The Burning Glass Institute’s Post

Can you believe that tomorrow is already May? Pretty soon all of social media will be full of graduation announcements and celebrations. I remember how equally thrilling and terrifying it felt to graduate from High School. The pressure of deciding my next step. Do I go to college? If so what college? Do I take a gap year? Do I skip college altogether and jump into a career? All of the life-impacting decisions to make before I am even legally recognized as an adult. I decided to try college and I made good grades but ultimately dropped out. Yes, I am a college dropout. Wow was that a scary decision. It had been drilled into my thought process by social media, books, school, commercials, etc. that if you want to succeed in life you must have a college degree. That's why I went to college in the first place! College can be wonderful and depending on your career goals essential but I am here to say it is NOT the only path to success. I am a Staffing Specialist Manager at Labor Connections. Every day I interview and hire for a wide assortment of career opportunities. You would be surprised how many of these positions do not require any type of college degree. I am talking about multiple salaried positions making 6 digits and no college degree is required for any of them. While you are thinking about college and visiting campuses make time to stop by Labor Connections too. You never know how one visit can change your life! It changed mine and now I have a career I am passionate about. SO CAN YOU!

Behind the scenes, executives often paint a grander transformation of hiring, a world where your resume will rely less on titles or diplomas and act more like a passport of skills you’ve proven you have. For now, companies and educators are only starting to chip away at one of the first steps: figuring out how much college credit a work skill is worth. https://lnkd.in/eQeRba_Y

The supervisors and mentor we remember are those who: ✅ lead by example ✅ open career doors ✅ inspire us to aim higher ✅ tell us our work matters ✅ develop us as researchers ✅ defend us when we need it ✅ provide us a safe space to grow ✅ forgive us when we make mistakes Do you agree with this? Or perhaps you've experienced something different? Either way, your experiences can enlighten us all. 🔄 repost to help a friend :) -------------------- If you liked this, join my newsletter that teaches you how to secure a tenure-tack job and navigate academia as an early career researcher: https://lnkd.in/eNAjgrY9

Hello everyone! 🌼 I'm thrilled to share some exciting news with you all. 🎓✨ After months of hard work, late nights, and countless cups of coffee, I've successfully completed my **Master's program**! 📚🎉 🌱 **The Journey:** Balancing work and education has been an incredible journey—one that required unwavering dedication and resilience. 🌟 As a recruiter, my days were filled with interviews, candidate evaluations, and connecting with talented individuals. Simultaneously, I immersed myself in coursework, research, and exams. 📝💼 🌿 **Late Nights and Early Mornings:** Picture this: Late nights huddled over textbooks, scribbling notes, and chasing deadlines. Then, before the sun peeked over the horizon, I'd be back at my desk, sipping coffee, and diving into work emails. 🌙☕ **The Art of Multitasking:** Multitasking became my superpower. I'd toggle between spreadsheets and research papers, seamlessly transitioning from "Dear Hiring Manager" emails to "Dear Professor" discussions. 📊📝 **Support Systems:** None of this would have been possible without the incredible support from my family, friends, and colleagues. Their encouragement, pep talks, and occasional pizza deliveries fueled my determination. 🙌🍕 **The GPA Blooms:** And now, the moment of truth: My GPA stands tall at **3.79**—a testament to sleepless nights, intellectual growth, and sheer grit. 🌟 **To Fellow Dreamers:** To anyone juggling work and studies, remember this: You're not alone. The path may be challenging, but the rewards are immeasurable. Keep pushing forward, embrace the late-night epiphanies, and celebrate every small victory. 🌟 **Thank You:** Thank you for being part of my journey. Let's continue to learn, grow, and bloom together! 📚 #Graduation #LifeInFullBloom #ItsNeverTooLate. University of Phoenix

🌟 Calling all experienced employers! 🌟 I’m preparing a lecture for my first-year Business Management and Marketing students, scheduled for later this month. This time slot (6-7pm) presents a unique challenge, and I want to make the most of it and keep my students awake! My goal is to encourage students to reflect on their extracurricular activities and actively engage in learning opportunities that will help them stand out to potential employers. I want them to be well-prepared for placements, graduate schemes, and their first job roles. I’d love your insights: aside from academic qualifications, what specific skills or experiences do you value most in new recruits? For example, many businesses express surprise at the lack of experience in tools like Excel. I’m aiming to compile a "Top 10" list of essential skills and experiences to share with my students—think of it as the "Top of the Pops" for career readiness! Your expertise will be invaluable in shaping this discussion. Thank you in advance for your contributions! Please let me have your gripes/wants/needs! Dan Williams Dan Porter Michelle Norton Michelle Doolan Alistair Milner Graeme Riddick Jacqui Burchell Anna Teal Can you get me started?

Hey 👋 , Guess what? My epic conference road trip across California has finally wrapped up! Cruising from sunny San Diego to the iconic San Francisco, with a pit stop in the glam city of Los Angeles—let’s just say the perks of being in the professional community are endless! 😎 But wait, there’s more! The secret sauce is setting a killer goal—why the heck am I here? Sure, networking is a given, but that’s a story for another day. This year, I hit up the National Career Development Association (NCDA) conference with my ears wide open! I aimed to understand what my fellow career counselors are discussing. What issues are they studying? What client needs are they addressing? As a careerist myself, my next step is a PhD program. But let me tell you, this wasn’t a walk in the park. I needed to find a research topic that is not only interesting but also helps me create tools valuable to businesses and candidates. And I found it. Thank you, colleagues, for the inspiration! Today, my email with questions was sent to the university. Here’s what I chose. My professional experience includes recruiting, employee training and development, career counselling, implementing career development practices in companies, and labor market research. I would like to continue developing in this direction and focus on the "Skill Gap" topic, researching: 👉 The gap between employer expectations and employee skills and experience 👉 The gap between the speed of employee learning, skill levels, and changes in the labor market due to economic, political, social, and technological shifts 👉 Opportunities for retraining adults for new, more relevant professions in the labor market in the most effective and fastest ways 👉 Employer-led retraining of employees on the job to meet their needs for skilled workers 👉 Career tracks in the future economy and their connection to increasing company productivity Sound intriguing? Let me know if you’re into this too. I'll be sharing more of my discoveries here!

🎙️New interview alert! Lorraine Godden, PhD Godden recently discussed the importance of early career-related learning in grades 4-6 on iHeartRadio Newstalk Tonight! 📚 In her insightful interview, Dr. Godden explores how young students perceive the word "career" and why it's crucial to broaden their understanding beyond visible jobs. Dr. Godden shares: "Career is actually rooted in the Latin word "carus" which refers to a chariot or cart, a means of travel and journeying. Those of us that work in the career field, understand career to be about life, learning AND work. So, work and jobs are a component of career but they're not everything." Tune in at 30:44 to hear the full interview and gain valuable insights on how early career education can better prepare children for future decisions. 🚀 🔗 Listen to the interview and read the full publication here: ceric.ca/possibilities

Did you miss this webinar? Now's your chance to listen to it. #CERIC #careerdevelopmentforlife

It seems like such a straightforward solution to increase economic mobility: remove degree requirements for jobs that don't need them. So why hasn't it worked in practice? This latest report from Project on Managing the Future of Work at Harvard Business School and The Burning Glass Institute shows how good intentions can backfire if not paired with more comprehensive change in the company.  https://lnkd.in/gH9F47YR The Aspen Institute Business & Society Program Economic Mobility Fellowship aims to support corporate initiatives, like skills-based hiring, move from good intentions to meaningful impact — nominate a candidate for the Fellowship here: https://lnkd.in/eeyjfCR9

At Bright Network, we are always speaking to our members to best understand how they want to engage with us, and leading employers, as they make the first steps in their career. Here, our brilliant member panel from March's Research Breakfast, share their thoughts on a number of key topics, including: 🤝 In-person vs virtual events 😟 The worst part of an application process 📈 How quickly they expect progression in a job Some useful food for thought as Early Careers teams start turning their attention towards next season. #genz #graduate #earlycareers