Tips for Being a Successful Online Student

Posted August 11, 2010 By admin and has 167 comments.

College classes will soon begin and I thought we might want to take a look at some tips on how to be successful as an online student. It doesn’t matter if you are a first-timer or a seasoned professional, we can all use some advice when it comes to being successful. Even if you enrolled in a class for your personal enjoyment, you may need to adjust your priorities to accommodate for the class.

Here are some tips from Mississippi Valley State University:

  • Make a personal commitment to your education and set priorities. You will need to make some life choices.
  • Create a private study space, free from other distractions.
  • Establish a study schedule for all your courses and do your best to keep up with the assignments.
  • Try to use the same study habits as you would for a traditional face-to-face class.
  • Be self-motivated and self-disciplined and take responsibility for your own learning.
  • Speak up if problems come up. Contact your instructor.
  • The more involved and active you are, the more you will learn.
  • Be open-minded about sharing life, work, and educational experiences.
  • Participate in online discussions. Sharing your thoughts and information contributes to our learning community.
  • Seek the help of others within your online classes (via email, telephone, chat) and add to our learning community.
  • Don’t forget to seek the support of your family and peers as they contribute to your success as an online student.
  • Backup all of the work you do on you computer and keep a copy of any work you submit in your online courses.
  • Be able to communicate through writing. Remember that in an online course you are silent and invisible if you don’t use your keyboard.
  • Use proper “netiquette”

If you haven’t enrolled in your fall classes, check out www.KSCareers.org. You can choose from many institutions of higher learning in Kansas and find an assortment of courses that are delivered virtually.

Lori Hopp, GCDF

www.KSCareers.org

Categories: Adult Student, Advising
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4 Ways for Colleges to Reach Adult Students

Posted July 22, 2010 By admin and has 103 comments.

Adults who are returning to institutions of higher learning have needs that are different than traditional garden-variety students fresh out of high school. It is no surprise that Financial Aid offices are having to learn new ways to communicate with the more seasoned students. The Chronicle of Higher Education shares 4 easy tips on how maximize the communication process:

  1. Communicate early
  2. Communicate often
  3. Use multiple forms of communication
  4. Communicate with other departments on campus

Adults have many demands on their life from finances, to families to careers and they do not need the hassle of ambiguous notes from the Financial Aid Department. They need to know how much their education will cost and when they will graduate. It is up to the Financial Aid Office to help them figure out  if they are eligible for scholarships or grants to pay for their education.

Lori Hopp, GCDF

www.lorihopp.com

www.KSCareers.org

Categories: Adult Student, College, FAFSA, Scholarship, Student Loan
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6 Most Disgusting Jobs

Posted July 12, 2010 By admin and has no comments yet.

Say what you will about the 6 Most Disgusting Jobs from LiveCareer.com – I have just one thing to say, “ICKY POO!!!” Pull up your waders and let’s just jump right into the muck:

  1. Pig Farmer – Vegas Style – $40,804
  2. Geoduck Harvester – $22,793
  3. Turkey Inseminator – $33,419
  4. Snake Researcher – $55,409
  5. Monkey Caretaker – $28,819
  6. Shark Suit Tester – $33,710

The jobs on this  list remind of one of my previous posts based on the book, 50 Jobs Worse Than Yours. Even though there are days when I feel that I have been the Shark Suit Tester, I will keep my current job working as the Carl D. Perkins grant administrator for several school districts in Kansas.

Lori Hopp, GCDF

KSCareers.org

Categories: A Day in the Life..., Career, Unusual Jobs
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The Handoff: The Ultimate Networking Tool

Posted July 9, 2010 By admin and has 60 comments.

Hold onto your hat as the Ultimate Networking Tool is disclosed in this article from the Chronicle of Higher Education by Gene C. Fant, Jr. He talks about maintaining a file of resumes that belong to people who were not offered jobs at the institution of higher learning where he works. Hmm…just why would he do that?

According to Fant, “That may sound counterintuitive, but there are many times that an applicant is very impressive but is just not the right fit for the posted position.” He asks the applicant if he can share his or her resume with colleagues if another opening should occur. He goes on to mention that, “Most folks have no idea how much résumé-swapping goes on among administrators and search-committee chairs, especially in hard-to-fill disciplines.”

What I loved most about this article was Font’s closing paragraph, “All of this underscores a huge truth of the search process: Always be gracious in every portion of the search. Be careful to avoid burning bridges—one never knows when that bridge might lead to a new destination.”

Lori Hopp, GCDF

KSCareers.org

Categories: Etiquette, Hiring, Interviews, Network, Resumes
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Making Learning Matter: 11 Simple Commandments

Posted July 8, 2010 By admin and has 144 comments.

Here’s some interesting info from blog that I recently discovered on how employers can make learning matter for their employees. Take a look at a conversation that one of Stephen Paskoff, President and CEO of ELI Inc., clients had with him recently:

“They‘re simply not getting it. Managers, executives and employees are saturated with information and they’re zoning out. We give our leaders and employees great training videos to watch. We have them go to classes that address our issues. We deliver engaging e-learning and we send them reminders. But something’s not working. Not enough are getting key points and applying what they’re supposed to learn. How do we fix this?”

In his response to the client, Mr. Paskoff said,

“In the last 25 years, I’ve heard this frustration expressed about initiatives focusing on topics ranging from discrimination to abusive conduct to encouraging the raising of concerns to ethics and compliance responsibilities. Yet, the dissatisfaction persists, even as new technologies have dramatically improved our ability to reach everyone at any time with customized, specific and interesting content at their desktop.”

I think information overload can quickly turn into white noise if not properly managed. Mr. Paskoff offers some great tips on how to re-frame information and it’s delivery for better communication:

  1. Changing behavior is much more complex than delivering information.
  2. Manage your messages: keep them simple, clear and few.
  3. There’s a difference between entertaining an audience and influencing behavior.
  4. Vague messages lead to vague results.
  5. People follow leaders.
  6. It has to matter to me.
  7. Don’t tell me; let me tell you.
  8. If I have to teach others, I’m more likely to do it myself.
  9. Don’t confuse technical information with what needs to be applied.
  10. Reward the standard, enforce the breach.
  11. You don’t know your organization like we do.

Take a look at your communication and training practices in your organization and see if there is room for improvement. Or better yet, ask some of your employees to provide feedback on how you are doing. They are the ones who matter most.

Lori Hopp, GCDF

KSCareers.org

Categories: Boss, Career, Communication, Education, On the Job
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Jobs With Great Perks

Posted July 7, 2010 By admin and has 57 comments.

As you toddle to the office, punch the time clock, and settle in for the day with a fresh cup of Joe, do you ever dream about chucking your career for the good life? No doubt, it would be one of those jobs where you get paid for not working very hard in the setting of your choice. Kaitlin Madden, CareerBuilder.com writer, gives us some suggestions on what we could do to be the master of our own destiny:

  • Editor – travel often and work from home
  • Advertising Account Executive – work with extremely creative and fun people
  • Travel Industry Executive – Visit amazing cities and resorts
  • Advice Columnist – Freedom to work from anywhere

Each job has its perks, but there are also some drawbacks to consider. Make sure you do some in depth research before hopping the barbed wire fence for greener pasture.

Lori Hopp, GCDF

KSCareers.org

Categories: A Day in the Life..., Career, On the Job
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The Benefits of a Background Check

Posted June 25, 2010 By admin and has 4 comments.

In many cases, job applicants must subject themselves to a background check in order to be considered for a position. There is no question that an employer must do everything in his or her power to ensure the person they are about to hire has no past indiscretions that could put the company,employees, or customers at risk.

Communicationsjobs.net suggest that a job applicant should perform their own background check prior to an interview. Here’s what they have to say:

The Benefits of A Background Check
According to SHRM, more than 80% of employers are using background checks to make informed hiring decisions and you can get hired faster by performing this vital step yourself. Here are a few benefits we want to share with you:

  • Achieve Peace of Mind – When you hear “Background Check” you probably get an uneasy feeling. The thought of someone learning about you and your past sounds invasive but it doesn’t have to be that way, especially if you perform the background check yourself. Background checks are becoming more important in the professional world and you can easily ease your mind about what a potential employer may discover about you.
  • Correct Mistakes – Not only will you be able to ease your mind, but any mistake you find on your record may be corrected before someone reviews and misinterprets it. It’s also recommended that before you perform your background check that you clean-up your digital dirt. You wouldn’t want anything that is posted on social sites such as Facebook or Myspace to be held against you
  • Add Value to Employers By Saving them Time and Money – The recruitment process can be very taxing and time-consuming for employers. If an employer knows that you have already completed a background check, they may have a better comfort level in selecting you for an interview. In addition, you are adding value by eliminating a step in their recruitment process as well as saving them time and money.
  • Increase Your Marketability – You can also increase your marketability by promoting your background check directly on your resume. Employers and recruiters receive hundreds of resumes each month. By performing a background check, you can demonstrate that you are serious and committed to your job search and are willing to go that extra mile.

In a previous post on The Truth About Background Checks, I explored the truth, as well as the fiction, behind the checks. While I have never considered performing my personal background check, I can certainly see the value in doing so before a job interview.

Lori Hopp, GCDF

Categories: Interviews
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For-Profit Colleges Under the Bus This Week

Posted June 24, 2010 By admin and has 72 comments.

Oh Holy Cow friends…I just don’t even know where to start with this one! Our Federal Government is back at it again, only this time, they are throwing for-profit colleges under the bus. The bad news is that they are taking no prisoners, and all institutions of higher learning could be getting up close and personal with the smell of fresh asphalt and melting rubber. Let’s just button up our sleeves and cut to the chase. Here’s a small taste of an article written by Paul Basken for The Chronicle of Higher Education:

Congress plans to put for-profit colleges under the microscope on Thursday, asking whether a higher-education model that consumes more than double its proportionate share of federal student aid is an innovation worthy of duplication or a recipe for long-term economic disaster.

The review is being led by Sen. Tom Harkin, the Iowa Democrat who is chairman of the Senate’s education committee. Mr. Harkin has expressed concern that recent moves by Congress to pump billions of new dollars into student aid might be undermined by corporate-owned colleges interested primarily in maximizing returns to shareholders.

The evaluation threatens new headaches for an industry that is sometimes exalted by government policy makers as a lean results-oriented example for the rest of academe, and other times caricatured as an opportunistic outlier that peddles low-value education to unprepared high school dropouts.

Think about what is going on here, then take a look at the default rates for student loans at two-year for-profit colleges:

And default numbers calculated over borrowers’ lifetimes may be far worse. The Education Department, in an analysis last November, estimated that more than 15 percent of federally subsidized loans, by dollar value, would enter default at some period. And among two-year for-profit colleges, it said, the estimate is 47 percent.

The tuition at for-profit colleges is considerably higher than Board of Regents Institutions; however, students may progress through the courses quicker, thus entering the workforce at a faster rate. Before you decide where you stand on the issue, take the time to read the article in its entirety. You may be surprised at the information you discover.

Lori Hopp, GCDF

KSCareer.org

Categories: Career Advising, College, Education, For-Profit Colleges, Student Loan
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8 Odd College Courses

Posted June 22, 2010 By admin and has no comments yet.

After cracking open my latest email on college courses, I reflected on my personal trek through higher academia. I found the garden variety pre-requisite English Comp and Algebra, sprinkled with some business courses, along with a truck load of adult education to adorn my transcript.

Maria Hanson from LiveCareer found some very odd classes which she says, “can lead to high paying careers.” Take a look at the list and see if you find any courses of interest that could launch your career in a whole new direction:

  1. Wine and Beer Appreciation – Syracuse University
  2. The Joy of Garbage – Santa Clara University
  3. The Unbearable Whiteness of Barbie – Occidental College
  4. Far Side Entomology – Oregon State University
  5. From the Undead to the Already Dead – Occidental College
  6. The Science of Super Heroes – University of California, Irvine
  7. Inflatable Public Sculpture – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  8. Philosophy and Star Trek – Georgetown University

Of the 8 on the list, my pick would probably be Wine and Beer Appreciation. According to Hanson,  “Students who like this line of study can toast their way to careers as food-service managers ($65,402) or hotel managers ($166,692).” Sounds like some good money to me, not to mention the perks!

Lori Hopp, GCDF

www.KSCareers.org

Categories: Advising, College, Education
Tags: ,

What is a Student Loan?

Posted June 21, 2010 By admin and has 146 comments.

What is a student loan? The simple answer is that a student loan is money that is loaned to a student for the purpose of attending college. The loan is typically used for tuition, books, and living expenses. The loan must be repaid, beginning 6 months after graduation.

Like everything else, there is really nothing simple about a student loan. Priya Kumar from GreatDegree.com helps us understand basic information on different types of student loans.

Still have more questions? Student Loan SOS, may provide helpful information. Arm yourself with as much information as humanly possible before signing on the bottom line.

Lori Hopp, GCDF

www.KSCareers.org

Categories: College, Education, FAFSA, Student Loan
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