I DON’T WANNA GO TO COLLEGE!!!

Willette Coleman (c)2014

An eleventh grader exclaimed to me, “I don’t wanna go to college!”  That's okay.  There’s GOOD NEWS for him and others like him.  Although a 4-year college degree is considered ideal, millions of people enjoy great careers and earn substantial incomes without a degree.  Microsoft owner, Bill Gates never finished college.  CBS-TV’s news anchor Scott Pelley, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, and Brian Williams of NBC didn’t graduate college, and the late ABC news anchor, Peter Jennings, was a high school dropout, according to the author of, Not Headed to a Prestigious College? You’re in Good Company.  BUT, even if you choose NOT to go to college, you still need education and training. Why?  To earn money to pay for the basics ~

·        food

·        clothing 

·        shelter

·        utilities (gas, electricity or solar energy)

·        phone

·        grooming (hygiene and hair products, etc.)

·        public transportation or personal car + gas, maintenance, insurance, etc.

Luxuries ~

·        entertainment (cable TV, movies, theater, playing recording equipment for DVDs, etc.)

·        travel (e.g., vacations; emergency)

Facts & Figures

A College Measures report, stated that, “in some areas, two-year students earned $70,000 in their first year; $30,000 more than a college graduate in the same field.  Even two-year students with technical certificates earned significantly more than those with academic degrees.” 

Also, an interesting trend in the college arena is that some students get caught up in campus social life, or change scholarship or financial status, and end up taking 5 to 6 years to earn an undergraduate degree.  Furthermore, college graduates often carry huge debt from school loans as reported in How the $1.2 Trillion College Debt Crisis Is Crippling Students, Parents and the Economy. 

Technical schools, some community colleges, even some high schools like Ballou STAY's, in Washington, DC, offer “vocational programs such as automotive technology, barbering, cosmetology, Microsoft Office courses and culinary arts.”  The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC)offers scholarships, apprenticeships and training in all trade-related careers. SkillsUSA.org gives you a wealth of information about scholarships providers, such as Mike Rowe Foundation and Lowe's, for trade-related careers.

For a vigorous list of non-degree jobs with GRRRRRREAT pay, OJT, apprenticeships and much more, check out Dr. Laurence Shatkin’s 300 Best Jobs Without a Four-Year Degree and/or search the Internet with the key words: “high paying jobs no college degree.”  HeadsUp  ~ Dr. Shatkin's book can be checked out at your local library.

5 NON-DEGREE Jobs/Careers Examples

Plumbing.  Fixing toilets or kitchen leaks is more complex than we think.  According to How Much Do, “Plumbers, pipelayers, pipefitters, and steamfitters install, preserve, and repair many different kinds of pipe systems,” including “pharmaceutical and computer-chip manufacturing,” as well as underground pipes (infrastructures) in cities and towns.  Apprenticeship plumbing programs offer the most extensive training.  Average hourly wage:  $25/hour; $50,360 annually.

City bus/subway/train operators.  This occupation provides on-the-job-training (OJT).  In cities, like Washington, DC, bus operators average $50,000 and can earn over $90,000 annually.  Subway/train operators start at over $50,000.  In smaller cities, starting salary may be $29,000.  

Park Service.  If you love to smell the roses and dance with Mother Nature, entry level jobs only require a high school education, AND, you’d get OJT (On the Job Training).  “Education requirements vary” for different jobs according to the U.S. Forest Service.  Starting salary can range from $28,000 to $40,000.  Once you’re in, your long term goal might be to manage 20 national parks like Gayle Hazlewood, Deputy Director of the National Parks Services’ Southeast Region. 

Butler – yes, butler (if you don’t mind serving others) – can earn as much as $150,000!  Butler Guild placement agencies report that the starting salary is between $50,000 and $60,000/year.  After two to three years - $80,000 to $150,000.  Education/training for this profession occurs in Europe, such as at the International Butler Academy, in The Netherlands. Applicants can apply for a scholarship.

Watchmaker - Although some people make dire predictions, time is not running out for this career craft.  It's existence is stronger than is obvious. The Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Educational Program (WOSTEP) in Miami, FL is considered an excellent training facility.  Brooklyn, New York teens at Benjamin Banneker Academy  are learning the Art of Horology (the science of time measurement).  Also, see a video on this timeless art form.  Starting salary is $40,000 with master watchmakers earning nearly $100,000.

Instead of a college degree, you can get a certificate in hundreds of fields, including:

Microsoft Suite

Photoshop

Web designer

Hair care or skin care expert

Yoga and/or Exercise Instructor

Hundreds of high school students in Washington, DC are learn construction trade at the DC Construction Trade Foundation.

Community colleges, such as Macomb, in Warren, MI, offer an electric vehicle development technology (EV) certificate program for growing careers in ~

·        development technician,

·        electrical test technician and

·        manufacturing technician in the automotive sector, communications, solar, wind turbine and smart grid industries. 
 
Find pay scales for jobs/careers at the Department of Labor.

So, if you don't want to go to college?  Not a problem.  With training, you can still earn a good, even outstanding living.

Magic, Miracles & Blessings,

Willette

YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER…JOB SEEKERS BEWARE

by Willette Coleman ©2014

People who are desperate for a job may give potential employers all kinds of personal information.  Should a copy – yes, a COPY – of their Social Security card – yes, CARD – be included?  Is it even legal?

That’s the question Marie (name changed) asked personnel at a temp-to-perm executive employment agency.  She had filled out the job application with her social security (SS) number, so why did the employer need a COPY of her card on file?  “You can’t work for us if we don’t have a copy,” the company’s associate stated flatly.  This was Marie’s first experience with an employer making this demand.  Usually recruiters looked at her card, then, initialed the application to confirm seeing it.  “What do you do with the copy?” Marie asked.  “We scan it into our system for E-Verify,” the associate quipped.  Marie almost laughed when the woman declared, “your information is secure.” 

Your Information is Secure…HA!

Charles C. Mann’s and David H. Freeman’s book, AtLarge, “blows the lid off the frightening vulnerability of the global online network, which leaves not only systems, but also individuals, exposed.”  According to the Pew Research Center, 11% of Internet users have had personal information stolen.  Studies also show that “21% of users had had an email or social network account compromised.”

In 2013, hackers stole millions of social security numbers and IDs, including First Lady, Michelle Obama (Michelle Obama's IDdetails hacked from data brokers), “Bill Gates, Beyonce Knowles, Jay-Z, Ashton Kutcher and many others,” before being shut down. 

According to experts, hackers break into systems numerous ways, from using computer programs like “Trojan horse” (spyware disguised to look like one of Unix’s or Windows’ legitimate components), that are available on the Internet, to obtaining or guessing “root-access, which, [experts say], is as easy as getting your or my password, because servers are often shipped from the factory loaded with supposedly default ‘backdoor’ passwords…” meant to be “used by vendor technicians….”  Also, hackers can access individuals’ PCs “through a PC in a nearby home or a neighborhood cable switch,” because “cable companies that provide home Internet access treat entire neighborhoods like one local-area network,” said Freeman.

You’d think that government agencies and financial institutions would be invincible, but “Banks get hit by cyberattackers all the time and typically have some of the best defenses against them. This time, they were outgunned,” David Goldman wrote in, Major Banks Hit with Biggest Cyberattacks in History.  The 2008 World Bank Hacked, Sensitive Data Exposed article reported, the bank had “had multiple hacks…..”  “If I were going into e-crime, I’d hit a bank,” said security specialist, Jon David, in Forbes Magazine‘s How to Hack A Bank.  Hacked companies include Sony, Google Inc., Lockheed Martin,  Target is still reeling from the 2013 security breach.

An employer (or anyone) who has a copy of your SS card - which contains your signature – puts your identity at risk.  In 2011, “More than 11.6 million adults became a victim of identify fraud in the United States,” Javelin Strategy & Research reported.  The risk is equally great when you put your SS number on online job applications.  Months before the 2012 tax season, applicants couldn’t submit H.R. Block’s job application without inputting their SS number.  Consequently, H.R. Block has and will receive hundreds, maybe thousands, of applicants’ SS numbers.  With many employers using resume scanners to search keywords and phrases to select compatible candidates, what’s the point of having SS numbers of individuals in whom there’s no interest?

Job scams, which go hand-in-hand with identify theft, are another reason to NOT put your SS number online, nor allow an employer to make a copy of your SS card.  Not all companies are as legit as they appear.  Even legitimate companies may – unknowingly - have an unscrupulous employee who steals IDs.  Considering the risk, you’d think that an employer’s common sense would dictate that having individuals’ SS cards – hard copy or online – poses a security threat.

CareerBuilder is among few job search databases that alert job seekers:  

“For your privacy and protection, when applying to a job online:

Never give your social security number to a prospective employer;

provide credit card or bank account information, or perform

any sort of monetary transaction.”  (Author’s emphasis.)

SS CARD COPYING  POLICY – LEGAL Or NOT?
Curious about the associate’s by-the-book spiel about “e-verify,” Marie learned that E-Verify is “an Internet-based system that compares information from an employee’s Form I-9 to data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration records to confirm employment eligibility.”

Her online search also revealed an employer that queried online human resource advisors whether it’s “illegal to make and keep copies of employees’ social security cards.”  Part of the reply stated:   “…the I-9 form specifically gives employers the right to make copies of the supporting documents the employee presents….”; it would “be unlawful for you to require that job applicants — as opposed to employees — fill out an I-9 or give copies of identity documents. That is why the I-9 is completed AFTER a job offer has been accepted, but before the employee has worked for 3 days.”  (Author’s emphasis.)  Since Marie was an applicant, not an employee, no one asked her to complete an I-9.  Yet, they wanted a copy of her SS card.  

While the I-9 form “gives employers the right to make copies of the supporting documents…,” (e.g., SS cards), under Section 2, on the I-9 form, it clearly states:  “Employers may, but are not required to photocopy the documents presented.”  (Author’s emphasis.)  Even had she been offered and accepted the job, the employer wasn’t REQUIRED to copy her card despite the recruiter’s emphatic reply to Marie’s email thanking them for the interview and confirming her refusal to allow them to copy her card.  Marie stood firm knowing that the employer’s “copying policy” is ILLEGAL.

In today’s “wired/wireless” world, when and where possible, I minimize threats to my personal information.  I don’t my put home address on my resume and marketing materials.  I have a P.O. Box.  As I stated in 6 TIPS TO AVOID JOB SCAMS, anyone, I mean ANYONE, can see where you live via electronic “maps.”  Research shows that twelve percent of users have been stalked or harassed.  Just having his email address on his resume, Tyrone (name changed) said he’s noticed an increase in spam urging him to: “Follow up on your job application,” or claiming “Job application status pending.”  The point is: He NEVER applied for a job to these individuals or entities.     

So, to be as safe as reasonably possible, take CareerBuilder’s advice and just say “no thanks” should an employer request your SS number online.  [NOTE:  Government online applications, such as www.usajobs.gov, force you to input your SS number.]  And, if an employer reaches for your SS card to make a copy, quote the I-9, Section 2  Homeland Security law. 

Share your thoughts on this issue.
Thanks for reading, and 

Magic, Miracles & Blessings,
Willette

14 STEPS to WRITING COMPELLING SCHOLARSHIP ESSAYS

by Willette Coleman ©2013

You’re responding to a college admissions application’s short response essay or applying for public and private scholarships.  Soon, you may find yourself staring into space contemplating: “How do I craft an essay that creatively addresses the standard queries – my college plans, career goals, future contributions to society, and show how the scholarship will help with my short and long term goals?”  You may feel some intimidation, confusion, fear; or all three.  Even with the addition of essay writing to SAT tests in 2006, many students still find writing challenging. 

Hundreds of annual scholarships worth millions of $$$ are unrewarded because of the fear of writing essays.  Instead of giving up and giving in to fear, EMPOWER yourself by using these 14 steps.

1.  Self-Empowerment.  You probably didn’t expect this to be among the steps, but composing compelling personal essays is best done from a strong self-awareness position.  To tell judges about you, YOU need to know your passion, skills, experiences, strengths and weaknesses, attitude, even hardships.  A self-assessment Me-Chart helps tremendously.  As your baseline/foundation to rethink, improve, modify and polish your language to fit each scholarship application you submit, your Me-Chart should include the 7 factors listed in my post, A Game Plan for Your Career Plan – Part 1.  This tool makes you think deeply to pinpoint your uniqueness, and empowers you to build strong essays.  

2.  Generic Essay.  After you’ve created your Me-Chart, draft a personal generic essay.  It’s your OPPORTUNITY to talk about YOU and GET YOUR THOUGHTS ON PAPER or in Word.  Writing in Word helps correct spelling, grammar and word count.  But, at this starting point, don’t stress over perfection.  Your generic essay may consist of all or only some of the factors in your Me-Chart.

3.  Read your draft and begin shaping your essay like sculpture.  Add and delete words, sentences, paragraphs; shift sentences and paragraphs from one place to another to create a good flow.    

4.  Essay Opening.  Throughout the writing, editing and reading process think about your opening sentence.  Don’t stress.  A revelation may not come forward until you’ve read 4 or more drafts.  Just remember, like media headlines, your opening should be an ATTENTION GRABBER.  

  

5.  Stay On-Subject.  As I stated in, How Scholarship Applications are Judged, answer the question.  Don’t write about oranges when the provider asked for apples, unless you can show a clear correlation.

6.  WWWW&H.  Always follow the Who, What, When, Where & How rule.  Think of storytelling.  

7.  Keep it Formal.  Your overall tone should be professional, but not stiff.  Even with fun or promotional contests your essay shouldn’t read as if you’re “conversatin’” with a friend on social media.

8.  Be Creative.  “Blending” is not a good strategy when competing for a college or vocational school scholarship.  A little risk can be refreshing, so it’s okay to enhance your essay with an off-beat idea or take a different approach, but stick with the scholarship’s objective.  Following are two examples: 

            A.  Applicants for the Common Application for college admission were told to “Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.”  Drew took a risk and wrote: 

 TheJob I Should Have Quit

You can learn a lot about me from a quick glance in my closet. You’ll find no clothes, but shelves filled with motorized Lego kits, Erector sets, model rockets, remote control race cars, and boxes full of motors, wires, batteries, propellers, soldering irons and hand tools. I’ve always enjoyed building things. No one was surprised when I decided to apply to college for mechanical engineering.  [Read the entire essay and the critique here.]  

The judge concluded that Drew’s essay “succeeds in showing off his strengths at the very time it examines his weaknesses.”  Also, Drew presented a creative way to inform the judges that his passion is mechanical engineering.

            B.  Applicants were instructed to respond to the “Topic of Your Choice” section of the Common Application.   Lora wrote about

 Eating Eyeballs

[Note:  This excerpt is the 6^th paragraph into the essay.]

The first couple of meals I had in France were reassuringly familiar: a little bit of cheese, omelet, gazpacho, or quiche.  Then Patrice, Anne’s father and a marine biologist, grilled sardines the length of my hand for dinner.  His method of grilling the sardines was charring them.  I had tried charred meat before, and hadn’t liked it.  This dinner was charred, a fish, and it was looking at me with an eyeball in a head that I was going to have to eat.  Patrice explained that the best way to eat these sardines was to eat the whole thing — bones, skin, eyes, and all.  Since my French was still a little shaky, I hoped that I had misunderstood him — one of the few times I would have enjoyed feeling stupid.  [Read the entire essay and critique here.]

Although lighthearted, Lora’s essay has substance regarding her healthy attitude/ personality/character, international travel experience, and people and language skills.

9.  Transitions.  Throughout your re-reading, re-writing/editing process, make sure your essay flows smoothly from thought-to-thought and paragraph-to-paragraph.  Adding a unique detail, or anecdote, that you or someone else experienced that connects to the scholarship’s objective, can smooth transitions. 

10.  Research.  When writing about a specific topic, research supports your statement.  For example:  To meet the Foreclosure.com Scholarship Program’s task to analyze two foreclosure investment properties, then, show reasons supporting the decision, detailing investment strategy, describing “all that you would do (improvements, rehab, etc.) and how it would impact your potential bottom line,” applicants should undergird their arguments with one or two credible real estate investment facts.  [Note:  This scholarship’s deadline ended this month, but check it out in 2014.  Top prize $5,000.  Second through fifth place $1,000.] 

11.  Word Count.  As I stated in How Scholarship Applications are Judged, word count, COUNTS.  The Foreclosure.com Scholarship essay limit is 800 to 2,000 words.  A 1,999-word essay is best. 

Follow the directions in Step 3 to meet word counts.  You may even have to remove worthy information, but that’s part of the world of writing.  [Note:  Short response college essays average 500-word limit.]

12.  Action Verbs.  I’m an advocate for Action Verbs - they reflect measurable, observable, verifiable, and reliable behaviors; give your narrative movement and power; and keep it concise/tight.  Lists of action verbs are on English/grammar websites, and here. 

13.  Proofread!  Proofread!  Proofread and correct spelling, grammatical errors, tenses and synonyms.  Word won’t flag “piece,” when you meant “peace.”

14.  Re-Charge.  Set aside your essay for a day or two.  Let it marinate.  Then, proofread again.   

By now, you should feel more empowered and ready to ask your teacher, coach, parents and/or friends to read your essay.  Listen to their input, but stay confident (not ego/arrogant) in what you said and how you said it.  With confidence, you’ll decide whether to include others’ suggestions and how much.

Now get started on your Me-Chart and generic essay!  Remember…, they’re your baselines/foundations to rethink, improve, modify and polish your language to write compelling essays for each scholarship application you submit.

Magic, Miracles & Blessings,

Willette