Feature Article: 10 Things for High-School Students to Remember
Special Feature: The Importance of the High School Junior Year
Bonus Feature: Johnny Goes to College: Part I -- Choosing a College
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
The Career Doctor: Answering Your Questions
What's New on Quintessential Careers: Latest Additions
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Notes from the Editor: About this Issue...
Apparently we struck a nerve with our June 7 issue about transcending low-wage jobs.
We heard from a number of readers, and two letters to the editor appear below.
Are you a rising junior or senior in high school -- or do you know one?
This issue is for you. We have an article on the importance of junior
year, a junior-year timetable, an article on important things for high-school
students to remember, and the first in a multi-part series that will track
the path to college of a real rising high-school senior.
High-school students looking at
future career possibilities may want to search our
job portal to get an idea of what's out there.
--Katharine Hansen, Credentialed Career Master, Certified Electronic Career Coach,
and editor at
kathy@quintcareers.com
Editor's In-Box: QuintZine Letters to the Editor
I read your article on low-wage jobs and the
treatment of such workers. [Editor's note:
Dr. Hansen's
article appears here.]
I am still unemployed after 18 months and find
that the job market is reinventing what is employable.
The point I am making [is that] I may be forced
to take a 50 percent pay cut in order to pay
the basics that life has to offer.
Raising the minimum wage is not the sole answer.
I am not so sure about creating the new worker
as the article implies. I have worked in the military
for 20 years, which required all to get ahead.
I have come to the realization that getting ahead
is what everyone wants. When you reach what they
call mid-life, it is not getting ahead that matters,
but keeping up. As I see the world, we as employee
and employer must change the view of what value
is placed on work and compensation. Too much emphasis
is placed on money, because we as consumers want so much.
I am amazed what I do without, being unemployed.
I am equally amazed, what I am forced to pay monthly
that I did not 20 years ago (Internet, higher
insurance, higher rent, etc.).
I grant you that your article is not about making
more money, but most workers do not see it any other
way. Employers are not willing to pay more for the
status of a job. So the struggle goes and I with it.
Alan G.
___________________________
I read your article [on
low-wage
job-seekers], but I think you
missed a large segment of the population: Handicapped people!
Handicapped people can't network as well as most
people shy away from them. When is the last time
you approached a blind, deaf, or wheelchair-bound
person? The deaf have the biggest problem as they
can't even interview on the phone, and the employers
say "if I cant communicate with him, I'll go on to
the next candidate!" They consequently must accept
low-wage jobs. If all the good jobs didn't go overseas
(NAFTA, preferred trading status, etc.) then there would
be more competition for employees and more handicapped
people would get hired (and more USA citizens as well).
Believe it or not, if you're in high school right now, you're at a great point in your life.
You have your whole life in front of you. And now is a good time to start thinking about your future,
to make some initial plans; just remember that plans can be easily changed. Remember too, that experts
predict that the average person will change careers -- not just jobs -- more than five times in his or
her lifetime. Now is the time to pursue your dreams!
The junior year of high school often doesn't get the respect it deserves. Call it the
Jan Brady Syndrome (or middle-child syndrome) -- the junior year is one of those middle years
lost between the fear and excitement of the first year of high school and the joy and bravado
of the senior year of high school. In the hierarchy of importance, however, the junior year deserves
a high ranking because of its pivotal nature.
If you are in or approaching your junior year in high school -- or know
someone who is -- this is the article for you. In the junior year of
high school you'll make critical decisions that
could have a major impact on the next five years
of your life (and beyond) as you start narrowing
lists of colleges and career paths. The good news
is that all these critical activities high-school
juniors must attempt to accomplish can be boiled
down into five major topics -- and that's what our
article is about.
Johnny Goes to College: Part I -- Choosing a College
by Katharine Hansen
NOTE: This is the first part of a multi-part series tracking the college plans of a real high-school student.
Watch for future issues in which our student decides whether to go on formal campus visits in his
senior year, and come along for the experience as he fills out college applications and takes the SAT.
Girls. Football. Partying. Those are the three things rising high-school senior John Fischetti seeks in a college.
He is only half serious. While these three elements hold considerable attraction for Fischetti, he is also committed
to the conscientious pursuit of a degree -- multiple degrees, in fact, because he would ultimately like to become a
history professor, requiring a doctoral degree. Fischetti has been passionate about the study of history since
elementary school.
The stated mission of myFootpath is to combine technology with expertise to empower and connect families,
high schools, and colleges to improve the college preparation and selection process.
myFootpath.com is the creation of a team of experts, including some of the top guidance professionals
in the nation. Each member of the site's College Prep Advisory Board has more than 20 years of experience.
The team has visited virtually every college in the United States. Experts are members of
the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC).
The site offers fee-based "Inside Admissions" reports written by college counselors with years of experience
in sending students to the nation's most competitive schools.
Visitors can also find a wide variety of helpful articles in the site's sections on College Prep and College Life.
myFootpath further offers an Ask the Counselor section and the opportunity to sign up for a free
newsletter on college prep and college life.
Have you read the Quint Careers Weblog (Blog)?
It consists of career and job-search news, trends,
and scoops for job-seekers, compiled by the staff
of Quintessential Careers.
The blog is a great way to stay posted on the most
recent events occurring in the career and employment fields.
Cara writes: "I'm going to be a junior in high school, and I really want to find a major by the end of this year
because I want to know what colleges I should check out. The thing is, I don't think I'll like any job. Nothing
really interests me except basketball. I play all the time and am absolutely in love with it. My parents think
I should go into business, but it sounds kind of boring. All in all, I'm just really confused and am wondering
what your opinion is on the whole matter."
Martin writes: "Career experts advise that older applicants remove educational dates from resumes
that would enable the reader to determine the applicant's age. What do you recommend when the response to your
resume is to ask specific questions such as 'what is your year of graduation?' (from university). From this
information, it is usually easy to estimate a person's age to within a year or two.
This seems to have deferred the
problem, not solved it. I hope you can advise on this."
Amy writes: "I'm going to be a senior in high school this fall, and I have college applications to fill out
right around the corner. There are so many career options to think about, and I don't want to jump into anything
I can't handle...or choose a school just to find out that its not what I want to do. I'm very confused.
Can you help?"
AllTherapyJobs.com -- just as this
site's name implies, this is where job-seekers searching for therapy jobs -- physical, massage,
occupational, radiation, respiratory, speech, and all other therapists -- can search or browse for jobs
(full-time and part-time), post your resume, and subscribe to a therapists newsletter. Free to job-seekers.
IrelandJobs.ie -- a great resource for
job-seekers searching for jobs in Ireland, where you can browse or search (by location,
job category, and keywords) the job listings database,
post your CV, and register for a job-search agent. Free to job-seekers.
Power-Plant-Jobs.com -- offers listings of
thousands of high tech permanent, contract, and consulting power industry jobs nationwide. Job-seekers can browse job listings,
post your resume, and register for a job-search agent. Also includes some useful links. Free to job-seekers.
SchoolsIntheUSA.com -- a career and
college prep resource that helps students to explore various career paths (about 1,000) and research almost
2,000 4-year colleges (by name, location, field of study, certificate program, size, cost, and more). A
very content-rich site.
Find even more career and job site additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest Additions section.
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
An attire issue that high-school students and other
young men sometimes have trouble with is tying a tie.
This Web site, Tie-a-Tie.net, comes to the
rescue with step-by-step illustrations.
See our Dress for Success section,
including resources for men and women.
A new poll of 399 high-school teachers conducted by consulting firm Signal Hill Group on behalf of
Junior Achievement shows that a majority of respondents believe that experiential learning, such as job shadowing,
is "Very Effective" or "Somewhat Effective" at motivating students to learn (92 percent), at getting students interested
in higher education and careers (85 percent), and at curtailing dropout rates (79 percent). Additionally,
9 out of 10 respondents (90 percent) feel that experiential learning is "Very Effective" or "Somewhat Effective"
at raising academic achievement. -- From the
Job Shadow Coalition.
English-only speakers will find themselves at competitive disadvantage for a growing number of
U.S. jobs in coming years as employers ply global markets, reports Andrea Coombes on CBS MarketWatch.
"Being monolingual is about as American as football, but foreign-language fluency is an increasingly
significant asset, even for workers who never intend to set foot in another country," Coombes writes.
For job-seekers eager to position themselves for coming economic shifts, experts advise the following languages.
Spanish. Combine more Spanish speakers within U.S. borders and this country's growing trade
with Mexico, and Spanish becomes the language to beef up your resume. Mexico is
among the top five of U.S. trading partners.
Mandarin Chinese or Cantonese. Some estimates point to Chinese becoming the No. 1
Internet language by 2007, one expert said.
Portuguese. The third-largest consumer market by 2010, after China and India, will likely be Brazil.
German. An economic force in the European Union, Germany's language is increasingly the second
language-of-choice in places like Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary.
Other languages to consider: Arabic or Farsi, Russian, French
Coombes also notes that English-speakers who are unwilling
to dive into another language should think about India: "The
country is increasingly a darling among U.S. companies seeking
offshore locations, and English is commonly spoken there," Coombes
writes.
If your school, organization, business or other
entity has a Web site, we welcome you to link to Quintessential Careers.
If you already have a link from your site, we want you to know we
appreciate it. If you don't have a link to us, please
send a request to your site's Webmaster to establish a
link to Quintessential Careers. Thanks so much!
For more details (including sample HTML copy), see our
Link to Us page.
Ad: Electronic Versions of Documents Included Free
Electronic versions now included with all resume and cover
letter products at Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters at
no extra cost!
An electronic version of your resume for sending via e-mail and posting to Internet job boards
is an absolute must these days because 80 percent of resumes are now placed directly into keyword-searchable databases.
Read more here.
That's why electronic versions are now included at NO EXTRA COST with all our resume and cover letter
products!
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* Dining etiquette
* Career Focus Quiz
* Pre-Employment Testing
* How to Make a Temp Job Permanent
* Temping Your Way to Career Change
* Mastering Second (and Subsequent) Interviews
* Interview Damage Control
* 10 Interview Mistakes
* Exude Confidence in Interviews
* Job Satisfaction Quiz
* Job-search Time-Management Skills
* Reinvent Your Career at Midlife
* Working Beyond Retirement
* Workaholic Quiz
* Building Your Brand
* Pros and Cons of Nontraditional Careers
* Nontraditional Career Paths for Men and Women
* Make Your College Application Shine
* Changing Landscape of College Admissions
* College Admissions Annual Report/Panel Discussion
* Internet Jobhunting Annual Report
* Top 5 Networking Strategies
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Book reviews
. . . and much, much more!
Don't ever want to miss another issue of QuintZine? Get a free subscription to
the email version of QuintZine by completing our
subscription form.
Quintessential Careers Announces Career Coaching
We now offer two types of career-coaching services!
Are you...
feeling stuck in an unsatisfying job?
facing a major change in career or job status?
searching for your ideal career or job?
seeking help in developing a job-search plan?
looking for a solution to job-search obstacles?
desiring to bounce ideas off of a career expert?
trying to discover the keys to career success?
Let Dr. Randall S. Hansen, The Career Doctor, help you work through all your college, career, and job-search concerns,
issues, and problems. He has helped hundreds of teens, college students, and experienced job-seekers identify obstacles, develop
action plans, and achieve success -- and he can help you!
And for an economical online-only career-coaching alternative,
visit The Career Clinic.
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