Breakthrough Career Solutions

Gays, Transgenders Fight for Legal Protections in Utah
Under Utah law, discriminating against gay and transgender people is legal. State Rep. Christine Johnson, D-Salt Lake City, is hoping to change that, by sponsoring a House bill that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to a list of protected classes in the Utah Antidiscrimination Act. Johnson acknowledges that her bill will be a tough sell in Utah, where lawmakers last year refused to remove a state law banning sodomy, although the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a similar Texas law in 2003.

Peirick v. Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Public university employer, specifically board of trustees and
athletic department-partnership between two universities, enjoyed
Eleventh Amendment immunity against former coach’s ADEA claim (but
not as to Title VII gender discrimination claim, for which Congress
validly abrogated states’ Eleventh Amendment immunity).

Business Demands Career Employment Strategies That Develop Business Leadership and High Work Ethics<
> Career Planning Considerations

There are a variety of factors to take into consideration when choosing the path you will take toward a new career. You will need to assess what you already possess in terms of skills, education, and experience that will apply to your new career. Next, you should consider what you need to break into the industry. If you have what it takes to get into the industry or are already there, consider what you will need to move to the position that you want. Knowing yourself, your finances, and the industry youve chosen inside and out is essential to career planning. Here are a few questions to ask yourself.

Do you need a degree, a certificate, or a skill set that you can obtain through a class to succeed in your new career?

If so, do you have the time and money to finance this education? Can you take out loans, take your classes online, or take some time off work to get this education?

Do you need to be certified? If so, a very specific career path has most likely been mapped out and followed. Find out what others in your area have done, where they’ve gone to school, and where to register for the exam to pass your certification. This will save you a considerable amount of time as you research what you need to do.

Are you sure this career is what you want? Is the time and money invested in education and entry level positions worth it to you? Will the job pay enough money to finance the lifestyle you want to live? Are the day to day characteristics of your new career compatible with your temperament and values? Realistically assessing your interests and capabilities could save you years if you are honest and sure that you are choosing your new career for the right reasons.

For many years, the business world has been asking higher education to meet their needs of developing future knowledge workers who are self-leaders that take responsibility for their actions and have solid decision making and problem solving skills. An article in the Newsweek’s November 13, 2006 issue indicates that higher education has yet to hear this decades long message.

In this article, a recent graduate of an Ivy League School, shared her experiences that she lacked the fundamentals from completing a W-2 to how to rent an apartment. What was interesting was that she noted that she was not alone. According to her article, she referenced a recent study of career employment (source not cited) that hundreds of employers found new college graduates “woefully unprepared” for the job market.

For years education from K-13 has focused on learning or the acquisition of knowledge, but has miserably failed on performance or the application of knowledge. Universities or higher education continue this tradition and the 21st century is reaping the results ? unprepared workers who are highly intelligent, but can?t negotiate themselves out of a cardboard box.

The University of Michigan Annual Recruiting Trends has documented the needs of employers for over 30 years. In its 2002 report, employers want graduates who have a passion for the position along with a total package including:

• Verbal communication skills
• Written communication skills
• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Computer skills
• Work ethics
• Integrity

Dr. Carol Di-Amico in her research Workforce 2020 indicated that employers looked for the following when hiring experienced workers:

Leadership 73%

Problem solving skills 69%

Work ethics 68%

Job specific skills 61%

Creativity 60%

Organizational skills 49%

Interpersonal skills 45%

Given that many employers are looking for skill sets that are not currently being taught at the higher academic levels and probably not at the high school levels for those not immediately attending college suggests that these institutions of learning are indeed setting many young people up to fail. This would not be such a tragedy if they were not collecting thousands of dollars.

Finally, the author of this article in Newsweek believed that she invested her dollars to better advance her thinking abilities. She further wrote that her thinking was limited to the academic world and failed to transfer into the real world. Yet, it is those same professors in the academic world who insist that those in the business world where profits and losses are both earned and measured on a daily basis do not understand how to think and that education cannot be viewed as a business. This attitude is great if you are not accountable for securing results. Until education realizes its purpose is to successfully complete the next learning sequence (that means the graduates are gainfully employed in their field of expertise for at least one year) where personal and business leadership is highly developed along with all those interpersonal skills necessary for success, this young person’s experience will be multiplied by thousands more and our nation will continue to suffer.

employee career planning

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