By Evie Hayman

It makes me so mad when people don’t take my English degree seriously. Many view it as a “soft” major for people just going to college to get a degree; one that has no use in the real world. As I look around in my classroom, I see mostly women. If I looked in a science-based class, I would see mostly men. It makes me wonder – is English a “soft” major because it is female-dominated?

Possibly, said Natalie Wilson, professor of literature and women’s studies at Cal State San Marcos. “I think that in those areas where women dominate there is this tendency to identify them as soft.”

This idea of “soft” also permeates certain professions, mainly those with lots of women. (more…)

So my husband and I were having yet another discussion at the dinner table with my eight-year-old son about why school is important. If he had it his way, he’d quit third grade and get a job tomorrow.

He often says, “When you get your own life, and I get my own life, things will be better.”

Well, his life is ours for now and he has to do what we tell him. But he asked a great question that led to a great discovery for him, and also for career changers, high school kids who just got a college rejection letter, and anyone else who’s always had a passion for something not mainstream. “Did the guy who created SpongeBob go to school?”

He did indeed, but it wasn’t what you’d expect, at least not initially. (more…)

There’s no shortage of fastest-growing-occupations lists out there, but warning: Don’t pay attention to them until you do one thing — figure out what YOU want to be.

If you don’t, such lists may only derail your career efforts or your attempts to find a new field.

I got an email recently from a woman who’s trying to help her unemployed husband. Marian sounds like the sweetest person, and she’s so concerned about her hubby’s future, which is a great thing. She writes:

“My husband was laid off from his employer after 31 years – he is 53 – we are trying to develop a plan to return him to the workforce. Here’s what we’ve determined. He will be enrolling in the following courses:

* Microsoft Office Specialist
* Medical Billing and Coding
* Health Information Technician

The goal is reemployment in a growing field. Maybe a hospital or medical benefits provider.

What other growing fields would you recommend he investigate.”

Ah, the growing-fields question. I reluctantly sent her a list of fastest growing jobs from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and here’s a link for all of you, because I know you’re dying to see it. But please, before you click on the link, (more…)

I’ve decided not to let my eight-year-old son listen to or read the news anymore because politicians say such stupid things it may impact my kid’s future. The latest comes from Pennsylvania’s governor and this one was a doozy.

Pennsylvania’s Governor Tom Corbett wants teachers to stop educating themselves. Turns out teachers in that state get pay raises when they get a master’s degree and the Gov. wants to put an end to that. We all know states have major budget woes, but instead of just saying Pennsylvania doesn’t have the money for the raises, his office is claiming such degrees may be worthless.

WHYY, my local public radio station, reported this morning that “Corbett’s budget secretary, Charles Zogby, argued advanced degrees don’t automatically make someone a better teacher.”

OK, my son was listening to this while eating his french toast. I always have the radio on because I want to catch up on the news, and I figure it helps the kids learn something. But this morning I had to rethink my strategy. You see, my son doesn’t really love school that much. He’s a good student but he doesn’t have as much fun in school as he does playing with friends, or playing video games, or playing with his Legos. So, he goes to school reluctantly and is always asking questions about why school is important.

We spend a lot of time explaining to him how important school and learning is to his future, and it takes just one pompous Governor to ruin everything. (more…)

I’ll admit it, I’m addicted to food TV; and I’m also a closet foodie. I like to cook. I like talking about cooking, and I love to eat. But should I be a chef?

I don’t think I should, but secretly I dream about it. Come on, admit it; it’s your secret passion too. Well, maybe not a secret passion for many of you because it turns out cooking schools are bursting at the seams.

Enrollment in culinary schools is booming; and Mark Erickson, vice president/dean for The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), told me a while back that: “People are re-pondering the importance of food in our lives. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that food is a topic on the national agenda. People are thinking about the health, social and political implications food has and it’s a wonderful time to think about a career in the food profession.”

This, my foodie friends, is a good and bad thing. (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…)

I love headlines like this:

“G.M to Hire 1,000.”

The best part is the jobs the auto giant is going to fill are green jobs. General Motors is looking to hire 1,000 engineers for its electric car division, the Chevy Volt.

When’s the last time you heard anyone mention a green job?

Yes, it’s been a while, even in CareerDiva. But today, it’s time to revisit the topic because green is where we’re seeing some serious job growth now thanks to government programs that were planted into the economy in 2009. And you all should think about getting in on the tree-hugger jobfest. (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…)