in the past. Applicants outnumber jobs, and everyone’s trying their hardest to get noticed.

According to 18 percent of hiring managers, more job seekers are using unusual tactics to land jobs this year than last, finds a recent CareerBuilder survey. That’s increase over recent years and a sign of the time.

Now, just because these people made an impression on hiring managers doesn’t mean they got the job. When it comes down to it, your skills and qualifications will land you a job. But, hey, sometimes you just want to know someone’s paying attention. And these job seekers definitely got employers’ attention.

Here are some of the most unusual job search tactics hiring managers have seen:

• Candidate sent a shoe with a resume to “get my foot in the door.”
• Candidate staged a sit-in in the lobby to get a meeting with a director.
• Candidate washed cars in the parking lot.
• Candidate sent a resume wrapped as a present and said his skills were a “gift to the company.”
• Candidate handed out resumes at stoplights.
• Candidate sent a cake designed as a business card with the candidate’s picture.
• Candidate went to the same barber as the Chairman of the Board and had the barber speak on his behalf.
• Candidate handed out personalized coffee cups.
• Candidate came dressed in a bunny suit because it was near Easter.
• Candidate told the receptionist he had an interview with the manager. When he met the manager, he confessed that he was driving by and decided to stop in on a chance.

Some hope in the numbers?

I don’t know how many of you pay attention to the job loss numbers that come out every month. For the last several months, the numbers have been grim. Sometimes downright shocking. Lately we’ve seen some big losses, but they were expected because we knew the economy was–and is–still struggling.

Well, the numbers for May came out this morning, and they were shocking.

In a good way!

Last month, only 345,000 jobs were lost. While that sounds like a lot (and it is, especially if you were one of those 345,000 people). But this is significantly lower than it was the previous few months, and hopefully a sign that things are beginning to turn around. It doesn’t meant he numbers won’t rise again and that the recession is over so we should all go buy a new house. But it is a sign that maybe we’re nearing the bottom.

I encourage you to check out this article in The New York Times because it gives a nice round-table view of the numbers. It tells you what’s good news, what’s expected news, and what’s worth fearing. Everyone, from new graduates to retirees, should know what’s happening in our economy. It makes news less scary.

Layoffs are leaving behind burned out workers

Being laid off is, to put it mildly, a big bummer. Nobody like sto get let go. So anyone who has a job is grateful to have a steady paycheck. Especially those workers who watched their friends and colleagues get pink slips in recent months.

So what’s the problem?

Well, when companies lose body count, they don’t necessarily lose an equal amount of work. So you’re left with fewer employees doing a disproportionate amount of work. As a result, you’re seeing a lot of burned out workers.

Forty-seven percent of workers reported they have taken on more responsibility because of a layoff within their organization. Thirty-seven percent said they are handling the work of two people.

So are you surprised that 30 percent feel burned out?

To accommodate growing to-do lists, 34 percent of workers who kept their jobs after a layoff reported they are spending more time at the office. Seventeen percent are putting in at least 10 hours per day. Twenty-two percent are working more weekends.

“Companies today are having to do more with less as they contend with shrinking budgets and staff levels,” said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder. “Employees are feeling added pressure as they shoulder heavier workloads and strive to maintain productivity levels. It’s critical that managers and employees work together to prioritize and set realistic expectations, so work demands feel attainable and less overwhelming.”

Haefner recommends the following tips to keep stress levels in check:

1) Don’t over-promise. If two or more projects come up at the same time, work with your supervisor to identify which takes precedence and establish reasonable timelines.

2) Take time to recharge. Go for a walk on your lunch break. Take a personal day. Get eight hours of sleep. Ultimately, recharging your battery will serve you and the company better.

3) Cut the e-leash. Unless needed, turn off electronic devices at a certain time of the day to designate the end of that workday and avoid getting caught up in discussions that can wait until the morning.

4) Explore flexible work arrangements. Cutting your commute one or two days a week can help shorten your workday. More employers today are open to offering telecommuting and other options that may help to provide a better work/life balance.

5) Don’t get caught up in the rumor mill. Forty-two percent of workers reported they are fearful of layoffs within their organization. Ignore speculation and focus on the task at hand.

Although you  might think this is a problem for workers who have been with the company for a while, it’s worth keeping in mind. Especially if you’re the young, new member on the team, you might find a lot of work piling up on your desk. Breathe in. Breathe out. Work hard. Rest.

CareerBuilder wants you to make its next TV ad

CareerBuilder is looking to you to make its next Super Bowl ad … and will give you $100,000 to do it!

That’s right. CareerBuilder is looking to job seekers to create its next TV spot because, after all, who knows job search better than the job seekers themselves?

If you win, CareerBuilder will produce your ad, send you on a trip for a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the commercial and air it during Super Bowl XLIV on February 7, 2010. Oh, and did we mention the $100,000 “paycheck”? Or the $50,000 runner-up prize?

All you have to do is go to http://www.hiremytvad.com/ and submit a 25-second video of your idea. Applications will be judged on: creativity, originality, entertainment value, performance level, humor and alignment with the CareerBuilder brand.

Want to know more? Check out the story in today’s Wall Street Journal and go to http://www.hiremytvad.com/ for full details and to enter.

CareerBuilder wants you to make its next TV ad

CareerBuilder is looking to you to make its next Super Bowl ad … and will give you $100,000 to do it!

That’s right. CareerBuilder is looking to job seekers to create its next TV spot because, after all, who knows job search better than the job seekers themselves?

If you win, CareerBuilder will produce your ad, send you on a trip for a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the commercial and air it during Super Bowl XLIV on February 7, 2010. Oh, and did we mention the $100,000 “paycheck”? Or the $50,000 runner-up prize?

All you have to do is go to http://www.hiremytvad.com/ and submit a 25-second video of your idea. Applications will be judged on: creativity, originality, entertainment value, performance level, humor and alignment with the CareerBuilder brand.

Want to know more? Check out the story in today’s Wall Street Journal and go to http://www.hiremytvad.com/ for full details and to enter.

What the Class of ‘O9 should know about salary

Today, we have a guest blog about salaries for the Class of 2009 from our friends at Parade magazine. Parade has been contributing weekly content to CareerBuilder and TheWorkBuzz related to its “What People Earn” issue, which reports on salary trends and the earnings of real Americans.

What People Earn: College Graduates Finding Bright Spots in Dreary Economy

By Brad Dunn, PARADE

The Class of 2009 has been watching the job market disintegrate since senior year began.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) released another round of discouraging data in early May. Fewer than one in five graduates who are looking for jobs have found one, and employers are planning to hire 22 percent fewer graduates this year than they did last year.

On top of that, the worst job market in 25 years has brought of a sense of déjà vu to households across the country. Many of the estimated 1.6 million students graduating college in May and June have parents who went searching for their first jobs in the equally dismal early-1980s. It’s an economic rerun for the whole family.

“You are graduating into a world of anxiety and uncertainty,” Vice President Joe Biden told graduates of Syracuse University. “But these are the moments you can embrace … only a handful of us ever get a chance to actually shape the course of history.”

Employers are hiring this summer!

One of the quintessential moments of Americana is a teenager’s first job, normally in the summer. It seems like everyone had that first paycheck for doing something related to summer. Worked at the movies? A burger joint? Mow lawns? Be a lifeguard?

It’s that time of year again, and employers are still hiring for summer jobs like they were last year. The only problem is that there are many more job seekers looking for work this year than in summers past.  Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of employers plan to hire seasonal workers for the summer, in line with last year’s findings, but the competition for those jobs will be stiffer than in years past due to high unemployment and a tough economy. This is according to CareerBuilder’s Annual Summer Job Forecast that was conducted from February 20 to March 11, 2009, among more than 2,500 employers.

Those that land summer jobs may have a chance to parlay their roles into year-round positions. More than half (56 percent) of companies reported that they would consider summer recruits for permanent placement within their organizations.

When it comes to summer paychecks, nearly eight-in-ten (77 percent) hiring managers will offer the same pay to seasonal workers this year as they did last year, while 9 percent will offer more. An additional 9 percent will offer less and 5 percent said they were unsure. Two-in-five companies (42 percent) plan to pay summer workers $10 or more per hour and 6 percent plan to pay $20 or more per hour. Thirty percent anticipate paying between $8 and $10 per hour, while 10 percent expect to pay less than $7 per hour.

“Summer job seekers face a bigger challenge this year than in years past, as the market is flooded with candidates looking for both full and part-time positions,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder. “The good news is that many traditional summer jobs are still available, but in this environment, it is essential that job seekers differentiate themselves and demonstrate how their skills can have a positive impact on a business in a short amount of time.”

Comparing the industries surveyed, hospitality and retail have plans to bring the most summer workers on board, at 38 percent and 34 percent respectively. Across all industries, the most popular summer positions being offered include:

• Office support – 26 percent
• Customer service – 18 percent
• Research – 12 percent
• Landscape/maintenance – 11 percent
• Restaurant/food service – 11 percent
• Sales – 10 percent
• Construction/painting – 8 percent

When asked about the most unusual or memorable summer jobs they’ve ever held, workers shared the following responses:

• Bungee-jumping tower assistant
• Commercial bee herder
• Scouted garage sales for items to resell on eBay
• Murder Mystery dinner actor
• Cleaned gum off of school desks
• Gun fighter at a theme park
• Popsicle maker
• Picked up road kill
• Painted silo tops hanging from a crane
• Waterslide repairman