I often ask successful professionals about their first jobs. Rarely does anyone tell me they loved, or really enjoyed those initial gigs.

Why? Because it’s rare to walk out of school and into the perfect job, one that’s fun and fullfilling. That’s just how the real world works. Believe it or not, you may actually hate that first job and spend more time learning and paying dues than sitting back in a rocking chair saying, “wow, my job is so great.”

That may be a bit of a disappointment to many younger workers. One study found that enjoyment at work is the top priority for students. (more…)

I got a tweet recently from @MichaelCTak that got me thinking:

what do think about getting your MBA these days for the working prof[essoinal]?

I often get asked about the merits of an MBA but the question typically comes from someone already working in the business world. Many people working for corporations often see an MBA as a good way to help them climb the ladder, but MichaelCTak, who I found out later is actually Michael Tak, works for a social services supervisor for a government agency in Georgia and wants to leave his government and non-profit background behind and go into business.

The question on Tak’s mind was whether an MBA would help him make the transition easier? And he also wondered if getting an online MBA in particular was as worthy as the in-school variety? (more…)

The kid in the front row is definitely the know-it-all in our class. The teacher keeps picking on him when the rest of us go blank after he asks a question. And thank goodness for the girl in the back row who makes my inability to answer many questions look not so bad. Every time the teacher asks her a question she says: “I wasn’t really paying attention.” Man, I can’t wait until this class is over.”

No, this isn’t an excerpt from my teen diary. This is actually what was going on in my head Saturday when I sat in a classroom for a course I’m taking to prepare for a graduate school exam. My plan is to go to graduate school, but it’s just a plan at this point, one that’s getting shakier and shakier the more I realize how much I hate being back in school.

Career writers spew out advice every day, especially in this crummy job market, but too often we don’t really know the details, the nuances, or the hell of that advice. It’s not until we end up on that advice horse ourselves that we realize how difficult it is to steer, or to even stay on the damn thing.

Whether I end up going to graduate school, or even finishing this preparatory course, won’t matter in the end, because at least I can bore you guys with the story of Reeducating CareerDiva. And hopefully, I can enlighten you all a bit on what to expect and how to succeed if you ever decide to get more education in order to enter a new field or just enhance your knowledge for an old one.

That’s why I reached out to a couple of shrinks to get some words of wisdom on why going back to school is so hard for us adults? What happens to us in the years after we graduate from high school or college? Do our brains atrophy when it comes to learning in a classroom setting? Why are my palms sweating? I don’t have a crush on the quiet kid with the “Starsky & Hutch” lunch box anymore. (more…)

I can’t tell you how often soon-to-be college seniors ask me if they should bypass job-hunting in this crummy economy and go to graduate school instead. The feeling is they can put off having to fight tooth and nail in a tough job market with limited jobs, especially for Gen Y.

Well, I posed this question to my new intern Evie Hayman and she researched the issue. She came up with some directions for you grads-to-be, and for parents who may read this and pass it along to their kids. (more…)

“They don’t put you in a class with people your age Mommy?” my daughter asked me when I returned from a local University on Saturday. I was there to take a practice test for a graduate school exam and it was worse than any nightmare I envisioned.

Everyone was twenty-minus in the classroom; the seats were horribly uncomfortable; the bubbles on the test grid were way smaller than I remembered; and the test questions made my head hurt. They were like those horrific questions you got in math class that some masochistic test editor came up with to toy with the world. “You have four pilots and four copilots, and four planes take off in a certain order, but we’re not going to tell you the order or which pilot goes with which copilot, but you’re still going to have to figure out the pairing and when they take off….”

Ugh!

It’s been years since I’ve taken a test of any kind, other than medical tests, and it was quite a rude awakening. Yes, CareerDiva is pondering going back to school. (more…)

Remember that young kid who lied to get into Harvard and was all over the news earlier this year? Adam Wheeler pleaded guilty and was sentenced last week but he got less fanfare than his story sparked in May.

There was a tiny news brief on page A25 of the New York Times on Friday, much less ink than Wheeler’s story go when news of his master deception broke.

A man who authorities said falsified his academic record to get into Harvard University pleaded guilty Thursday to larceny, identity fraud and other charges. Adam Wheeler, 24, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, 10 years of probation and $45,000 in restitution. According to the sentence, Mr. Wheeler will serve only 30 days in prison. In May, Mr. Wheeler was charged after forging his transcripts and receiving more than $50,000 in scholarships and grants from Harvard. Mr. Wheeler applied to the university as a transfer student, sending fabricated records from M.I.T. and Philips Academy. In reality, Mr. Wheeler attended a public high school in Delaware and Bowdoin College.

That’s it. Not even a photo of the guy. But alas, that’s how things work in the media folks. One day people are wondering who’ll play you in the movie about your life and the next you’re yesterday’s news. And that’s just how life works when it comes to the many milestones you make in your life, whether they’re fake accomplishments or real ones.

Wheeler was hoping a Harvard education would set him up for life, and why would you blame the guy for thinking that. That’s what our society tells kids all the time. But in reality what sets people up for life is following their dreams, their passions. Trust me. I hear from tons of people in their middle careers, some with lots of money and a big house, who aren’t happy and are looking for something, something they just can’t put their finger on. (more…)

The unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent today, and one well-respected economist said we can expect it to go to 10 percent soon.

So, what are lawmakers doing to boost job growth in this country? Not much.

The Democrats are pushing an extension of unemployment benefits as a way to fix the problem, and Republicans seized the report as a chance to fight, yet again, for an extension of tax breaks for the wealthy as the answer to the dismal job market.

Michigan Democratic Representative Sander Levin said in a statement that: “Today’s news underscores the moral and economic obligation facing Congress right now to extend unemployment benefits for those struggling to find their next job opportunity in this slowly recovering economy.”

And House Republican Leader John Boehner urged Democrats to stop “wasting time with meaningless votes” and avert all tax hikes, according to Fox News.

I’m all for extending jobless benefits because the unemployed need all the help they can get. But that’s not the way to significantly grow jobs in this country. And while tax breaks are a good thing in a booming economy, there’s little compelling evidence that letting rich people keep more of their money will mean jobs for the average working stiff.

Neither side seems to be standing up for the workers in this country. Have they ever stood on an unemployment line? They just don’t get it. (more…)

The only real good worker news recently has come out of Google. The company announced it was giving its entire global workforce of 23,000 a 10 percent pay raise starting in January.

Even though the search engine giant has had some layoffs during the recession, they are nothing like other large companies, and Google’s been hiring consistently through the bad times.

Clearly, lots of folks want to work for Google and companies like them. But how do you get on the Google job track?

With so many college kids graduating and finding no work, it makes sense for high school students and their parents, who are now scouting colleges, to wonder whether the school they pick will lead to a solid job for a solid employer.

But how do you find out whether the school you’re in is more likely to be a recruiting favorite of companies like Google? Social networking sites! There’s a wealth of information on these sites, particularly LinkedIn, that can shed light on this and I’m going to show you how to find it. (more…)

By Julia Nollen

At just 3.5 x 2 inches in size, a proper business card functions as a pint-sized professional billboard for showcasing your skills.

But in this digital age do college kids need them, or are they just relics from our parents’ generation? (more…)

College students, grads and alums are often dogging university career centers. I get that. Some of them can be pretty lame.

But there’s a chance your college’s career center might be worth at least one visit or a phone call. What’s wrong with getting some free help? It could actually be helpful, or actually help you land a gig.

My intern Mikala will soon graduate from the University of Delaware so she decided to check it out. Here’s her first blog post for CareerDiva sharing her experience: (more…)