Careers & Ideas

Online Degrees May Offer Better Career Preparation

As online schools have risen in popularity, so has the integration of technology in the workplace. The result is that certain online Internet courses prepare graduates more fully for their post-graduation jobs than traditional college courses. According to HotJobs.com, the following fields of study have taken on new significance since the advent of online education:

• Forensic Nursing
• Game Art and Design
• Holistic Health and Nutrition
• Natural Resource Management
• Digital and Graphic Design
• Criminal Justice
• IT Networking and System Management
• Homeland Security
• Information Technology Security
• Executive Coaching

Students interested in entering any of these fields should seriously consider training for them in an online environment. An online degree in these fields of study can earn you the technological abilities that you'll need to score the job after graduation.

Best Places to Work with an Online Education Degree

If you're currently earning your education degree online or even just thinking about enrolling in an online education degree program, then you're probably interested in knowing what types of places hire employees that earned their education degree online. The real answer: they all do. However, there are some places that hire those with online degrees more frequently. According to eLearners.com, he following places are the best to work with an online education degree:

• Alternative Schools
• Camps (day camp, summer camp, etc.)
• Churches
• Colleges and Universities
• Community Recreation Centers
• Consulting Firms
• Correctional Institutions
• Day Care Centers
• Educational Publishers
• Hospitals
• International Language Schools
• Libraries
• Middle and Junior High Schools
• Museums
• Non-profit Organizations
• Preschools and Nursery Schools
• Public and Private Schools
• Secondary (High) Schools
• State and Federal Government
• Test Preparation Companies
• Two-year and Technical Schools
• United-Way Agencies
• Vocational Services
• YMCA/YWCA
• Youth Services

Students enrolling in an online education degree program should keep in mind that most online education programs do not offer teacher certification in the state in which a student resides and wants to teach. Students will have to gain certification on their own. Teacher certification is needed to work in most public schools in the nation.

Careers & Ideas: Employers May Look Up Your Info Online

Have you ever thought about fall-out from your personal profile online? Have you ever thought about who might be looking you up on the Internet? Believe it or not, potential employers have been known to search the names of potential employees on the Internet to find information.

So what kind of information do you have out there? Jason Fry from the Wall Street Journal Online has this:

Last week a story crossed my desk claiming that a quarter of human-resources decision makers had rejected job candidates because of personal information found online.

The survey was conducted by a business social network, so I was skeptical of the numbers and the methodology. (My colleague and fellow Daily Fixer Carl Bialik takes a look here.) But I understand why the survey got a receptive audience. It mines something a lot of people my age find troubling — the idea that those younger than us are blithely unaware of the consequences of putting details about their personal lives online.

The conventional wisdom is that as those who grew up with the Net get older, they'll pay the price for their youthful indiscretions — starting when they're trying to get that first job and get Googled by the HR guy. And it'll get worse from there. The members of Generation Exhibitionist will get older and wiser, but they'll never escape from their boozy pictures and angry blog postings and other digital detritus. And eventually they'll realize that they spent their teen years embroidering virtual scarlet letters for themselves that can never removed.

Having a college degree, a solid resume and a great interview should be your primary concerns when looking to get a new job - not your former past (or present) as a Myspace vixen. Just remember that you never know who might want to dig up information on you when it comes to job hunting. The best bet is to keep a low profile.

Careers & Ideas: Hot New Careers

There are fascinating new careers in the US that you may not heard of. One hot career is Robot Programmer. Sound too futuristic? CNN Money gives some highlights of this career, which may be an interesting choice for someone wanting to earn their associates degree in technology.

Robot Programmer Salary range: $40,000-$100,000

Experience/skills: Associate degree in a technical field and extensive training. People skills also come in handy.

Perks: Lots of travel, helping clients customize each machine to a particular task

Who's hiring? ABB, Fanuc, Motoman, Panasonic, Toyota

Back in 1990, Matt Zeigler was pulling 12-hour shifts as an arc welder for a forklift manufacturing firm in Indiana when a technician in a white lab coat came into the factory to work on a new $85,000 robotic welder. “I said, ‘Why aren't I doing that?'” Zeigler recalls. Self-training eventually got him out of blue-collar work and into a top robot programming position at Motoman in Dayton, Ohio, one of a growing number of industrial robot manufacturers that train humans to make sure their products perform as advertised.

Industrial robots, once a fixture in the auto industry, now are doing everything from analyzing blood samples to mixing cocktails. The latest innovations include multi-armed robots with vision systems and enough machine intelligence to read labels and pick out the parts they need from nearby bins.

Zeigler, 35, spends most of his time behind a PC and a custom hand-held controller, calibrating the robots' moving parts to be in just the right place at just the right time. He is also on the road a lot, acting as salesman, engineer, and installer for Motoman's customers. “I wear a lot of hats,” he says.

Far from eliminating jobs, Zeigler says robots are “creating better jobs and better-paying jobs. They're just more technical and not as repetitive.”

Robotics is a big part of future technologies. Students earning their degree in technology need to be aware of new careers that are being created to keep up with technological advances.

Careers & Ideas: Tips for Climbing the Corporate Ladder

When college graduates head off to the corporate world, they are often disillusioned by the tedious work their new job entails. Often young entry-level employees find that they need to work extra hard to prove themselves, and move up the corporate ladder. This move doesn't happen fast - or at all in some cases. Instead of spinning your wheels, use some of the following tips to move ahead in the game.

Quintcareers recently published it's Six Tips to Help Win at the Business World's Game

Develop a marketable corporate persona: Think of yourself as a publicist with the task of promoting you. Learn to capitalize on your skills, succinctly assert your achievements, and project a corporate persona — or your most mature, professional, and competent face.

Establish profitable relationships: Business networking is a valuable tool to gain information, increase your visibility in your field and make connections that will help you move forward in your career. Seek out new contacts and potential mentors whom you like and admire and whose interests you share. On the home front, don't expect your boss to figure out what you're all about. Determine her priorities, find out what she wants from you, and brainstorm ways to surpass her expectations.

Master transferable skills such as goal setting, effective communication, and time management: You might not know exactly what you want to do with your life, but transferable skills will serve you well no matter what future path you decide to pursue. Make your time count now by working with your boss to set specific, reasonable, and attainable goals for your present position that will help you advance to the next level.

Stay motivated despite trying circumstances: There's no doubt that the business world can be frustrating, but remember that you can choose your response to your environment. If you make a conscious decision to begin each day with a positive outlook, negative conditions at work can't take that away from you. Aim to increase your self-awareness so you can better understand your emotional hot buttons.

Get people to cooperate: Always keep in mind that other people don't care what you want — they want to know what's in it for them. By approaching negotiations with an attitude that allows both parties to win, you'll be more effective at eliciting cooperation and ultimately getting what you want.

Be proactive about your career growth: Approach your performance review strategically by soliciting feedback on your progress, identifying new goals and growth opportunities and hammering out a long-term promotion plan. When asking your boss for a raise, be prepared with a list of contributions that have positively impacted the bottom line.

So before you give up on climbing the corporate ladder, use these tips to move up in the corporate world. By following some simple tips, you can make the best use of your college degree in your corporate job.