Career Articles

Making career decisions
Choosing a career in America is generally not a one-time decision; it’s a series of decisions, made as you progress through different stages of life, experience, and responsibility. As we move from one stage of life into another, we begin to adapt our lifestyles and family commitments to conform to our present employment needs or demands.

When It Comes to Jobs – “Uncle Sam Wants You”
There is a major shift in job opportunities from the historically attractive “private sector” to the less glamorously perceived “public sector.” As American taxpayers, we have encouraged the government’s attempts to reduce the size of the federal work force, since the early 1990’s.

When facing unemployment
The past century has been an era of unbelievable changes. We literally have gone from the horse and buggy days to outer space in less than 100 years. At the turn of the twentieth century, 90 percent of Americans worked in agriculture, usually on small family farms. At the close of the twentieth century, less than 5 percent made their living by working on family farms.

The Application
When applying for information or beginning the admissions and financial aid processes, understanding the importance of the associated time-lines is vital to success.Perhaps the most important term in the application process is “timeline.” Whether simply applying for information or formally beginning the admissions and financial aid processes, understanding the importance of the associated time-lines is vital to success in terms of acceptance, dormitory choices, and having larger varieties of financial aid available.

Employability through training and education
An educated and trained workforce is essential if Americans want to develop and maintain a viable economy. From an individual perspective, preparation is key to employability. Sound decisions regarding initial education and training are important, but people actually need to continue learning throughout their lifetimes.

Is Going to College Possible for Single Parents?
Many single parents realize that professional training opens doors for better jobs and higher pay, but the cost of college and technical school often deters them from pursuing a degree. What many do not realize is that financial aid is often available to help pay educational costs. Scholarships, grants, and other forms of financial aid are available through colleges and universities, private foundations, and state and federal programs.

Job Loss
It is never pleasant to be laid off, but the experience can be a good opportunity to make important progress.Don’t withdraw and lose hope in God’s leadership and guidance. Admit, accept, and deal with any anger, shame, or fear, then give those feelings to God so that you can be relieved of them.

The Search
As a parent of three Christian University graduates, I can say with certainty that, along with the obligatory academic reputation, location, cost and doctrinal considerations, there was one additional, very important decision point for our family – the notion of “in loco parentis," whether or not, within reason, the institutional culture, as it pertains to a holistic approach of care, nurturing, control and discipline would be reasonably close to that which we had established in our home and could serve as the “local parents” to our children, some nine hours away.

Paying for job hunting
If you are looking for a job, you might come across employment ads that were placed by employment assistance businesses. Although many of these firms may be legitimate, many others misrepresent their services, promote fictitious and out-dated job listings, or charge large upfront fees for services that often may not lead to a job.

Reshaping of the work world
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) paraphrased an ancient Persian proverb in his Conduct of Life: Behavior, when he wrote, "The world possesses three types of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who know not that things are happening or have happened." This is so true with regard to today’s work world.

Choosing the right vocation
A survey in Business Week magazine reported that only one out of six Americans is content with his or her job.That means that nearly 83 percent are dissatisfied. The most consistent complaint was a lack of fulfillment or long-term purpose.

Repaying student loans
Regarding your student loans, the following organization can provide information on the repayment of student loan debts at lower fixed rates of interest. We understand that as of July 1, 2002, a qualified individual might be able to consolidate his or her student loan at a lower interest rate, possibly as low as 4 percent. We encourage you to contact them for detailed information.

Writing a résumé
A résumé provides a well-thought-out, concise picture of you—the job seeker. It needs to communicate quickly, clearly, and accurately your objective, qualifications, experience, credentials, and accomplishments. Your résumé is generally the first impression of you a potential employer gets, so it is important for it to be concise, yet impressive.

Being excellent in a mediocre world
We live in a society in which average is exceptional and slothful is normal. The trend today is to seek the path of least resistance and, when the going gets difficult, to give up. In school, when the total grades are averaged together, it’s called "grading on the curve." In our society, we Christians have allowed our standards to be graded by the curve of the world.

Biblical perspective of work
Over a 50-year span, the average American spends about 100,000 hours working. A major part of adults’ lives is involved in work, but often with the job comes some degree of dissatisfaction. Perhaps no statistic demonstrates dissatisfaction more than job-hopping tendencies. A recent survey discovered that the average American man changes jobs every four and one-half years, the average woman every three years.

Job stress
Although we are all aware of stress caused by finances and relationships, you’d be amazed at how many people are really stressed and discouraged over issues that relate to their jobs. Career counseling agencies are finding that job anxiety is one of the major causes of stress in our society. Health problems related to job stress is third only to heart problems and cancer as the leading cause of health problems.

Networking
The most effective method of finding a new job is through contacts—the people you already know or those who know the people you already know. These people can include family, friends, schoolmates, business associates, business contacts, social contacts, and church contacts. Personal contacts are the most worthwhile and beneficial source of job leads, because they know you and they might know potential employers.

Searching for a new job
One of the primary tragedies of a slowdown in our economy is that as money becomes tight companies have to “tighten their belts” financially in order to remain competitive, and in some cases it is necessary in order for them to remain solvent.

Work-at-home programs
Beware of work-at-home schemes. “Would you like to earn hundreds of dollars a week at home, in your leisure time? Many people are supplementing their income in a very easy way. Let us tell you how.”“Earn $9,000 per week working in your spare time in the comfort of your own home. No selling involved. No experience necessary. Call toll free 1-800-JOB-SCAM.”

Working smart
Being successful is not about how hard you work – it’s about how smart you work. Michael LeBoef said, "Devoting a little of yourself to everything means committing a great deal of yourself to nothing." In a leader’s life, there’s a big difference between activity and accomplishment. Activity is being busy, but as Henry David Thoreau once said, "It’s not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: What are [you] busy about?"