5 Key Lessons in August's Jobs Report

That's the new reality, that people who have been working towards a *current* degree are more marketable, as are those who are currently employed, yet seeking to switch jobs.

If switching jobs, hiring managers know that someone else deemed the currently employed candidate to be employable (after all, they made it through pre-screening, the required background check, as well as the myriad intelligence and personality-fit-with-the-job testing that is increasingly becoming more prevalent). In short, it sounds like a better risk than assuming someone is out of work because someone laid off an under-performer, or worse, fired the person for cause.

As far as higher education is concerned, older degrees from 10 years ago are simply outdated (the end result of the magnificent recent progress of modern society), so much so that many degree programs won't even accept courses taken over 10 years ago towards their current degree programs.

The moral of the story? Take any job, even part-time, if necessary, so that you are at least considered "employed" when interviewing for better full-time positions, avoid being an under-performer in whichever job it is that you hold, and if your degree is older than 10 years, get into a certificate program, if you must, or a 2 year associate's degree program at a local community college (many "hot" career fields require no more than an associate's degree, especially in healthcare related fields).

The long-term unemployed are going to be the last picks by employers during the slow recovery, so they should seek to accept a part-time job (or combination of two part-time jobs, if possible) to keep from looking less desirable in this market.

No matter what, though, please DO NOT enroll in any of those overpriced, fully-online degree programs from the FOR-PROFIT career colleges or universities. First off, there are many many reputable programs with flexible options for working adults or non-working adults alike from the fully accredited (and more highly regarded) non-profit schools. Secondly, ask yourself if a reputable employer really values a degree that did not require you to work in a face-to-face group setting, as is the case in a real job environment? Every HR person worth his or her salary knows that and takes it into consideration during salary negotiations. You are simply putting yourself at a disadvantage if you appear as though you cannot select a quality program. Have it seen this firsthand, where a working mother got snookered into taking on private loans at sky-high interest rates, ended up in default on student loans, and the school then proceeded to make recorded collection calls to the work department, fully referencing the employee's name and asking that they call regarding tuition account payments. Even if they do not say it is a collection call, everyone knows what's going on. How embarrassing to that single working mother! And how is that going to help them get ahead now that the employer is getting calls in the department at work?

The GAO just completed an investigation of some of the for-profit schools and is reporting on the student loan default rates. Go and look at the default rates, and if they are bad, run run run as fast as you can from these vultures. It's not worth it.

Never Missed a Student Loan Payment of IL 5:27PM September 04, 2010