Weekly Poll: Are office romances okay?

In your opinion, are office romances okay? Some believe as long as things are kept quiet, the workplace won't be affected. Others believe that in the long-run, problems will arise. So what's your take on this? Comment below!

Weekly Poll: What was your worst job interview mistake?

Everyone's got their fair share of job interview horror stories, but some mistakes stick out in our minds more than others.

So what was your worst job interview mistake? Vote below and don't forget to comment of course!

Job Market Looking Up For Grads

College grads stepping into a better economy

Reprinted with permission from hattiesburgamerican.com.

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In between finishing her marketing classes before graduation, Dana Mullins is getting a feel for her new job as marketing director at Polk's Meat Co.

Mullins, 22, will graduate May 13 with a bachelor's degree in marketing from the University of Southern Mississippi. After this, she will step into her role on a full-time basis.

Mullins joins graduates across the nation in entering a better job market than last year's graduates.

According to a report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, Mullins and her 2011 classmates should be able to find a job.

Employers plan to hire 19.3 percent more recent graduates this year, the report said. The association surveyed 174 schools from February through April.

Eric Williams, who will graduate May 14 from William Carey University with a master's degree in forensics science, has a different story. The Magee native already has a bachelor's degree in biology and said the job search has been a bit daunting.

He said he received a book from Student Support Services that helped him along and gave him tips but he still hasn't heard from potential employers.

"I'm confident I will find a job," he said. "Now it's about who you know and the economy has the jobs slim. With my major, it's hard to find a job."

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College Grad Stays Positive And Makes A Difference

An ambitious young job seeker

Reprinted with permission from msstate.edu.

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STARKVILLE, Miss.--Some recent college graduates may be shaken by the national economy, but Ali Borazjani of Starkville isn't one of them.

Borazjani, who received a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering last weekend, was among some 2,400 spring graduates of Mississippi State.

Borazjani has many reasons to feel optimistic about the future. In February, he became chief scientific officer of Innometrix, a biomedical device company he created with Benjamin C. "Ben" Weed, a biomedical engineering doctoral student at the university. Weed, of Huntsville, Ala., serves as the company's chief operations officer.

As part of their business, Borazjani has filed paperwork related to a patent pending on a medical device to help women predict the onset of pelvic organ prolapse, a disease with symptoms including incontinence. Additionally, the two are working with a nonprofit start-up organization, Global Solutions in Reproductive Health Care, to help provide medical supplies to South African hospitals and medical clinics.

A Starkville High School graduate, Borazjani will be juggling all these projects as he begins study this fall at the Cleveland (Ohio) Clinic, one of the nation's top hospitals. Along with the entrepreneurial ventures, he plans to complete a doctorate and also become a physician.

Asked about thoughts on his future career, the young researcher and businessman had no hesitation in expressing optimism for the field of biomedical engineering.

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Student Loans: Parents signing on for them?

Students get financial reinforcements

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Many families are making plans to pack up the belongings of their recent high-school graduates and move them off to college. The experience of life on campus is exciting and provides many opportunities for growth.

But if listening to the sobering stories of the 2010 graduates from universities across the country are any indication of what’s ahead, parents as well as the students would do well to seriously consider exactly what they’re getting into. Research tells us that the job market for graduates is not promising, except for those in a few selected areas of study.

Signing on the line for student loans is not difficult. The terms of the loan may be explained but the official-sounding language can be confusing to the student and to the parent. This is actually the best time to really think through what would happen if things didn’t work out as planned.

It is a fact that close to half of the students enrolled in college do not graduate. What’s more concerning is that often the parents have co-signed for loans covering college expenses with the ‘understanding’ that the student will be responsible for repayment once they graduate.

If that doesn’t happen, parents may be shocked to learn that they indeed will be the ones re-paying that loan. Defaults have a serious impact on the parent’s credit scores.

It is not unusual for parents to have several student loans to repay for more than one child. These loans may come due at a point in their lives when it’s going to be extremely difficult for them as they’re trying to save for their own retirements.

Four-year and six-year degree programs are no longer a guarantee of a job. In fact, geographical location, competition from other candidates and a sour economy means graduates are faced with few prospects for employment. It’s disheartening when they realize that those loans, so easy to sign for, are now coming due.

Recently, Minnesota Public Radio posed the question to listeners: would you go deeply into debt for a college education? Noting that graduates from Minnesota colleges and universities in 2008 carried an average student debt of more than $25,000, they asked for honest feedback.

Some of the responses from recent graduates: “I am sitting on $50,000 in debt from undergraduate and graduate studies. I have 18 months left on my program. My debt will be somewhere near $65,000.” Another response: “I borrowed $250,000 in student loans on the way to my doctorate at St. Thomas;” “I am on a 25-year repayment plan. I will be free of my student loans when I am 52 years old.”

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What Job Hunters Can Learn From Unemployed Actors

Some personal job search advice

A guest post by Rebekah Cockrell

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Every day I look out at the internet and see my friends saying the same thing..”I’m tired of job hunting”. And my response is, “you should be tired”. If you’re not tired of job hunting, you’re not trying hard enough. It’s a tough economy to be looking for employment. But don’t get discouraged. There are jobs out there. You need to just keep at it. Which brings us into our topic for the article…. What can job hunters learn from unemployed actors?

Lesson Number One: It’s all about being seen.

If you’re sitting at home in your PINK sweats watching The Hills entire last season while your roommate is out in her best suit going to networking meetings and social functions, it’s not going to be tough to guess who is going to find a job first. You need to be out there, letting people know you’re ready and looking for employment. Actors do the same thing. When they are out of work, they take meetings, hit parties and network with people who could hire them. It’s not the time for them to be hanging out at home in their sweats eating gummi bears. Instead they make sure they always look their best and that other’s see them. Ok, so some of you aren’t the greatest at face to face networking. Good thing that in today’s world you can network online. Get a Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn account. Post a really great picture of yourself and start introducing yourself to people. Remember there is no shame in letting people know you’re looking for a job.

Lesson Number Two: No role is too small to get started.

Brad Pitt was in a Pringles commercial. Keanu Reeves, a CornFlakes commercial. George Clooney, Return of the Killer Tomatoes movie. Of course we all know where these guys ended up. The term, uber-successful isn’t even going to cover it. Experience is sometimes key. And if you need to get experience by taking a job that maybe you wouldn’t normally consider, it’s O.K. All successful people started somewhere. Most people aren’t born successful. They work at it. And you need to as well. Eventually your time will come. The second lesson here, is that if you aren’t getting the job offers you desire, sometimes you just got to take what you can get. It doesn’t mean you should give up on your dream job, there is plenty of time in the day to keep looking. But it’s a heck of a lot easier to keep looking if your internet is still working and the lights stay on.


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Weekly Poll: After an interview, do you follow up with a thank you note?

It's common advice to follow up with a thank you note after an interview in order to emphasize both your image as a strong candidate as well your interest in the position. Surprisingly, many job seekers don't do this at all during the interview process.

So what about you? Do you follow up with a thank you note? Vote below and comment!