npr:

Perhaps not surprisingly, grad students tend to take on more debt when going into fields where the pay is higher.

Students studying medicine and law typically borrow more than a hundred thousand dollars to get through school, and many go on to high-paying careers.

At the other end of the spectrum, many PhD students wind up in academia. Most get grants and subsidies — and the majority don’t have to borrow any money at all to get through grad school.

Medicine, Law, Business: Which Grad Students Borrow The Most?

Source: National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS)
Credit: Quoctrung Bui/NPR

forbes:

If success is truly something of interest, our recruitment professionals have laid out easy theories to implement in order to have a more lucrative, productive and fulfilling career:

1) Learn all you can.

2) Think in terms of solutions rather than focusing on problems.

3) Everyone who is willing to pay the price can be a success.

4) Maintain a discipline and focus on your priorities.

5) Determine what is of value to you.

6) Start to look for the good in everyone and everything.

7) Surround yourself with “can-do” people.

8) Choose a career that is enjoyable and the money and success will come.

Read more.

forbes:

So it’s almost May and your college graduation awaits. Here are some suggestions that should have you well on your way to your post graduation job: 

1)  Go to your college career center and talk with a trained professional.

2)  Make sure you know your strengths and how to leverage them.

3)  Be honest about the things that you aren’t an expert in, and have a plan about how you might acquire these skills.

4)  Don’t limit your search to job boards or similar sites.

5)  Create and reach out to your networks.

6)  Make sure that your social media presence online is professional.

7)  Follow-up on all applications, phone conversations and interviews.

Read more.

The hiring picture keeps getting better for college graduates. According to a new survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employers are planning to hire 9.6% more graduates for their U.S. operations than they did from the class of 2014. That’s a one percent hike from the […]

mikenudelman:

14 habits of exceptionally likable people.

forbes:

After speaking with many, many recruiters, here are some hard truths we’ve learned:

1) If your relevant experience, education, or skills are hard to find at a glance, your resume might as well be blank.

2) If it’s not immediately clear from your experience why you’re applying, no one will connect the dots for you.

3) If your resume is difficult to skim, it probably won’t be read at all.

4) If you expect to get your resume in front of a hiring manger, you need to first make sure you get through HR.

5)  If your contact info isn’t correct, nothing else matters.

See the full list here.

Detailed career data will help people to plan for life after a PhD, say @VCallier and @nlvanderford http://t.co/p4XC6ZaoRj #PhDChat #science

— naturejobs (@naturejobs)

March 5, 2015

forbes:

Employees want a Tony Robbins, not a Donald Trump. Here are some practical steps you can take now to up your game and elevate yourself from a manager to a leader:

1) Know How to Listen

2) Know the Difference Between an Amateur and a Pro

3) Leave Your Ego at the Door

4) Live Outside Your Comfort Zone

5) Have Emotional Fitness

fastcompany:

JOB LISTINGS, RÉSUMÉS, INTERVIEWS, AND MORE. FINDING A NEW JOB ISN’T ALWAYS EASY, BUT THESE APPS CAN HELP STREAMLINE THE PROCESS.

forbes:

See which college degrees have the highest starting salaries for 2015.

ultimatecareerguide:

I’ve recently met a multitude of students that have been quick to tell me that they are overloading classes so that they can graduate early. I usually have two thoughts.

1 - Why?? College is awesome! Don’t you want to live next door to your best friends for as long as you can?

2 - OK, if you insist but I hope you have a lot of great work experience.

I usually keep the first thought to myself. For the second thought, the answer is usually ‘no, they don’t have a lot of work experience.’ I guess it’s hard to get work experience when you’re cramming every free hour with a class and credits to finish early. Let me make something clear. Finishing early, just to finish early is not necessarily a good thing. To a recruiter, a resume of someone that finished school in the normal 4 years, who has had a few summers of great internship experience is much more desirable than a resume of Someone with less experience that graduated early.

The college experience is preparatory. When done right, you go in as a child out of high school and emerge as a relatively mature young adult. There are things about maturity that can’t be rushed. When you try to rush it you come out looking unfinished. If you have a plan, or a special situation and need to graduate early, by all means do so. If you’re doing it to look better to companies, stop it, you’re screwing up.

collegesmarts:

Businesses LOVE to see candidates with good written and oral communication skills, this includes being a good listener. Between sending emails, having meetings, and building interpersonal relationships with coworkers communication is the most vital skill in the work place.  Ask an adviser about taking a speech, interviewing, or business communication class (even if it ends up being used as an elective credit). Doing so could help you overcome the fear of public speaking, build leadership/management skills, and gain confidence.

Here are some other skills employees frequently seek out:

• Analytic/Research Skills. Keep this in mind the next time you’re procrastinating on a 10 page research paper.
• Computer/Technical Literacy. For a millennial, this shouldn’t be too much of a problem. You probably already understand the basics, but taking a class that teaches you how to use Excel and Access is something to seriously consider.
• Flexibility/Adaptability.
• Organizational Skills.
• Problem-Solving/Reasoning/Creativity.

Values are important too, employers seek out candidates whose values will sync up with the company’s mission statement. Here is a list of common company values:

• Honesty/Integrity. Never lie on your resume. Do the right thing, even if you think no one’s watching.
• Dedication/ Work Ethic. Because no one intentionally hires unproductive employees.
• Dependability/Reliability/Responsibility. This includes being on time.
• Positive Attitude/Motivation. This will help you move up the ladder in the work place. Being energetic and passionate is contagious; it’s good for you and your coworkers.
• Professionalism. This is pretty self-explanatory, but basically don’t be petty and don’t be jerk. Also, beware of what you post on social media.
• Willingness to Learn. Employers love it when you are eager to move to the next task and ask questions. It makes them feel like they can trust you and don’t have to worry about supervising you or keeping you busy.

Great advice that is right on target!

ultimatecareerguide:

I recently gave a presentation to a bunch of MBA’s interested in job opportunities. Normally when I give the presentation I can be speaking to more than a hundred people at a time. I’ve noticed something very interesting, most people are terrible at following up.
At an event like this most people will ask for a business card, I almost never have any on me, but I’ll tell people to connect with me on LinkedIn. In my opinion Linkedin makes business cards almost irrelevant.
Out of the 30 people that will ask for a business card, only about 5 will follow up and connect on LinkedIn. For me it’s a very early indicator of who’s serious and who’s not. So follow up, even if it requires you to do just a little more.

whitehouse:

Young Americans with some form of higher education are more likely to get higher-paying jobs.