Jan Reha, MA, LMHC
Career Counselor
(Seattle, Bellevue Area)
Phone: (425) 451-2878 PST USA
Email: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
It Takes More Than a College Degree to Get a Job
Our world is changing rapidly with economic upheaval, a shift to a global job market and the largest number of unemployed people in decades. Why then, do parents continue to spend thousands of dollars providing their children with a college education without a focused end goal in sight?
Too many people graduate college with only the vague sense of wanting to have a successful career. This lack of passion, commitment or interest in a specific field will not make potential employers pay attention to them. It reminds me of that line from “Any Road” released in 2002 by from former Beatle George Harrison:
If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.
Parents must shift their thinking from their experience of finding a good job to the new reality. Gone are the days when a college degree in any subject gives young adults instant entry to satisfying careers. Gone, too, are the days when employers will provide additional training to college graduates in order for them to qualify for their jobs. Why should they when there are many experienced Americans and foreign nationals with the skills they need standing…
Top Internship Tips that Lead to Jobs - Strategies from a Career Counselor (Seattle, Bellevue, WA)
Internships provide excellent access to employment for all college students. Targeted internships help to bridge the gap from college graduation to your first full time job.
Recently Penny Loretto a writer for About.com points out Five Tips for Find Summer Internships during Spring Break. Ms. Loretto advises to research internship opportunities through your colleges.
Another good resource about the value of internships is posted on the University of California, Santa Barbara Career Services site: http://www.career.ucsb.edu/students/internships/index.html .
You will increase your chances of obtaining a job of your choice through your internship by following these steps.
1) First identify your career goal based upon your interests, skills, personality traits and values. You want a job/internship to fit you.
2) Determine the major industries in the location of your choice. Each metropolitan…
Young Adults who have Benefited from Career Counseling (Seattle, Bellevue, WA)
Following are several successful outcomes of young clients who engaged in my Career Assessment and Planning Program for Young Adults.
Young Client with a Bachelor of Arts in General Studies
Jamie, fictious name, was in her mid to late twenties and wanted to pursue a career that offered her more challenges and opportunities. Through hard work and on her merits, Jamie obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in General Studies at the University of Washington. While attending college, she worked full time in a clerical position at a city municipality. After graduation, she attempted to find other positions that offered her more advancement opportunities. However her lack of specific, concrete skills prevented her from moving forward. Jamie came to my office recognizing that she needed more specialized training and skills to offer a future employer. She was also willing to pursue further training while working in her present job.
Young Client with a Bachelor in Liberal Arts
At the same time, I also counseled a younger woman who had obtained another general degree from a state college. I will refer to her as Michelle. Unable to find a full time position, she…
Research the Job Market before Going Back to School
Many people return to school during tough economic times to upgrade their skills with the hope of obtaining a job. However, completing a training certificate or educational program does not necessarily guarantee a job or career. Unfortunately many of the current training programs or college degrees do not develop essential skills for the current job market. Often many of the programs may lead to jobs that pay minimally or offer only part time employment.
Prior to entry into any training or college program, a thorough job market research will provide with valuable information about the benefits of a program. Following are steps for researching the job market prior to enrolling into a program. Follow these steps to save your time and money.
Take for example the occupation of Medical Assistant. The Medical Assistant program is offered at many local area community colleges. The following steps outline how to conduct a thorough search using this occupation as an example.
Step One: Check job listings at the local hospitals and medical clinics to discover if these jobs are posted. Also note what qualifications are required.
10 Job Hunting Tips - Investing in Education that leads to Careers
On Sunday, January 25, I reviewed the Seattle Times Job Market section, a daily practice of mine to research the job market.
Nick Corcodilos, Ask the Headhunter, speaks about one of many major concerns about the value of degrees or training courses in his article titled “Treat interview process like a courtship”. Many college degrees or training programs, in fact do not lead into well paid careers. You need to know where you are going to develop your educational, career and job strategy.
Following are 10 job hunting tips:
1) To find the right career fit, start with you—what are your interests, motivations, inclinations, natural talents and skills. Some of the tools include constructing a Genogram to identify your natural and learned inclinations. 5 excellent career inventories including the Strong Interest Inventory, the Jackson Vocational Interest Inventory, the Campbell Interest & Skill Inventory, the Myers-Briggs…
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"I frequently tell my clients and students to keep opening up doors--you never know what may be on the other side. Below is my personal story, which illustrates how the doors I opened in my life led to a satisfying and successful career." - Janice E. Reha
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