5 Careers You Can Have with a Business Degree (Guest Post)

Earning your bachelor’s degree in business could help you jumpstart your career after graduation. Working within a business industry may be an exciting way to put your degree to good use. Here are five potential careers you might have with a college degree in business.

Considering a career in business?  (Photo by SalFalko via Flickr)

Considering a career in business? (Photo by SalFalko via Flickr)

Retail manager. So you are considered a fashionista and have a hard time not making a purchase when the shoes sales are calling. If you would like to oversee sales teams and don’t mind working nights or weekends in a retail setting, then a career as a retail manager might be a great career for you. Retail managers might travel frequently, set goals for their team members, try to increase sales, and create training programs. They typically earn around $98,530 a year and the job outlook is supposed to be as fast as average for all careers.

Advertising manager. Advertising managers try to drum up interest in different products, brands, or services. They might negotiate contracts, conduct research in order to plan ad campaigns, and meet with clients to provide advertising advice. At times, they might have to come up with budgets for particular advertising campaigns. They make around $108,260 per year and usually have a minimum of a bachelor’s, in addition to some work experience in the field.

Construction manager. Have you always liked to swing a hammer and been excited about the building process? In the construction field, managers usually earn $83,860 per year and have varied job functions such as coming up with cost estimates for jobs, figuring out about how long each job should take until completion, and even hiring subcontractors and laborers. Construction managers might be called project managers or general contractors because they typically oversee various building projects such as commercial or residential jobs. The job outlook is expected to grow around 17% and is as fast as usual for all careers.

Hospitality manager. You’ve been known to make others feel at home when they visit and you have perfected the role of “hostess with the mostess.” How about a career as a hospitality manager? Hospitality mangers try to make sure that their guests feel comfortable and enjoy their stay. An average salary per year for these managers is $46,880 and most large-scale hotels prefer their hospitality managers to have at least a bachelor’s degree. If greeting guests and answering any questions they may have sounds like a dream to you, then you should look into becoming a hospitality manager.

Management Analyst. Do others tell you that you are organized and efficient? Are you detail-oriented as well? Then a career as a management analyst might be a good fit for you. Management analysts try to come up with ways that a company might run more efficiently. They could look at financial information, create solutions to problems, and make recommendations for improvements. The annual pay is around $78,160 per year and you should have at least a bachelor’s degree for entry-level positions.

Entering into a business related career may be an exciting move for you after college graduation. Sometimes all you need to do to get started is to begin researching potential careers. Read detailed job descriptions, find out what cities offer career opportunities in your area of interest, and speak with a career counselor on your college campus for more information about business jobs that intrigue you.

Pamela Rossow is a freelance writer who works with higher education clients such as eLearners. She is a native South Floridian who enjoys photography, literature, and hockey. You can follow her on Google+.


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7 Careers In Healthcare That Could Change Your Life (Guest Post)

At some point, it seems all children are asked what they want to be when they grow up. If you were never sure of the answer, but somehow knew that you would be most satisfied doing something that helps others, a career in healthcare could be precisely what you’re looking for.

Your desire to help other people may actually benefit you. Psychology Today suggests that helping others fixes a higher happiness set point. The happiness set point theory says that a human’s level of well-being (happiness) is primarily determined by heredity and personality traits that were ingrained during early life. Researchers have found, though, that a person can raise their happiness set point by focusing on helping others.

Interested in a career in healthcare?

Interested in a career in healthcare?

As jobs in other fields disappear, healthcare jobs are on the rise. Opportunities in healthcare and health technology will continue to be strong for years to come, according to heathcarecareers.org.

Becoming a doctor is an obvious choice for helping people, but medical school is not for everyone. Fortunately, there are a number of other avenues you can take that will lead you to a career in healthcare.

Registered Nurse

As a registered nurse you would directly treat patients, help educate them and provide emotional support to patients and their family members. A registered nurse is often the first person on the job, and the first to get to know a patient’s history and symptoms. You would most likely be the professional a patient would turn to for answers and encouragement. Nursing is a life-changing career for anyone with a passion for healthcare and helping others.

Pharmacy Technician

As a pharmacy technician you would deal with people when they’re either sick or trying to maintain health. It would be your job to help licensed pharmacists provide medication and health care products to patients who need them. Routine tasks include the preparation of medicine, including properly labeling bottles and counting tablets or capsules. You have options when it comes to learning this job. You can either attend class in person or learn to be a pharmacy technician online. For a people-person, working as a pharmacy technician allows you to be a comforting voice during what might be a stressful time for a patient.

Phlebotomist

While the idea of drawing blood and transporting it to a laboratory for analysis may not appeal to everyone, it is exactly what a phlebotomist does. A great phlebotomist is calm, compassionate and can make the act of drawing blood seem effortless. If you’re someone who can soothe a crying child or calm a nervous adult, this may be the perfect career fit for you.

Physical Therapist

A physical therapist helps restore function and relieve pain in those who suffer from injury or disease. Pain can change a patient’s quality of life and even impact their personality. As a physical therapist you would have the ability to help them regain normal function and to encourage patients as they are on the road to recovery. You would also help patients with permanent conditions find adaptations that make their lives easier, thereby changing a person’s entire life.

Sonographer

Sonographers direct high-frequency sound waves into areas of a patient’s body in order to generate an image that will be assessed for a variety of medical issues. In one day you may do everything from looking for a blocked artery to helping parents determine the sex of their unborn child. No two days are alike in the life of a sonographer. If you like variety and can deal with a myriad of different patient personalities, this career can use someone like you.

Radiation Therapist

Radiation therapists are part of a medical radiation oncology team, working primarily with cancer patients by administering radiation at targeted cancer cells. As a radiation therapist you would work with patients at one of the toughest times of their life. A compassionate nature and professional attitude are both required for such a position.

Dietitian

A dietitian can work in many settings, including: hospitals, schools and nursing homes. As a trained dietitian it would be your job to plan food and nutrition programs for the population you’re working with and to supervise the preparation and delivery of meals. Dietitians change lives by recommending dietary changes that can help people live a longer, healthier life.

Healthcare jobs are here to stay. It’s just a matter of finding the one that speaks to you and investigating what it will take to get you there.

Guest Post by Chuck Flint.
Chuck teaches Pilates and writes about health and wellness from his beachside home in California.


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Easy Part-Time Jobs for College Students (Guest Post)

We all know college can be a difficult adjustment. It’s hard enough to balance schoolwork with having a social life and getting enough sleep. How are you supposed to fit in a part-time job, too? The good news is that it can be done, and it may be easier than you think! There are plenty of jobs out there for the enterprising college student that can give you valuable experience as well as a little extra spending money, without taking up too much of your time. In my opinion, freshmen should hold off on working for at least a semester or two. But when you’ve settled into college life, here are some easy ways to earn money while still having enough time to study and play:

Summer jobs for students

Shh … You’re in the Library

Working on campus is ideal, but in the library it’s even better. If you’re worried that working won’t leave enough time for studying, this is the job for you. Duties of a study hall or library monitor usually include supervising, shelving and provide centralized access to some of the resources and services they provide. It’s a pretty easy job, and with lots of down time — meaning you’ll be in a quiet place with time to catch up on reading and homework.

It’s Tutor Time

If you’re especially strong in any subject, visit your university’s educational resource center to see if any tutoring positions are available. Even if you aren’t comfortable tutoring peers, there are many tutoring opportunities available at any education level. Visit middle school and high school settings to see if administrators are looking to hire outside help, or if parents need someone to help Junior with his math homework. Even if the work is easy for you, it’ll help keep you sharp on subject basics.

Remember Retail

Working in retail or in a fast food setting often gets a bad rap, but don’t assume flipping burgers is your only option. Frozen yogurt shops and smoothie-making joints are especially popular around college campuses. Visit job-applications.com to see if you can score a part-time job at either of these types of establishments, and you’ll likely find you aren’t only earning money but are also meeting a lot of people your age.

Live-in Help = Free Rent

Don’t worry about this job interfering with your study or social life, because there’ll be plenty of time for everything. Interested? Consider this: In college, many young people live with an elderly couple and help take care of the house and yard in exchange from room and board. As live-in help, you may be responsible for mowing the lawn, vacuuming bedrooms and preparing food — but they’ll be paying for it.

Donate Plasma for Gas Money

All around the country, people are getting $20-$30 a week for donating their plasma, and it’s not a black market deal. Plasma centers draw your blood, extract the plasma from it and return your blood back to you. It’s used to help hemophiliacs, burn victims and aid other ailments. Because it can take up to two hours, unlike donating blood, plasma centers pay you for your time and plasma.

Babysit & Study

Don’t dismiss the idea of babysitting just because you’re out of high school. Teachers, university employees and graduate students who have children often favor college students when choosing a sitter. Students may need you to stay home with their child while they run to class or work part-time themselves. Especially if it’s scheduled during nap time or in the evening, you may only be acting as a precautionary babysitter who’s there in case the child wakes up. In this case, you can get some good studying in while earning a few bucks.

Guest Post by Brad Long
Brad has a knack for writing and gardening. So far he’s managed to find a way to feed himself by being good at both of these activities and that’s good enough for him.


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Objection Sustained: Deciding if Law School is Right for You (Guest Post)

Guest Post by Sonia Martinez.
Sonia is a freelance writer and paralegal who lives in New Jersey.

Note: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of the owner of this website.

Northwestern University Library

Northwestern University Library

Northwestern University Law School in Evanston, Ill., announced that it will cut its incoming 2013 class by upwards of 25 students. Daniel Rodriguez, the dean of the school, said reductions are necessary to address growing student debt and unemployment. Northwestern, via its website, said it will increase total financial aid by 25 percent over the next two years to help offset the 3 percent tuition increase that will take effect in the fall of 2013.

Northwestern is by no means a trend setter, nor a lone wolf with its recent actions. A 2012 Kaplan Test Prep survey found that 51 percent of U.S. law schools cut their class sizes due to excessive unemployment among graduates. About 75,000 new jobs in the legal profession will be created through 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while 40,000 new graduates will enter the job market every year.

Students wishing to become the next Vincent Gambini or Nancy Grace may want to consider some of the hard facts about this once prestigious profession. Nearly 33 percent of 2012 graduates are not working as lawyers, according to Smart Money magazine, and U.S. News & World Report said the average amount of debt for said graduates is more than $100,000. Sure, if you graduate in the top 10 percent of your class at Harvard, Stanford, Yale or some other big-name school, you are all but certain to make six figures right out of college. The other 90 percent of graduates need to consider the realities they face before making that three-year, very expensive commitment.

The Money Question

A New York Times Op-Ed published last November basically made the argument that law school is worth its weight in US Money Reserve gold. Not surprisingly, the column was written by Lawrence E. Mitchell, the dean of Case Western Reserve University law school. He points to the median starting salary for attorneys in 2011 being $61,500, and the average of all practicing lawyers a whopping $130,490. But several subsequent “letters to the editor” pointed out the aforementioned poor job market, rising tuition costs not adjusted for inflation, and the massive debt graduates must deal with.

Of course, this entire back-and-forth argument is put to rest for students who earn scholarships and grants to cover most or all of their costs. An easy way to determine whether or not law school is right for you is by earning a 170 or higher LSAT score, combined with a 3.75 or higher GPA. Those numbers will almost guarantee you receive a vast majority of funds for law school that do not have to be paid back.

Your Goals vs. Reality

Most young people get into law because of the high-potential returns on their educational investments. But believe it or not, there are still a few people out there who simply want to stand up for and represent the little person. If you are in the latter group, a career as a lawyer can be quite rewarding, especially if success is measured more by justice than money. Those in the previous group must get into a top 20 school and graduate no lower than the top 10 percent of their class to guarantee monetary riches.

The decision to go or not to go will change your life one way or another. If you’re in it for the right reasons, however, there is no right or wrong decision.


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