So you get out of High School and you want to go to the college of your dreams, right? You've been told over and over again that you need to go to college, you need to go to college, and that you need to go to college. This article is going to demonstrate how I explored potential careers I wanted to study for.
After High School, there are a few notable options available here:
1. Community college (Associate's degree).
2. University (Associate's degree and above).
3. Trade school (certification).
I'm going to take you through something I was exploring while I was in the military: a career as an ultrasound technician.
To a time way back when:
"Okay, so I need a job when I get out of this Army thing here, right? What are some things I've been interested in? Oh, yeah! Ultrasound! Cool stuff.."
So I went to Google.com and began searching things like "Ultrasound Tech", "Ultrasound Tech Careers".
"Ah, this looks great: https://www.thebalance.com/what-does-an-ultrasound-technician-do-526077. Such a wealth of information. Wow 60k a year?! I mean the national median is 40k but whatever!
Wow. It lists a lot of stuff, like other websites, about what a career in Ultrasound is like, and who fits in that career path. I think this is something I could have a career in! Says it has good projected job growth, too..."
As short and plain as this is, if you are looking to go to college, you should really research your options heavily. Why not? Why are more people not looking into these careers paths more in-depth? Just by browsing the web, you can scour through every single detail of your prospective career. I found out online that I would have to take a lot of math courses, which ended my aspirations to get into ultrasound. Not good!
So next, it's time to recognize that in today's economy, you might not get the job you ACTUALLY want. The job you may actually want might not even exist! There has to be a balance of your interests and practicality (at least if you're somewhat like me). Now it's time to ask: what is the plan B?
"Okay so.... I can get this degree but there might be no opening for ultrasound techs :( Does this educational track allow for some diversity? What if I hate it halfway through and want to do something else?
So let me google "What jobs can you get with a degree in Ultrasound"."
The answer is "nothing except ultrasound", obviously. But if you look at a degree such as Business Administration, there is a variety of options. One option I did find was that Ultrasound and Nursing degrees are similar enough that they make for a smooth transition if necessary.
It's hard to go wrong when all you have to do is go to a website, and you have an endless treasure trove of information at your fingertips. A lot of people do go wrong, though. They start an expensive school program that aren't knowledgeable or sure about, to study for a job that they aren't very familiar with. They get Bachelor's degrees that don't get them jobs. It can be quite a cumbersome waste of time and money.
There are thousands of little things you can find out online, and I'm hoping that upon reading this article, the reader's mind will be jogged into thinking about what they want to find out, and will go to Google.com.
In summary:
1. Google the job.
2. Google the degree.
3. Google everything.
4. Google.
5. More google.
Monday, April 17, 2017
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Careers In the Military
Hi there! I previously wrote a blog about Indeed.com and explained how one of it's features can help you apply for a job, or enhance a career you already have.
Being a former service member in the U.S. Army, I get questions alllll the time related to joining the military. Even those who aren't interested in joining seem interested in the opportunities and process of it.
I'm going to try to keep this short....
The Recruiting Station
Traditionally, you reach out to a recruiter or a recruiter reaches you. They may either come to your location, or have you swing by the recruiting office. Recruiters are often very experienced and competent service members. At least in the Army, you have to be very "high speed" to become one. They can basically tell you anything you need to know about the service you're joining. Not all of them are totally honest, of course. They're ultimately selling you a product. If you hear "oh, if you're in this MOS (military occupational specialty), you won't deploy blahblah", don't believe it. Anyone can be deployed, no matter how mundane your job is.
My advice is to not take what a recruiter says 100% to heart, especially if it's too good to be true. In today's age, you can research everything yourself, or post questions on an online forum where you will get more honest answers. Additionally, recruiters won't tell you the truth but aren't lying. For example, my recruiter told me I wouldn't be with female soldiers in Basic Training. I'm talking to him 2 months later, and he's in shock and awe that there is a 39 year old woman in my platoon that hasn't done a single pushup throughout her entire time at Basic. Sometimes, they're in recruiting for so long that they can't keep up with all the little and big changes the regular military makes.
Sidenote: I was going to join the Reserves after leaving Active Duty, but then I saw reservists being stationed in Kuwait. Nope.
ASVABs and MOS
From being a cook, to high-end technological jobs, the military needs everything. The way they figure out what jobs you can select from relies on how you do in the ASVAB, which is not hard. Invest in an ASVAB study guide. Sometimes the difference between you getting a great job and a not-so-great job available is 1 single percentile point.
Basic Training & So On
Basic Training wasn't very hard. That's all. It just sucked being away from home and everything. Some of it was scary, some of it was physically challenging. But really, there's so many out-of-shape kids that pass it (like me, back then), no one should feel so intimidated. Army Basic Training is probably even easier now! Marine Basic Training is much harder then the Army's, though. If you're a Marine or ex-Marine reading this, let me know what your experience was like! The Navy's and Air Force's training programs are much less physically demanding, and as far as I am aware, shorter.
So after you graduate Basic Training, you go to "AIT" (Advanced Individual Training), or A-School as the Navy calls it. This is where you learn to do your actual job. There are some jobs in the Army, and military as a whole, where you can blow things off and still pass. For others, if you make a single mistake, you're taken out and have to select a different job. This wasn't really that bad. Usually the shorter this training is, the worse it is. They can't have to living in a watered-down Basic Training environment for a whole year straight or something, if your training takes that long (some last a few weeks). In the actual military There are so many career options once you're in the military, that I can't possibly cover them all. They range from the typical "spend 20 years, get retirement pension" to getting yourself discharged from active duty to spend 4 years in a college, and then come back as a officer. And that's on the military's dime. You can become a Warrant Officer. You can become a recruiter, or a drill sergeant. You can become a member of a service's elite, such as the Army Rangers or Special Forces. If you're looking for an organization with a flexible career path, and an endless array of options, you can't find one better than any of the military branches. You may get stationed in Germany, Italy or Japan. You may also get stationed in Africa, or Iraq (and Syria now, apparently?). And while you're doing all this, you can take college courses for free (on Tuition Assistance, which is separate from the 9/11 GI Bill).
Before I end this, it's worth noting that while you're in the military your college credits get you "promotion points" as an enlisted member, and if you have ANY Bachelor's degree, you can either become an Officer right away, or become one while you're in the server.
Conclusion
I'm hoping that this serves as an interesting preview of joining and being in the military for those who are interested. Military life is so vast and complex, but can be summarized like this: sometimes it sucks, but damn if there ain't a lot you can do.
Please like and share this article if you've found it helpful or interesting, or have friends that may. Thank you for reading! My next article will be on government-run Career Services.
The Recruiting Station
Traditionally, you reach out to a recruiter or a recruiter reaches you. They may either come to your location, or have you swing by the recruiting office. Recruiters are often very experienced and competent service members. At least in the Army, you have to be very "high speed" to become one. They can basically tell you anything you need to know about the service you're joining. Not all of them are totally honest, of course. They're ultimately selling you a product. If you hear "oh, if you're in this MOS (military occupational specialty), you won't deploy blahblah", don't believe it. Anyone can be deployed, no matter how mundane your job is.
My advice is to not take what a recruiter says 100% to heart, especially if it's too good to be true. In today's age, you can research everything yourself, or post questions on an online forum where you will get more honest answers. Additionally, recruiters won't tell you the truth but aren't lying. For example, my recruiter told me I wouldn't be with female soldiers in Basic Training. I'm talking to him 2 months later, and he's in shock and awe that there is a 39 year old woman in my platoon that hasn't done a single pushup throughout her entire time at Basic. Sometimes, they're in recruiting for so long that they can't keep up with all the little and big changes the regular military makes.
Sidenote: I was going to join the Reserves after leaving Active Duty, but then I saw reservists being stationed in Kuwait. Nope.
ASVABs and MOS
From being a cook, to high-end technological jobs, the military needs everything. The way they figure out what jobs you can select from relies on how you do in the ASVAB, which is not hard. Invest in an ASVAB study guide. Sometimes the difference between you getting a great job and a not-so-great job available is 1 single percentile point.
Basic Training & So On
Basic Training wasn't very hard. That's all. It just sucked being away from home and everything. Some of it was scary, some of it was physically challenging. But really, there's so many out-of-shape kids that pass it (like me, back then), no one should feel so intimidated. Army Basic Training is probably even easier now! Marine Basic Training is much harder then the Army's, though. If you're a Marine or ex-Marine reading this, let me know what your experience was like! The Navy's and Air Force's training programs are much less physically demanding, and as far as I am aware, shorter.
So after you graduate Basic Training, you go to "AIT" (Advanced Individual Training), or A-School as the Navy calls it. This is where you learn to do your actual job. There are some jobs in the Army, and military as a whole, where you can blow things off and still pass. For others, if you make a single mistake, you're taken out and have to select a different job. This wasn't really that bad. Usually the shorter this training is, the worse it is. They can't have to living in a watered-down Basic Training environment for a whole year straight or something, if your training takes that long (some last a few weeks). In the actual military There are so many career options once you're in the military, that I can't possibly cover them all. They range from the typical "spend 20 years, get retirement pension" to getting yourself discharged from active duty to spend 4 years in a college, and then come back as a officer. And that's on the military's dime. You can become a Warrant Officer. You can become a recruiter, or a drill sergeant. You can become a member of a service's elite, such as the Army Rangers or Special Forces. If you're looking for an organization with a flexible career path, and an endless array of options, you can't find one better than any of the military branches. You may get stationed in Germany, Italy or Japan. You may also get stationed in Africa, or Iraq (and Syria now, apparently?). And while you're doing all this, you can take college courses for free (on Tuition Assistance, which is separate from the 9/11 GI Bill).
Before I end this, it's worth noting that while you're in the military your college credits get you "promotion points" as an enlisted member, and if you have ANY Bachelor's degree, you can either become an Officer right away, or become one while you're in the server.
Conclusion
I'm hoping that this serves as an interesting preview of joining and being in the military for those who are interested. Military life is so vast and complex, but can be summarized like this: sometimes it sucks, but damn if there ain't a lot you can do.
Please like and share this article if you've found it helpful or interesting, or have friends that may. Thank you for reading! My next article will be on government-run Career Services.
Career Centers
Previously I've briefly covered careers in the military. Now I would like to talk about Career Centers. I frankly do not have much to say about them, except that I feel people should be generally aware of them. If you are already aware of them, I don't think this is going to be the most interesting article.
I've quickly looked through several government-ran Career Center sites for different states, and they generally serve the same purpose: offering services to assist you in finding a career, such as resume building, job searching, or free career counseling.
Here is an excerpt from Pennsylvania's CareerLink website:
For anyone, that is a rather enticing list of services.
Moreover, I've noticed that they offer services to employers as well. It seems as if they bridge a gap between prospective employees and prospective employers that may otherwise might not be met. For example, I received notices from them that there was a Veteran's Career Fair I never would have known about without them.
I would say that if anyone is looking for a career, or wishes to enhance a career in their chosen field, it certainly would not hurt to check out a local PA Careerlink and see what they may have to offer you. I'm from middle-of-who-cares PA, and even there the staff were very knowledgable and prepared to assist me.
Please like, comment, and share, if you found this interesting or may have friends that would. I currently am not sure what else I'd like to post about, but I'm sure I will think of something. Thank you!
I've quickly looked through several government-ran Career Center sites for different states, and they generally serve the same purpose: offering services to assist you in finding a career, such as resume building, job searching, or free career counseling.
Here is an excerpt from Pennsylvania's CareerLink website:
For anyone, that is a rather enticing list of services.
Moreover, I've noticed that they offer services to employers as well. It seems as if they bridge a gap between prospective employees and prospective employers that may otherwise might not be met. For example, I received notices from them that there was a Veteran's Career Fair I never would have known about without them.
I would say that if anyone is looking for a career, or wishes to enhance a career in their chosen field, it certainly would not hurt to check out a local PA Careerlink and see what they may have to offer you. I'm from middle-of-who-cares PA, and even there the staff were very knowledgable and prepared to assist me.
Please like, comment, and share, if you found this interesting or may have friends that would. I currently am not sure what else I'd like to post about, but I'm sure I will think of something. Thank you!
Monday, April 3, 2017
Intro to this Blog and PayScale!
Hello!
I'm a student in State College taking a Social Media for Business class. Throughout my time in this class, I must maintain a blog to learn about using these platforms.
This blog is going to be dedicated to trimming through the massive amount of fat on the Internet related to building and finding careers. I hope that not only will it help me in my post-graduation pursuits, but it will help others at any stage in their lives.
So let me begin by talking about PayScale.com. There are plenty of sites where you can find information on jobs, but PayScale has something especially helpful that a lot of people either aren't concerned with, or keep in the back of their mind:
....and that is specific skills that increase your value as an employee.
Note: I think it's pretty fair to interpret how much a business is paying you as how much they value you, especially in contrast your peers.
It's hard to overstate how wonderful a resource like that is. Should you oblige by it like it's religious text? Not necessarily. But can it give you an idea what skills you may need to more valuable to a company and better paid? Yes, and that's always a great thing for you and your career.
I'm a student in State College taking a Social Media for Business class. Throughout my time in this class, I must maintain a blog to learn about using these platforms.
This blog is going to be dedicated to trimming through the massive amount of fat on the Internet related to building and finding careers. I hope that not only will it help me in my post-graduation pursuits, but it will help others at any stage in their lives.
So let me begin by talking about PayScale.com. There are plenty of sites where you can find information on jobs, but PayScale has something especially helpful that a lot of people either aren't concerned with, or keep in the back of their mind:
....and that is specific skills that increase your value as an employee.
Note: I think it's pretty fair to interpret how much a business is paying you as how much they value you, especially in contrast your peers.
It's hard to overstate how wonderful a resource like that is. Should you oblige by it like it's religious text? Not necessarily. But can it give you an idea what skills you may need to more valuable to a company and better paid? Yes, and that's always a great thing for you and your career.
From reading this, we can deduce from PayScale's data, that nurses with skills in Recovery / PACU often make +8% more than the average nurse, nationally. Having skills in Case Management and Critical Care seem very valuable too, so an RN may want to pursue expertise in those areas.
Knowing these is relevant to job searches because you can
A. Know what skills you may want to develop for a certain career before you're actually in it
or
B. Know what skills an employer may be impressed by while applying.
Knowing these is relevant to job searches because you can
A. Know what skills you may want to develop for a certain career before you're actually in it
or
B. Know what skills an employer may be impressed by while applying.
Not every job's page on PayScale has this, which you may find out the hard way upon searching for your job. But you can always ask people in a career field you're interested in what is valuable to growth in your career, or do independent research.
Please leave comments on this blog, and share it to your friends if you find it interesting. Next, I would like to talk about job opportunities in the armed forces.
P.S. I've shown a bunch of people this part of PayScale, and they've very much enjoyed the information. Do you think they'll pay me for the advertisements? Probably not =( .. Tell me what you think in the comment section.
Please leave comments on this blog, and share it to your friends if you find it interesting. Next, I would like to talk about job opportunities in the armed forces.
P.S. I've shown a bunch of people this part of PayScale, and they've very much enjoyed the information. Do you think they'll pay me for the advertisements? Probably not =( .. Tell me what you think in the comment section.
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