The Scoop - employment opportunities for young adults
Big Business Is Watching You
Although the labor market shows signs of slowing down, many employers are still struggling to fill positions. Corporate recruiters are looking for hot talent not just in colleges but in high schools as well. To tempt future hires, companies are throwing career fairs in cafeterias, bringing students in for daylong visits, and tracking high achievers before they enter college.
Naturally, companies want the top students, so they're carefully assessing academic performance. IBM and Lockheed Martin are both initiating programs to check on high school transcripts of job candidates.
If you have the talent, a firm may try to snatch you up before you even start college. Many techno-savvy teens are turning their backs on college and accepting starting salaries averaging between $30,000-$40,000. This could account for a Bureau of Labor Statistics report showing a dip in the number of grads heading to college in 1999 compared to 1997.
Firms that are actively courting high school students include Fujitsu Network Communications and the accounting firm Ernst & Young.
"In certain disciplines, such as engineering, companies try to interest students as early as middle school," says Mimi Collins a spokesperson at the National Association of Colleges and Employers. "Companies want to build name recognition to become an employer of choice."
Anthropologists Wanted?
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Corporate America is always looking for computer gurus and business whizzes, but they also want experts on human nature. Firms want to know why humans act the way they do, and anthropologists are dedicated to answering questions related to that, such as "What type of person doesn't pay a credit card bill?" or "What do women want in a razor?" Bill Young, managing editor of Anthropology News says, "We see more anthropologists finding work in marketing and advertising, and linguists especially are landing jobs in information technology as companies strive to make computer language more accessible."
Odd job #1 Alligator Wrestler
Twenty-two year old Mike Bailey has a job that is in desperate need of applicants--strong, quick applicants. Bailey gets paid $12 an hour to wrestle alligators (each with 80 razor sharp teeth) at Seminole Okalee Indian Village and Museum in Hollywood, Florida. Although gator-wrestling is an old Seminole tradition, a growing number of tribespeople are pursuing alternatives, such as college. (Go figure.) The Seminoles have taken out ads and are offering health insurance, but still there are few takers. Bailey says the gators will kill you in a second, or "if you're lucky, they'll just tear your fingers off."
A HOT Market for the Liberal Arts
A survey of Class of 2000 graduates from Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania shows that liberal arts majors are in demand in the workforce. Sixty-six percent of those polled have found positions in major corporations such as MBNA, Merck, Vanguard, and Andersen Consulting. Carla Mollins Rinde, director of career services at Ursinus, says that hiring liberal arts grads is part of a national trend. "Employers have always told us our graduates have the skills they are seeking--the ability to write, speak, and think clearly, to reason and analyze, to work well with a team, and to lead. Liberal arts graduates are flexible because they have a broad base of knowledge."
odd job#2 Funmaster
Sure a fat paycheck and stock options are nice benefits for a new hire, but today's young employees want more in return for their long hours at work-they want a bit of fun. That's why high-tech companies and other growing industries are searching for folks who not only have computer or financial skills but also a knack for frivolity. As "director of fun" at New South Communications in Greenville, South Carolina, Ashley Creech treats her team to mid-afternoon ice-cream excursions. Kevin Tye is the official "master of culture" at Viathan, a software start-up in Seattle. When the office hits late-day doldrums, he springs into action, challenging workmates to Ping-Pong or some other stimulating activity. Whoopee! H Other titles include "minister of comedy," and "funologist"
Drive-Through Job Fairs
Could I have a career to go--hold the fries? In their never-ending quest to find new hires, some employers are banding together to hold "drive-through" job fairs. Applicants typically drive up to a window, grab a bag of applications, and then have the option for an on-the-spot interview. Drive-throughs have been held in Stockton, California; Portland, Maine; and Des Moines, Iowa. Applicants can be in and out in five minutes and they don't even have to wear a suit.
Odd job #3
Stadium Turf Manager
Want a perfect lawn? Talk to Dan Cunningham, the 35-year-old head groundskeeper at Yankee Stadium in New York City. Turf management is a niche career that has grown with the construction of more golf courses, football stadiums, and ballparks Cunningham studied turf-grass management at the University of Rhode Island and developed a specialty for creating turf that withstands high traffic. The hardest part, according to Cunningham, is maintaining the right consistency of the dirt in the infield. Infielders want it soft but firm, base stealers want it harder for quick starts.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTR/is_3_21/ai_70739429
