Career » Carol J. Carter

Practical Skills to Close the Job Gap: Risks that Bring Reward

The week before Thanksgiving, I attended the annual National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC) conference for teachers of gifted and talented students along with 4,000 others. One of the opening sessions featured Dr. Howard Gardner, Dr. Joseph Renzulli, and Dr. Robert Sternberg, all intelligence experts from varying points of view. Sternberg, in particular, addressed the disconnect between what we are teaching in school and the needs of the world of work, where graduates are falling short.
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Success Wanted: Interpersonal Skills Required

What makes a person successful? Some attribute their success to hard work, while others attribute it to luck, mentors, brains, or social skills.

In a recent three-part series on NPR, people from all rungs of the economic ladder are interviewed on why they either are or are not financially “successful.” In the first installment, Bob Hatley, president and CEO of Paragon Commercial Bank, tells his tale of going from a childhood with limited means to a millionaire. Hatley says:Â “People who use their family as an excuse not to achieve, I have no patience with.”

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Living with Grit: 4 Gritty Articles for Parents and Educators

Grit.

What does it mean to you? Maybe you tapped into your grit to pass your college physics course. Or possibly to look for a new job or train for a race. Grit is a powerful soft skill that could stand between you and success in any area of your life, personal, academic, or professional.

At LifeBound we often talk about grit in our Academic Coaching Training and books for teens. We ask coaches to work with their students to help them tap into their intrinsic motivation, dig deep to see the power they have over their lives, and discover their grit. We also encourage educators and parents to use the power of grit in their own lives.
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SAT Reading Scores Are Dropping: What Can We Do?

As several news outlets have reported, this year’s SAT reading scores are the lowest they’ve been in four decades (see Washington Post and NPR). There are several reasons that could factor into this decrease. One thing experts point to is the increased number of low-income students taking the test. This kind of trend, however, can’t fully explain why 56% of our high school graduates are not ready for college-level work. Nor should it matter, in an ideal world, whether your parents are low-income or not when it comes to your success as a student. The fact remains that there must be more we can do, as parents, teachers, and school officials, to improve reading levels and overall achievement levels for rich and poor alike, across genders and races.

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A Balanced Vision: How To Direct Passion With Understanding

When it comes to discussing the obstacles facing Generation Y, itâ€™s easy to get caught up in things that are beyond our control, like the job market or rising tuition. When informing youth of these issues, however, itâ€™s essential to their success that theyâ€™re also aware of what they can control: namely, themselves.

In his opinion piece on Gen Y, Don McNay contrasts two young men he knows. One has been actively searching for work for months and is close to getting a job at a fast food restaurant. The other has mostly given up and now stays at home and watches television. Of the first he says confidently, â€œIâ€™m sure [he] will make it as he keeps trying and trying.â€ For the second he can express no hope of success except by some undeserved miracle.

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The Tough Decisions: Answering Questions About How to Pay For College

In a recent article in the New York Times, Ron Lieberman addressed some important questions about financial aid submitted to him by prospective college students. In introducing his topic, however, he makes an important point: â€œFiguring out how to pay for college has quickly turned into one of lifeâ€™s most complicated financial decisions.â€ He gives a few reasons for this:

Thereâ€™s uncertainty as to whether the student making the decision will be able to pay back his student loans.
Thereâ€™s uncertainty as to whether spending more on a prestigious school will lead to a future that pays more as well.
Thereâ€™s the issue of inexperience, the fact that the prospective student has never had to make a decision with such far-reaching and expensive consequences before.
Thereâ€™s a lack of good information, plus a scarcity of reliable sources to provide it.

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Pros and Cons of a Vocational Degree

For years the focus has been on getting students to four-year colleges, but for some thereâ€™s a better answer. Certificate programs are a quick and less expensive way to start a lucrative career, especially if you want to skip the general core requirements youâ€™d be expected to fill at a university. Certificate programs get straight to the point, only teaching the student what he or she needs to know in order to perform well in a particular field. This can be the ideal solution for someone who might otherwise have started college and never finished it.

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Adams County Students Experience 9 to 5

Studentsâ€™ lack of college and career preparation takes on many forms beyond academic deficits.

It shows up with them not knowing what to expect from college, not knowing how to anticipate challenges and obstacles, and not having the grit and determination to succeed. It shows up with their lack of follow through skills, and their not knowing how to take advantage of resources to craft a college experience that will deliver the abilities and connections to launch a successful career.
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Internships Give Students a Real-World Context to Learning

Over the next 10 years, more boomers will leave the workforce and need new skilled workers to take their place. Not only will the next generation of workers inherit careers over the next decade, the BLS predicts there will be more growth in jobs that require an associateâ€™s degree, while jobs that require long-term on-the-job training will diminish.

With the 2012 average national unemployment rate ranging from 8 to 9%, and a threat of a returning recession, we must focus on what drives employability in this market. Young adults were among the hardest hit in the recession with only 54 percent of Americans ages 18 to 24 finding employment in 2012.Â Unemployment in young adults can cause many lasting problems for the economy:
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Under- or Over-worked? Employers and Employees Must Take Action

When employees don’t feel like their abilities are being used to their full potential, work is “frustrating” and “exhausting,” according to a study that asked subordinates to rate the percentage of their intelligence they felt their higher-ups were tapping into. These questions lead to researchers defining two types of leaders in the workplace:
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