As Labor Day approaches, the U.S. economy is still recovering and many workers are struggling to find jobs. Although the question about who exactly started Labor Day remains unanswered, one thing is clear: Labor Day was founded to celebrate the achievements of American workers. So it makes sense that as you head back to work this fall, you may want to reflect on your achievements and career: where you are, where you’re headed, and how to get what you want, even in a tough economy.

Labor Day is also a great opportunity to remember your co-workers, colleagues, and contacts, and how you can help those who are unemployed and struggling to find work. Here’s how.

Take Stock of Your Career
No matter how old you are or how far along you are in your career path, it’s always good to pause and take stock of where you are in your career and where you want to be next.

• Are you a college student working two jobs so that you can get valuable experience as an unpaid intern at your local newspaper?

• Are you a recent graduate who took an entry-level job in sales, so that you can work towards your dream of being a CEO?

• Are you an experienced professional looking to leave the corporate world, start your own consulting firm, and become your own boss?

Wherever you are, take a minute to think about how fulfilled you are in your current role, where you want to go next, and how you’re going to get there. Figure out what you need to do in regards to education, training, and finances to get where you want to be.

Evaluate Your Job Search
At the beginning of August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 9.5 percent of the population, or 14.6 million people, were unemployed. If you’re one of the 14.6 million people looking for a job, and if you’ve been searching for awhile, it can be easy to get discouraged.

Evaluate your job search, and figure out what’s working and what isn’t. Are you sending resumes out like crazy, but can’t get anyone to call you back? Perhaps you need to reformat your resume, or incorporate social media into your job search strategy.

Are you getting called in for interviews, but haven’t had an offer? Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate your pitch and personal presentation. Think about how you can make yourself more marketable while you’re unemployed.

Take Stock of Your Budget
Whether you’re employed or unemployed, chances are that you’re making do with a smaller budget. If you’re struggling to make ends meet, re-evaluate your budget to see if there’s any more fat you can trim. Do you really need two cars? Can you save money by taking public transportation? Can you re-bid your auto or health insurance, bundle your utility bills, or put your family all on one cell phone provider to save money? Try to brainstorm all the ways you can save money during tough economic times.

Take Stock of Those Around You
If you’re one of the lucky ones who’s employed, think about how your current position can help those you know (or even those you don’t) who are out of work. Is there an open position at your company, or at the company of a client or vendor you work with? Who do you know that’s looking for a job that you could help connect to these open positions?

Even if you don’t have a job lead to offer, think about your other skills and how they can help those in the job hunt. Offer to proofread someone’s resume, hear their elevator pitch, or show them how to set up a LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook account. Offering this kind of support may not seem like much, but the support and encouragement can make a huge difference.

Reward Yourself
Whether you are an office manager, an electrical engineer, or a certified nursing aid, we are all part of the U.S. Labor force, and we have all been affected in one way or another by the economic turmoil of the past few years. You may have been laid off, or you may have been the one doing the lay-offs. You may have had to take a new position, a lower salary, or a second job. If you were a stay-at-home caregiver, you may have had to go back to work, and if you were a student, you may have had to move back home to help out.

Whatever sacrifices you and your family made to survive, it has undoubtedly been a challenge. And for all of that, you definitely deserve a hot dog or two this Labor Day weekend. 

Related Posts
5 Tips to Reduce Stress, Survive Tough Economic Times
Top 5 Ways to Make Yourself More Marketable While You’re Unemployed

Kristen Abell is the Associate Director for Residential Life at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and provides support to the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management on many things technology-related. She has provided training and programming on social media for the last several years, and she writes about technology and student affairs on her blog at kristendomtalkstech.blogspot.com.

It seems like you can’t have a conversation these days without “Facebook” or “Twitter” or some other such site coming up in some way. There’s a good reason for this – according to their site, there are more than 500 million users on Facebook, and Twitter has over 100 million users and is still growing as of April, 2010.

What does this mean for college students today? Well, depending on how you look at it, participating in social networking can either be a career-builder or a career-buster. Since there’s so much out there now on how to kill your career by posting inappropriate or too-revealing information about yourself, I thought I’d suggest a few ways you might turn your social networking experience around and make it work for you.

Find Your Twitter Niche
If you know what sort of career you want, or at least the field in which you want to work, why not take the time to seek out the top tweeters in that field and make sure to follow them? Even better, engage them – find some way to comment or add to the discussions they have on Twitter (make sure you do this in a meaningful way, though – randomly commenting back or just commenting back to get your name out there will show up as exactly that, and it will win you no admirers). If you are able to contribute to the conversation, there’s a good chance these folks will remember you when a job or an internship opens. This may give you a leg up on the competition. The same can be said about LinkedIn Questions – if you can find ways to answer the questions on here in ways that meaningfully contribute to the discussion or find innovative solutions to the problems posted, you are bound to make a name for yourself in your field of choice.

Start a Blog
This is also a way in which students can use blogging and vlogging to create a positive online reputation. Find a topic about which you are passionate, about which you have knowledge or expertise, then create a blog where you can express all of this. If you are better at speaking than writing, put your thoughts on video. Make sure you spread the information about your blog on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and anywhere else you can think of that it might be relevant. There are some great tools out there to assist you with this (Hootsuite, Networked Blogs, etc.). Then, make sure to check out the other blogs out there on similar topics and comment, comment, comment. You’ll make as much a name for yourself by providing feedback (and comment love!) to other bloggers as by having your own blog.

Watch Your Messaging & Tone
One of the other things to keep in mind when posting to Twitter and Facebook and any other site as a student or as an aspiring professional is the tone of your messages. Obviously, posting about how smashed you got last weekend = bad idea, but how else can you make sure that what you’re posting sends a positive message about yourself? Think about who’s reading your posts – do you know all of the people who are reading these? Do all of them get your sense of humor/sarcasm/general tone well enough that they’re going to be able to read those things in a written post? If you’re a student leader, and you write something disparaging about another student or a university office, how well does that reflect on your professional ethics? Can you imagine a professional in your field posting those types of things? (Or, perhaps more pointedly, can you imagine a professional you respect posting those types of things?). And please, please, please, consider double-checking your spelling and trying not to use text-speak in your posts – if for no other reason than this is a personal pet peeve of mine. I immediately tend to take someone less seriously who consistently does both of these things.

Stay Up-to-Date
Finally, if you decide that engaging in social media is the path you plan to take, make sure to keep up with it. Nothing is sadder than an out-of-date blog, Twitter account, or profile page. It immediately reduces your relevance and interest in you.

Good luck networking!

Sarah Ruthko works as the project engineer at the DuPage County Stormwater Management in Illinois. She has been a civil engineer for 8 years, and she is also a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Civil Engineer Career Path
Sarah first found her passion for engineering at a young age.

“I was a small town girl with a curiosity for building and creating things,” she explains. “My father was a carpenter and took me to work with him as I was growing up.”

Experiences of a Civil Engineer
Sarah originally looked at becoming a mechanical engineer.

“I worked the summer before college and the first summer during college in road construction,” she says. “It didn’t take too long to figure out that civil engineering was what I really wanted to do.”

Sarah earned her Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from Michigan Technological University.

“My school offered an ‘enterprise program’ where students got to operate like an engineering firm, from conceptual phase to design and construction suggestions,” she recalls.

After graduating, she worked in the hydraulic and hydrology section at the Illinois Department of Transportation. Sarah currently works at DuPage County Stormwater Management.

Engineering Degree Programs
A typical civil engineer needs a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, but you can also pursue a civil engineering technician degree, which can range in education from computer-aided drafting and design to geology.

“A civil engineering technician degree, which can be either a 4- or 2-year degree, is trained in application over theory, and the person often has similar duties and responsibilities as an entry-level civil engineer,” Sarah explains.

“However, since this tends to be a more ‘hands-on’ degree, it generally prevents the individual from becoming a licensed professional engineer.”

Civil Engineer Job Description
Sarah is a project engineer at the DuPage County Stormwater Management department in Illinois, where she oversees stormwater management, habitat enhancement, and water quality projects.

“I manage a project from its beginning at the conceptual phase, through design and permitting of the project, and eventually through construction as the project is built,” she explains.

Civil Engineer Daily Routine
“It is tough to say what a normal day is for a civil engineer,” Sarah says. “There are so many different fields of civil engineering.”

“My days,” she continues, “are spent managing projects where the design engineer works through all of the details of designing a project.”

Civil Engineer: Steps to Success
“A successful civil engineer needs a willingness to work with others and a want to make a difference,” says Sarah.

Civil Engineer Job Opportunities
If an aspiring civil engineer is willing to put the work in, he or she shouldn’t have difficulty procuring a job.

“This is a field that will always have a demand, and it takes all different types of people and personalities,” says Sarah

Favorite Part About a Civil Engineering Career
“It is a very diverse career where the outcome is something physical that helps society,” Sarah explains.

A Civil Engineer’s Future Ambitions
Sarah plans on continuing her work doing the same job that she’s doing now.

“My job allows me the flexibility to help others outside and inside of the office,” she says. “I get to do something real to make this world a better place.”

Advice for Prospective Civil Engineers
Sarah advises that if this is the career that you wish to pursue, you should go at it running on all cylinders.

“Make sure that you enroll in a high-quality school that is ABET (the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) accredited,” she recommends. “Take classes in a wide range of fields and get as much work experience as you can in the summers. Even though you are interested in one field while you are in college, you can’t be sure what avenues your career path will take you down.”

Now that you’ve got an idea of the career (or careers) you’re interested in pursuing, it’s time to take the next step: getting more information. Before you invest thousands of dollars into the degree or training you need to get started, you need to make sure it’s what you really want to do. Here’s how.

Speak with a Professional
Sometimes the best way to get information about a career or industry is straight from the horse’s mouth. Speaking with a career professional can give you valuable insight into your future career, including the training you’ll need, the challenges you’ll face, and the rewards you can expect at the end of the day.

Talking with a professional can be a great way to make contacts and start networking, too. If you’re looking to intern, volunteer, or start working, they may be able to introduce you to future employers.

To get started, visit our career interviews page.

Find an Internship
Everyone has heard the story about the student who spent 8 years in medical school, only to find out he hated being a doctor. Don’t be that guy (or girl). If there’s a career you think you’d be interested in pursuing, see if you can land an internship with an accredited professional, or at least somewhere within your field of interest.

Serving as an intern will give you the exposure you need to find out if you can handle the stress that goes with being a doctor, the hours of reading and research that is part of being a paralegal, and the patience that’s required of elementary school teachers.

Go to the Library
Now that you know you what career you want to pursue, it’s time to find out what your training or degree program is going to entail. There are plenty of careers out there that sound exciting (and are exciting), but before you get to the exciting part, there’s a lot of intense studying that takes place first.

Take a veterinary technician career, for example. If you love animals, this probably sounds like a great fit for you. But in addition to being comfortable around Fido and Spot, you’ll also need to be ready to study biology, microbiology, and chemistry. And if it’s been awhile since the last time you reduced a chemical equation, you might want to prepare yourself.

Our suggestion? Look up the courses you’re going to be taking online, and then take a peek at the textbooks (which can be found at your local library) you’ll be reading for the next few months. If there’s a subject you’re going to have to study that you’re not familiar with (or that you don’t remember), you may want to take a refresher course before you start your degree program.

Volunteer
Another great way to test drive a potential career is to volunteer in the industry you’re considering. Let’s say you’re thinking about become a doctor, nurse, or home health aide. While you obviously can’t volunteer to be a doctor for a day, but you can volunteer at a hospital, nursing home, or other health care facility. Volunteering will give you a sense of the sights, sounds and stresses that you’ll be dealing with in the healthcare industry every day.

In addition, volunteering can be done on your own time, so you can continue to go to school or work (or both). The experience you get will give you insight into your future field, and has the added bonus of looking great on a resume.

Related Posts
How to Decide Which Career is Right for You, Part I
Today’s Top 10 TV Shows: Find Your Next Career

Resources for College/Undergraduate Students

• CollegeBasics.com
  Offers college admissions tips and insider secrets about planning for college, applying for college, financial aid, admissions essays, college interviews, and much more.
• GSEAbroad.com
  Global Student Experience offers study abroad programs for students to popular destinations around the world.
  Current Offering: Study Abroad Florence
  Learn Italian in the birthplace of the Renaissance through our study abroad program in Florence, Italy.

Resources for Returning Students

Resources for Graduate Students

Resources for Online Study

But if you’re never attended a 300+ person lecture, or the follow-up discussion session, you may be wondering what you need to do to prepare yourself. Here are some tips to get ready for class and make the most out of your first semester:

Tip #1: Show up for the first day of class
We know, it’s tempting to hit the snooze button and skip that first 9:00 a.m. biology lecture. But first classes can be surprisingly crucial: it’s when professors often announce changes to the reading, changes to the schedule, and decide which people on the wait list are going to be admitted.

For those professors that prefer to communicate in person rather than online, it’s especially important to show your face. Believe it or not, some even take attendance, meaning not showing up can impact your final grade.

Tip #2: Sit at the front of the room
Lecture halls can be big—really, really big. And while it’s tempting to sit way in the back where no one can see you, these are the spots where you’re most prone to MLNS—Mid-Lecture Nap Syndrome. If you sit in the front where the professor can see you, you’re more likely to stay awake, take notes, and get your money’s worth out of each and every lecture.

Tip #3: Don’t buy the books until after the first day
Sometimes a particular class or professor can sound absolutely amazing—until you sit down and try to listen to him or her talk for an hour. So it’s best to wait to buy the books until you’re sure you want to take the class, so yourself a trip back and forth to the bookstore. Professors have been known to change/add/drop books at the beginning of class too, so make sure the list is finalized before you make your purchases.

Tip #4: Come to lecture and discussion prepared
Yes, those scenes from “Legally Blonde” are true. While you may not be in law school, you could very well be in a lecture, class, or discussion where the professor or instructor randomly calls on students during class. Some even throw pop quizzes into the mix. So do yourself a favor and make sure you’re current on your reading

Tip #5: Make friends with someone in your discussion
If you’re in a big class, it can be hard to meet people. But the discussion sessions held in conjuncture with lecture can be the perfect time to connect with someone in your class for study sessions, group projects, and paper editing. Who knows—a current classmate could even become a future colleague or employer in the future.

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Rachel Lucking is the Director of Student Involvement and Leadership Development at Framingham State in Framingham, Massachusetts. In addition to helping college students, her blog, worknmom.wordpress.com, addresses to the issues faced by working parents. She tweets at @RachelUcking.

The new academic year brings about many challenges for those entering campus for the first time and those preparing for the return of students.  There are so many opportunities presented to new students encouraging social connections and academic preparations.  In fact, there are staff members dedicated to making these offerings not only happen, but making them meaningful.

As one of those staff members, it is wonderful to see the connections unfold and students develop into amazing students.  However, I always wonder how can I make it better?  What can we do to make the transition to college even more successful for our students?

The answer is nothing.  Sounds pretty negative?  Not really – it really is based upon your perspective of what are the ingredients for a successful college experience.  It starts at the beginning … with YOU!  The student – the one who decided to take this journey.

You have probably heard a million times that you are now an adult and in charge of your decisions.  That is a very lofty statement and general assumption that everyone is ready to be the captain of his ship.  In fact, it is somewhat frightening.  No worries … I have a very simple decision for you to make.

Unplug yourself.  Fairly vague and maybe a disconcerting statement to make.  I base this on a key note speech by Enzo Silon Surin I heard at a New Student Convocation a year or so ago.  The speaker very elegantly told the students to “unpack themselves” for their new journey.  Meaning – step outside of your comfort zone, and slip into your new home with ease.  Unpack yourself for the journey ahead and be open to the possibilities.

So – unplug yourself – it is the next step.  Only, I mean it literally.  Unplug yourself from Facebook, Twitter, texting, phone calls … all of it!  Is there anything easier than burying your face in your phone when you are in a boring, uncomfortable, and new, situation?  To be connected to technology is to keep you safe.  If you have your phone out, clearly you have friends, right?  Or, you are obviously searching for important information on the web?

Imagine it – you are meeting your new classmate and guess what … you have to ask her face to face questions?  It wasn’t a wall post or a text message.  You looked her in the eye and said, “Want to eat dinner?”  She responds with a smile, “Sure, why not?”   You didn’t have to add’ LOL’, or, double check that she was serious, or … worse yet, wonder if she really exists?  You will look around, feel liberated, and be ready to plug into something new – a new community!

Worried you will miss those old friends?  A long time ago, in a not so distant state, we actually wrote letters to one another.  Or, set aside time to privately chat with old friends.  While you may think I am discouraging your connection to the old – I am actually asking you to invest in those friendships with some quality interactions.

In the words of Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”  Unplug yourself.

You’ve probably always secretly wanted to be a superhero, but figured you didn’t have the x-ray vision or superhuman strength to make the cut. But you don’t need to be Spiderman or the Green Lantern to fight crime, you just need a criminal justice degree to help you get started.

Check out these 5 crime-fighting careers you can start with a criminal justice degree:

Superhero Career #1: FBI Agent
In the movies, FBI agents are using the ones tracking down the criminal masterminds, whether they are international spies or the heads of organized crime networks. To get the skills they need, FBI agents undergo rigorous mental and physical training.

For more information, check out our law enforcement career profile.

Superhero Career #2: Firefighter
Unlike other law enforcement professionals, who fight criminals first-hand, firefighters have a whole different beast to contend with. To contain and put out fires that can damage property and lives, they need extensive knowledge of fire-fighting chemicals, technologies, and procedures.

For more information, check out our firefighter career profile.

Superhero Career #3: Private Investigator
Private investigators use their eye for detail and nose for clues to solve a wide range of mysteries. They may be employed by private companies, individuals, and even legal firms to figure out “whodunit.”

For more information, check out our private investigator career profile.

Superhero Career #4: Police Officer
Every day, police officers in cities, towns and suburbs put their lives at risk to make patrol our streets and make sure they are safe from criminal activity.

For more information, check out our law enforcement career profile.

Superhero Career #5: Homeland Security Agent
With thousands of students, tourists, and citizens coming in and out of the country every day, homeland security agents help make sure that both ingoing and outgoing travelers are safe and secure.

For more information, check out our homeland security agent career profile.

The best way to find work in this field is to earn a degree in the field you wish to enter, such as graphic design or art. Although talent is important, all of these interviewees will agree that a degree is just as necessary in today’s economy.

Art and design jobs are projected to grow as fast as the average occupation according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but don’t expect flourishing in this industry to be a walk in the park. As these interviewees will say, competition for all of these pursuits is fierce, so having education and experience is sure to give you an edge.

To find out more about this field, be sure to read through all of these interviews. You can find everything about each area, from a normal day in each career to advice on how to succeed.

Art and Design career interviews include:
Animation & Design
Artist
Cartoonist
Graphic Designer
Fashion Designer
Illustrator
Interior Designer
Landscape Architect
Museum Technician
Photographer
Producer

If that sounds like you, here are five rewarding careers in a variety of industries that don’t require a bachelor’s degree to get started:

If you’re a fact finder . . .
Try a Title Examiner Career
Median Annual Salary: $38,300
Training: On the Job
Before you can buy land to build a house or business, you have to make sure the paperwork is in order. With the skills of Sherlock Holmes, title examiners investigate claims and records (some that go back hundreds of years!) to make sure property claims are verified and processed correctly. For more information, visit our title examiner career profile.

Career Booster: Start your career quickly, and advance your knowledge and your position with studies in real estate, paralegal studies, business, or finance.

If you want a medical job . . .
Try an EMT Career
Median Annual Salary: $30,808
Training: A high school diploma plus training program
When you dial 911 for an emergency, EMTs are often the first ones on the scene. By becoming an EMT, you’ll perform life-saving procedures that will keep patients safe and in stable condition until they reach the hospital. For more information, visit our EMT career profile.

Career Booster: You can start your EMT career by earning an EMT-Basic certification. Through additional training and by earning an Associate’s degree, you can advance to the EMT-intermediate and EMT-Paramedic levels, which allows you to perform more complex medical procedures (and take home some extra cash on pay day).

If you love animals . . .
Check out an Animal Groomer Career
Median Annual Salary: $19,360
Training: On the Job or a certificate program (ranging from several weeks to several months)
Under the guidance of an experience groomer, you’ll learn how to keep Spot’s coat glossy, his nails trimmed, and ears clean. Some groomers even prepare pedigreed show dogs for competition. For more information, check out our animal groomer career profile.

Career Booster: Once you get your start, earn your certification as a master canine groomer from the National Dog Groomers Association of America. This certification isn’t required, but it’s a great way to demonstrate your skills and credentials.

If you want to help people . . .
Try a Home Health Aide Career
Median Annual Salary: $20,460
Training: On the Job
No one likes staying in a hospital or rehab center. As a home health aide, you’ll care for patients and allow them to heal in the comfort of their own home. For more information, visit our home health aide career profile.

Career Booster: As a home health aide, you’ll gain experience that will prepare you for a career as a licensed practical nurse (LPN) or a registered nurse (RN). You can even work while you’re enrolled in an LPN or nursing program.

If you’re detail-oriented . . .
Try a Medical Administrative Assistant
Median Annual Salary: $27,100
Training: On the Job
It takes a lot to make a doctor’s office run. As a medical administrative assistant, you’ll be the offensive coordinator who orchestrates the interactions of patients, nurses and doctors, making sure everything runs smoothly. For more information, visit our medical administrative assistant career profile.

Career Booster: With additional training, you can move into a medical transcription or medical assistant role.

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