Job Hunting Scam That Won’t Die – Diane Stafford

Feb 062017
 

A company found Jane’s resume online and contacted her, offering a pathway to the career she coveted.

Jane went to the company’s local office. The “counselor” asked for $4,500 up front to help her tweak her resume and get access to unpublished job openings.

Jane left. Smart Jane.

I repeatedly hear from job hunters, many of them professionals seeking high-powered positions, who — too late — regret paying big money up front to an organization that promised access to the “hidden” job market.

Their egos had been massaged, and their wallets had been drained. In return, they got little more job-search assistance than what they could have done on their own.

Legitimate headhunters — who are paid by employers to submit qualified candidates for consideration — do not ask job hunters to pay for their services.

Repeat: You shouldn’t be asked to pay to find a job.

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New College Financial Aid Dates Take Affect October 1

Sep 262016
 

financial-aidParents familiar with the federal financial aid process know that Jan. 1 has historically been the first day to file Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) submissions. But thanks to changes announced last year, millions of incoming college students will now be able to file starting Oct. 1 instead. In addition to the earlier filing time frame, applicants will be required to report income from an earlier tax year.

According to the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), the new time frame is better aligned with the college application process and reduces the need to estimate income information.

When a student is attending college (school year) When a student can submit a FAFSA Income and tax year information required
Previous process July 1, 2016–June 30, 2017 Jan. 1, 2016–June 30, 2017 2015
New process July 1, 2017–June 30, 2018 Oct. 1, 2016–June 30, 2018 2015
July 1, 2018–June 30, 2019 Oct. 1, 2017–June 30, 2019 2016

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  •  September 26, 2016
  •  Posted by at 10:04 am
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The Best Cities For Women In Tech Aren’t On The West Coast – Clare O’Connor

Apr 252016
 

San Francisco’s booming technology sector is a pretty great place to make a living if you’re a man. Men hold 82% of leadership positions, on average, at Google GOOGL -1.02%, Facebook, Twitter and the rest of the industry’s biggest companies. And they don’t have to concern themselves with that pesky gender pay gap. Men with bachelor’s degrees or better in Silicon Valley earn over 50% more than their female counterparts.

Luckily, the Bay Area isn’t the only place for women in tech to grow successful careers. Financial technology company SmartAsset analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data to come up with a list of the best cities for women in the tech sector. San Francisco didn’t crack the top 15.

SmartAsset looked at four metrics across the 58 largest cities in the country: women as a percentage of the tech workforce; the gender pay gap in tech; income after housing costs; and three year tech employment growth. 

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  •  April 25, 2016
  •  Posted by at 9:32 am
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The Skills Employers Are Looking For – Stacy Rapacon

Feb 152016
 

Looking forIf you’ve heard talk about a “skills gap” in the labor force lately, it was likely in reference to the short supply of potential employees with the right technical skills. But another kind of skill is in even greater demand.

Employers are increasingly seeking employees with so-called soft skills, or baseline skills, such as writing, communication and organization.

A recent study from job market research firm Burning Glass Technologies analyzed 25 million online job postings from more than 40,000 sources over the past year and identified the most sought-after skills.

“We tend to focus on technical skill requirements, but the reality is employers are very vocal about the need for people to have foundational or baseline skills,” said Matt Sigelman, CEO of Burning Glass. “Even in jobs that are really denominated in technical terms, it’s still very important to employers that people have the right soft skills.”

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Report: Kansas Tech Workers See Second Largest Salary Increase in Nation – Oliver Morrison

Feb 082016
 
Average salary increased to $87,000 in Kansas, according to survey
Kansas increased by almost 20 percent compared to 8 percent nationally
U.S. tech workers earn more: $96,000 on average

Tech Worker Salaries in KS

While the average worker’s salary has stagnated for decades, tech worker salaries continue to boom and nowhere are they rising faster than in Kansas, according to a new report by Dice, a career site for technology professionals.

The average salary in Kansas increased 20 percent between 2014 and 2015 for tech workers, according to the report, the second biggest increase in the nation behind North Dakota.

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  •  February 8, 2016
  •  Posted by at 2:51 pm
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