So Fed Charimen Ben Bernanke says the recession is over. And while many many critics dispute this (especially the unemployed) it may be time to assess the job market for those interested in Finance. [googles "careers in finance." Looks around. Shakes head. sighs.] Ok, it sucks:

Over the past 20 years, finance grew faster than almost any other sector of the U.S. economy, offering rich pay and luring a growing share of bright minds to trade securities, make loans, manage portfolios, engineer mergers and turn mortgages into complex derivatives. Now the finance bubble has deflated, forcing hundreds of thousands of employees to search for other work and sending new graduates looking elsewhere for careers.

The job losses in finance extend far beyond the money center of New York. About 3,400 people in Seattle lost their jobs when a stumbling Washington Mutual was suddenly sold to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. last year. Charlotte, N.C., headquarters of Bank of America Corp., is down 9,000 finance and insurance jobs, or 14%, from its peak in May 2006, according to Moody's Economy.com. The firm counts 23,000 lost finance jobs in Chicago, 47,100 in Los Angeles and 437,700 nationwide, a 7.1% drop.

It certainly looks like we're moving into a post-finance job market ... something that has been addressed by The Washington Post's uber-blogger Ezra Klein. I covered this before, but just to reiterate, Ezra worries about where all these talented grads are going to end up. Which may be the same question you are asking right now if you're a finance major.

Well, the same Wall Street Journal piece from above sites Harvard University as a model of what the future may look like. 20% of 2009 grads are entering finance as opposed to 47% in '08, while "Fifteen percent this year planned to go into education -- up by half from last year -- and the proportion going into health care doubled to 12%."

So maybe this post-finance job market isn't such a bad thing. The article goes on to note:

Even a modest of shift of talent could have an effect on society. When smart people become entrepreneurs, "they improve technology in the line of business they pursue, and, as a result, productivity and income grow," said a study by economists Kevin M. Murphy, Robert W. Vishny and Andrei Schleifer in 1990. By contrast, they said, allocation of talent to professions such as finance and law -- where returns come from distribution of wealth from others rather than wealth creation -- leads to lower productivity growth, fewer technological opportunities and slower economic growth.

Obviously - and as the article states - if you were already entrenched in a career in finance you are probably in trouble. If you are still in school, or even fresh our, it's not too late to turn your career in another direction. And as the study above indicates, it could even help out the economy ... so long as you don't go to law school.

Let's hit the Links ...

Alison's Job Search Blog Details Poor Interview Clothing: "'[W]hat not to wear' interview clothes include dirty t-shirts, skimpy tank tops with bras showing in all the wrong places, a nice suit with not much underneath, bright green shoes, and flip-flops. The flip-flops, by the way, are on the list even if you're a teenager who never wears anything else on your feet." It's a little sad this even had to be written.

Career Hub Has Resume Advice From Voltaire: Just what you need, snotty advice from enlightened dead thinkers: "The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out." I'll admit, that's good advice. Try not to ramble on and on about every single experience you've ever had ever. Keep it short, sweet, and most importantly, punchy.

July job numbers are in*. Are you ready for them? Are you sure? You better think about it for a sec. OK. You asked for it:

Nonfarm payrolls dropped 216,000. (Booooo!) That's not too bad considering the 276,000 last month (meh...) and the 700,000 earlier this year (hooray?). We've lost 7.4 million jobs since the beginning of the recession in December (Super Boooo!) ... and we now have the highest unemployment rate since June of '83 (...).

Nobody seems to think this is very good news. In August analysts seemed to be pretty happy with the job loss rate, but the massive unemployment figure (9.7%) and the drop in the stock market the past few days is worrying some people.

Coupled with the massive surge in stock market profit-taking income among the wealthy over the last eight months, this country is being more, not less, divided into rich and poor during this "oh it's almost over yeah right" bullshit recession. I hate to get all Worker's Weekly on you, but this is disastrous, and I am not sure we will ever recover without, you know, pitchforks and torches and the seizing of the property of the entrenched inbred rich.

Workers of the world ... incite? Sorry. Puns are a bad habit.

Anyway, usually I try to say be alright and have a positive attitude and go to law school to ride it out, but ... oh. my. gawd.

In a memo to incoming students, Patricia D. White, the dean of University of Miami School of Law, surmised: “Perhaps many of you are looking to law school as a safe harbor in which you can wait out the current economic storm.” She then urged them to “think hard” about their plans and offered incentives for those willing to defer for one year.

[...]

As firms begin an industrywide overhaul, which has entailed slashing jobs and reconsidering hidebound inefficiencies like the lockstep salary, students will compete for half as many $160,000-a-year jobs this year as they did last. According to the National Association for Legal Career Professionals, the 2008 recruiting season marked “what is likely to be the beginning of a weaker legal employment market that may last for a number of years.”

So Law school is out. Which is OK, I guess. I mean, the world really doesn't need anymore lawyers, does it? So what to do? Right now I don't have any answers. But, let's make a deal. You go home, enjoy your three day weekend and come back here on Monday and we'll try to figure it out. Happy Laborless Day!

Side Note: I guess this is starting to become a monthly feature. I had no idea, until starting this blog, that each months job figures meant so much. I guess normally that isn't the case, but with a recession and all, well ...

"Unemployed" courtesy of erix! via Flickr Creative Commons

A lot of HR/Career Advice blogs (including us) mention that during a difficult job market (which this certainly is) you often need to find creative ways to stand out among other job seekers. Yesterday's Wall Street Journal has an interesting take on the fine line between "brave and brazen".

In April, a job candidate scheduled an hourlong interview for himself by sending a meeting-request invite via Microsoft Outlook to New York executive recruiter Kim Bishop, who ignored the request. Ms. Bishop canceled the meeting and won't speak with the job hunter. "I just thought it was inappropriate and too aggressive," she says. "It would be like walking into someone's office without an invite."

My boss once told me the story of a potential ThinkTalk host who had his resume and reel delivered in a pizza box. A hot and fresh special delivery to show how unique and creative the applicant could be. He didn't get the job, but probably not because of his approach.

Now, contrast that with another potential host we had. She was a recent college grad and was over-eager to get the position. So despite the fact that the listing said "no phone calls" she not only telephoned, but showed up at the office twice during busy and inconvenient times (we are a TV studio, and wen it gets crazy, it gets crazy!). She also did not get the job ... but not because she was not qualified or good on air. She was brazen, inconvenienced us and left a bad taste in our mouths.

The advice in the WSJ article seems pretty straight forward. There's a lot of competition. Be bold and be creative, but also be patient. Don't show up uninvited, don't phone too often and don't become a burden. My personal advice would be to put less stock in cold applications. That is, jobs found in the classifieds and on job boards. In this difficult market you are much more likely to find a job from networking, connections or from smaller niche sites with less competition.

On to the Links ...

Inside Higher Ed Highlights the GRE for MBA Debate: "On Monday, Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions released results of a survey of admissions officers at 260 M.B.A. programs, saying that while 24 percent now accept the GRE, only another 4 percent are considering making that move. Kaplan characterized the mood as one of "wait and see," despite the shifts by a number of highly regarded programs. Kaplan advised would-be b-school students to prepare for the GMAT."

One Day One Job Has Free Stuff: Part of a larger promotion, the blog is teaming up with HP to give away a few Netbooks, Laptops and some other stuff for going back-to-school. Head over to check out the details.

Inside Higher Ed Delivers Some Bad News On The National Merit Scholarship: UT-Austin is ending their use of the controversial Scholarship program, focusing more on need-based aid. The program has caught some flack for awarding scholarship based on merit rather than need during a period where so many students are in need. Furthermore, the program relies exclusively on PSAT scores, drawing criticism from opponents of the purely standardized testing format.

The Chronicle of Higher Ed Wonders if Twitter Makes You a Better Writer: "Though final data analysis has not been done, early results indicated that in their Internet writings, students took pains to cultivate tone and voice, and to address a particular audience. "The out-of-class writing actually made them more conscious of the things writing teachers want them to think about," said Paul M. Rogers, an assistant professor of English at George Mason University who is involved in the study."

Alison's Job Search Blog Sees a Growing Trend: Companies are bypassing Job Boards, instead using networking and social media. While Alison doesn't think job seekers should avoid job boards yet, they do need to have a presence elsewhere. "The more active you are in the places where companies are actively recruiting, the better shot you'll have at getting an interview - and getting hired. There's also less competition on the smaller niche sites, and you'll find more jobs that are a good match for your background. "

"No Pain" courtsey kamaru via Flickr Creative Commons

Techcrunch, the technology blog, has the results of a competitive job market index assembled by job search engine Indeed which ranks the best and worst cities for finding a job (with charts!).

The clear winner in this thing (besides you) is Washington DC, with a ratio of 6 job postings for each unemployed person. Jacksonville, Baltimore, Salt Lake City and New York New York round out the top 5.

As for cities to avoid, the big loser is Detroit (like I had to tell you that), with a ratio of 1 job posting for every 18 unemployed individuals! That number is staggering. Pulling up the rear (from the worst on down) are Miami, Riverside, CA, Los Angeles and Portland. I'm a little surprised by Portland, but what do I know. I've never even been there.

So there you go. You know which cities to book flights for and which to avoid at all costs.

On to The Links ...

Heather Huhman Questions the Effectiveness of Job Fairs: This piggybacks off of the survey from yesterday's post. Apparently, while networking topped the list of useful resources for the job search, the job fair was surprisingly low. So Heather reminds you to keep that in mind this fall as you return to school and start attending these job fairs. Use them to make connections and develop contacts so that you can have a well-rounded approach to finding a job.

Christine Hassler Shows You How To Get What You Want From Work: Want a vacation, raise, time-off, etc? Christine says not to lie; there is a better approach. "I advise them to present their request in a professional, articulate, non-emotional way and tell the truth. Usually the response I get to this advice is something along the lines of, "The truth? You mean just outright ask for what I want? I don't think I can do that."" Yes, you can.

Alison's Job Search Blog Reminds You Not To Lose Your Shirt In An Interview: Literally. "One of the worst interview mistakes I ever saw was when the candidate was explaining to me why he had been out of work for while. He took off his jacket and started to unbutton his shirt, and I am not making this up, to show me where he was recovering from an injury caused by a boat propeller." Yeah, uh, don't do that. Especially if you're this guy.

Alexandra Levit Needs Your Input: The career adviser and Wall Street Journal columnist is launching a panel for next year's South By Southwest (SXSW) conference on the workplace in 2025. She needs your vote to get the panel on board. Sounds good to me ... especially if they discuss the daily commute.

Jet Blue is Having a Fare Sale: Not career-related, but a sweet deal nonetheless. Fly anywhere in the country as many times as you want between September 8th and October 8th for $600. Hey, maybe you can use to fly to a job interview in one of the cities we discussed above.

Phila Lawyer, a blog featuring essays and stories from a Philadelphia Lawyer has an excellent Q & A with Alex Mann,a recent college grad and all-around smart guy, that goes into detail about the struggles and hidden opportunities of students who graduate in this dismal job market.

The gentlemen cover a lot of ground, exploring mainly the fields of business and law. The two address the problems with the education system in regards to student preparation, the Gen X/Gen Y generational differences and the general psyche of recent grads.

There's Frustration:

Our frustration stems from the lack of control and little understanding we face. There is only so much we can absorb from reading the news online, because the real grasp of the current economic environment comes from actually experiencing it professionally, which few people my age have. You'd think the universities would use this as an opportunity to teach about excess leverage, regulation and the fallacy of systematic risk. But, no. Curriculum followed as usual, with little focus on "what's going on" or "why it's happening."

There's a Backup Plan and a Silver Lining:

If there is one upside to the economic downturn, it's that suddenly we've been put in the position to creatively fend for ourselves. For instance, when all of the traditional career options that a business major typically approaches have gone thin, the desperation is followed by a wave of experimentation. The suit-and-tie guy type that majored in finance is applying to ESPN and the NFL, because he's always loved sports and couldn't get a job as a banker. The artistic-type who majored in advertising is applying for a job at an animal protection non-profit she supports, simply because the jobs on Madison Avenue have become obsolete. In my opinion, this is how it should be. College, or any form of education, shouldn't create a path or destiny. It should create options to choose our own.

There's a strong sense of entrepreneurship with people my age now, even if they aren't all acting on it. There's an itch to go do something on your own.

Finally, The Gen Y Question:

AM: The only people my age that actually refer to themselves are "Gen Y" are ones clueless enough that think the title entitles them to special treatment. It doesn't.

But I do think there is a demand for more balance in our careers, but not in the most traditional sense. Rather than just time "away" from work, there is a demand for more correlation between what we actually want to be doing, and what we have to actually have to do, day-in day-out, for our job. You hear about companies like Google who offer their employees a few hours a day to work on something independently, and that is desirable. It's not that we are lazy or don't want to do work; that has nothing to do with it. It's more of a demand for a selfish productivity that I'm sensing from people my age, where they want the work they are told to do to be related to what they want to do.

I really think Alex has a good sense of his fellow graduates, what they think and what they are going through with this job market. When he turns the tables and asks Phila Lawyer some questions you gain some further insight into how established workers view this crop of recent grads. These were only a few selections, and there is lots more. The entire interview is well worth the read and the some of the comments are helpful as well. (hat tip: Lone Gunman, who recommends Alex's follow up post @ alexjmann.com)

Lotsa Links to help you find a job. Dive right in ...

Techcrunch Profiles JobSpice: "JobSpice, a new startup that’s launching tonight, is looking to help users build web-friendly resumes that are as good looking as they are easy to customize. ... The site takes advantage of the naturally structured formatting of resumes and optimizes it for the web. JobSpice uses CSS to style the resumes it generates, which means you can totally rework the appearance of your resume with a minimal amount of effort (and experienced web designers will be able to tweak their resumes to their hearts’ content)." Cool.

Cheezhead Profiles Urban Interns: "Urban Interns mainly focuses on pairing interns with small businesses, which often need help with errands, online research and organizing files, but usually don’t have the funding to hire a full-time worker. The site matches interns and employers based on the hours available, tasks involved and whether the position is paid or not." The more resources you have to find an internship the better ... even if it just running errands.

Monster Blog Has Unconventional Job Hunt Advice: "The next slightly off-beat tactic for marketing myself stemmed from my frustration at the continued barrage of mailed credit card applications I never solicited in the first place. ...I decided to use the conveniently enclosed postage paid envelope. In this envelope, I placed a polite note thanking the sender for their mail and requesting they read my enclosed mail, which was my resume with a call to action on the reader’s part." Clever.

One Day One Job Has a Back to School Contest: "Whether you’re returning from an internship and heading back to school or you’ve graduated and just want to get back to work (or to work if you’ve never had a job before), we want to help you use technology to make that happen. That’s why we’re giving away some awesome prizes in this contest sponsored by HP, Microsoft, and Timbuk2." Click through to see the deets.

"Advice" courtesy laughlin via Flickr Creative Commons

Good News from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: 247,000 people lost their job in June! How is that good news, you ask? I'm glad you asked, I answer. Well it's good for two reasons.

Number 1: the number is lower than the 275,000 - 300,000 (depending on who you ask) that experts expected. So that's good.

Numero dos: The number is lower than the 300,000+ losses in June. Plus the unemployment rate actually dropped, from 9.5% to 9.4%.

So, we're still losing jobs, we're just not losing as many. Small victories. Take 'em where you can get 'em, I always say.

Manufacturing employment fell by 52,000 for the month, the first time in ages that the number has been below 100,000. Health industry and government employment moved upward. Meanwhile, hours and earnings both rose, in a very good sign for the job market.

Stathead Nate Silver from FiveThirtyEight is optimistic - if cautiously so:

These numbers do not point toward a "good" economy. Some of them, like the decline in the unemployment rate, are even a bit misleading, since some of that has occurred because a lot of dispirited job seekers have given up on looking for work.

But they do speak unambiguously toward an economy which has almost certainly bottomed out and has probably begun to improve. It is more likely to be a slow recovery than a fast one, especially in employment, but this is arguably the best news that Obama has had since taking office.

If you just graduated in May and haven't been able to find a job yet, this is a positive sign for your career aspects. Part of this whole thing (admittedly a very small part) is psychological. If employers think the economy is doing better and are confident that the bottom has been reached they may be more likely to start to expand again. Cutbacks are less likely, and as the economy begins an ascent, more positions can open up.

But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here. As Nate said, this is not a "good" economy. We have a long way to go to climb out of the hole we have dug for ourselves. Hopefully though, these positives signs will lea to more opportunities for all you unemployed grads living at home with mom and pop.

In the current job market, any employer that is consistently hiring should be considered a valuable commodity. The most obvious example being the government. Forbes has assembled a list of the highest paying government jobs that are hiring right now.

IT Specialist (system analyst), Human Resources and statistician are just a few of the positions in the Forbes profile, but really, the jobs are all over the map. Which is good. There are a variety of careers (duh) so it's good that the government is doing its best to support those careers. The article also includes descriptions an average salaries ... always helpful.

One of the most lauded benefits of government work is the job security. The government is renowned for this (along with health care and retirement packages). When times are tough, the public sector is usually less pressured and more reticent in trimming jobs. In the current market, this can be seen as a rather large benefit.

But, in the interest of objectivity, I point to Jason Alba of the accomplished Jibber Jobber, who feels government job security can be a bit overrated. Sure, it's great when things are going well, but what about, for instance, the current economic crisis?

Citing a recent CNN article on Pennsylvania and California budget shortfalls, Jason scoffs

Pennsylvania is withholding pay for 69,000 state employees. You’ve heard about California sending out IOUs? That’s because they have a $26B shortfall. So hey, take this IOU and pay your bills. Actually, some debtors took the IOUs for a short time, but either they have stopped taking IOUs or they have a date on when they won’t accept them anymore. This will ruin personal and business credit.

Jason also worries about the effect these shortfalls have on employment, noting that the last line of the article says thousands of Californians will be losing jobs. He is, most definitely, not envious of government job security.

And he has a point. The counter point, of course, is that California is an outlier, the Federal Government is a much larger and more stable employer and, in the current economy, functions as one of the largest employers in the nation. It is ultimately up to you. We can only provide insight into where your career may lie. How you use that insight and information is up to you.

Let's see what other nuggets of information we found on the Internets with The Links ...

The Wall Street Journal Discusses Explaining a Firing to Future Employers: In this case, how to deal with a firing for inappropriate internet use. "There are only two ways to go with this: Tell the truth or try to talk your way around a direct answer. Neither is a perfect solution, but career experts agree: You'll want to take the high road and tell the recruiter or prospective employer the truth, albeit without too much detail unless you are pressed to disclose more information than basic facts."

The National Association of Colleges and Employers Reports Engineering is Where It's At: According to the organizations summer survey, the Engineering field accounts for 4 of the top 5 jobs in terms of starting salary offers (all over $60,000). NACE attributes this to a supply/demand deficiency in the field, noting "out of the more than 1,524,000 bachelor’s degrees awarded in 2007, just 450 were in petroleum engineering and only 4,492 were in chemical engineering." Sounds like an open market.

Brazen Careerist Chris Perry Sets the Record Straight On Background Checks: There is a chance your potential employer will run a background check on you. It's helpful to know exactly what that entails. Check out the post to see what legally can and cannot be included in these checks.

Anita Bruzzeze Warns About Textual Harassment: Just like email, text messages via your phone can leave a paper trail. First of all, don't harass anyone in the first place. We should stop there, but alas, for those who need further incentive NOT to harass co-workers, know that your messages can be saved, duplicated and come back to haunt you.

"PO72009PS-0244" photo courtesy of The Official White Houe Photostream via Flickr Creative Commons

One of the reasons I am constantly reading (blogs, newspapers, magazines, shampoo ingredients) is that you can find lessons that apply to your current situation in places you would never think to look. This weekend, on Boston.com, I read about the concept of failure and what lessons we can learn from it - largely in the realm of our current economic crisis.

The article outlines 5 reason's why we are seeing a destabilization of many industries we considered immutable - the auto industry, financial sector, newspapers. Rather than simply placing blame, these factors apply to systematic failure of an institution in general. The reasons for failure, argues the author, MIT's Andrew Lippman, largely rest on over-extension and the failure to adapt.

Now, the important point that is being raised for the purposes of this here career blog is not why these industries are failing (or have failed), but rather the lesson of learning from failure on the whole. We see that when an industry loses it's way or overextends its market it needs to be able to adapt and change*. This is a point that can and should be applied to your job search.

First of all, you need to know what you are looking for in a job. Don't overextend yourself by applying for jobs that you are not qualified for. If the placement says 4-6 years of experience and you don't have it, don't waste your time.

At the same time, you need to constantly adapt to the job you are pursuing. Adapt your cover letter, resume and interview techniques. If you lose out on an opportunity (or, in the case of this post, Fail) find out what you did wrong and improve on that aspect of your search.

We can learn lessons from everything around us. In the case of the recession, we can see why these businesses failed and what lessons we learned from their failure - so as to resist that same failure in the future. By applying the same lesson of learning from job search failure you can increase your chances of success in the future.

*On a similar note, if this kind of why-did-this-happen story gets you hot, I recommend Gladwell's piece on Bear Stearns in the latest New Yorker.

On to the Links ...

On the Job's Anita Bruzzese Contemplates the Effectiveness of Online Classes: There is a lot of helpful information in this post. Basically, the classes can be good for career advancement for some, and not so good for others. The key is, look and ask around, make sure you find legitimate programs and be sure the class conforms to the direction your career is heading (or how you want it to head).

Blue Sky Resumes Blog Looks at Crowd Sourced Resumes: And doesn't like what she finds. "But anyone whose ever written a resume knows that feedback is highly subjective and generally not worth listening to. I say ‘generally’ because some feedback is valuable of course - an experienced hiring manager or recruiter can offer their own impressions of you based on your resume and those impressions are always useful to know. But peers? Friends and family? No way!"

College Humor Lists the 7 Kinds of Roomates: Spot on list of the type of guys (yeah, sorry, this one is dudes only) you'll end up rooming with. It's funny and largely on-point. Luckily, I didn't have any of these types and am still friends with my freshman year roommate (though our passion for Rushmore was uncomfortably similar to the "Wedding Crashers" reference in the post).

Penelope Trunk Gives You Stability in the Struggling Economy: Penelope has some very good advice to increase stability in an unstable market. Some may seem a bit cold - treat your job as an investment, don't view your job as fun vs. no-fun - but are nonetheless useful. My favorite piece is to volunteer to supplement your career and as a safety net in the even of a job loss. Good Stuff.

Alison's Job Search Blogs Adds Titles to Your Summer Reading List: Career titles, that is. It's always a great idea to sprinkle a little serious reading in with your beach books. Alison has some choices for those of you looking to add a bit of career advice into your reading rotation.

"Fail Road" Courtesy fireflythegreat via Flickr Creative Commons

The White House's Council of Economic Advisers has a new report on the future of job growth in the U.S. And, unless you're a nerd (and even then ...) it's not a particularly exciting or compelling read. It does, however, contain some very useful information (and charts!) for job seekers

The report projects the expected expansion and contraction of specific industries over the next 7 years and drew some useful conclusions. For instance, education is expected to continue its expansion, while employment in retail trade is expected to contract.

But much more than any industry, we see that health care related jobs are expected to expand significantly. This industry includes jobs in "nursing homes, physician offices, hospitals, home health care, outpatient care, and medical and diagnostic laboratories."

Jobs in health care support occupations ... are projected to experience even faster growth. The increased demand in this area stems largely from an aging population that will require care at home, at nursing care facilities, and in inpatient and outpatient settings. Support occupations that will likely grow in importance are physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, medical social workers and home health care aides.

Initially this looks like good news. And for someone interested in - or currently in - these industries it is. But Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein points out a very important point in that these growth markets - education and health care - are largely state funded. Private sector jobs, like retail, manufacturing and business and financial services (at least its use to be private) are projecting downward. Says Klein:

Is this a problem? Not necessarily. But it's evidence of a couple of things. The first is that the private sector is not projected to do a lot of job creation on its lonesome over the next couple of years. The second is that the public sector has a lot of influence over the shape of the industries with heavy growth over the next decade or so. And the third is that a lot of the job creation we are going to get is coming in sectors -- health care and education -- that everyone agrees aren't working too well, and so it's not clear that this will be a terrifically productive bunch of new jobs.

So the news isn't all good, and there are serious questions about the direction this job growth might lead us. However, it still is relatively positive for those who wish to work in these industries. Whatever your path, it's probably a good idea to browse through the report while job searching for incite into which sectors are growing and which are shrinking.

A bit more general career advice - without the charts - can be found in The Links ...

Jobacle Dishes Fashion Advice: Apparently Andrew G.R. has a problem keeping his socks healthy. Andrew has a website for his problem and some advice for your problems. The post has some good dress-for-success tips for men, including "When it comes to your ties, don’t walk on the wild side. Dazzle people with your mind, not your neckwear."

The Thin Pink Line Discusses Credit Card Control: Credit Cards can be helpful and handy ... if you don't abuse them. According to Valerie Coleman Morris, one way to avoid the abuse is by paying your card on time. Those late fees will kill your wallet and your credit rating.

Alexandra Levit Questions the Graduate Degree: Nobody's debating the overall value of a graduate degree (at least not here) but one consideration, according to Alexandra, is return on investment. Are you going to get enough money out of the degree to compensate for the money you put into it. Like any career decision, this requires careful thought and consideration. Leave the capriciousness for less important decisions ... like dinner or children.

What Would Dad Say Examines the Similarities of College Shopping and Job Searching: The argument here is that choosing a career is similar to choosing a school. On it's face the comparison seems a bit of a stretch, but once Kristie Davis - a recent college grad - gets into the details it actually makes some sense ... kind of like apples and oranges.

Anita Bruzzese's 45 Things Shows the Right Way to Quit: Granted this is probably only useful to very few people in this market, but it helps to know how to leave a job the right way. "Rehearse what you plan to say to co-workers and the boss when you decide to quit. Make sure you don’t make any disparaging comments about the business, or say something like how “not working with such losers anymore will be so nice.”" No points for honesty, I guess.

Alison's Job Search Blog Reminds You to Follow Up With Your Contacts: "Nick told me that he interviewed back in March for a perfect job. He was told that he had come in second, but the hiring manager was going to keep him in mind if another position opened up. He sent an email last week checking in. She called this morning and offered him a position." Proof is in the proverbial pudding here.

As a recent grad you face a lot of competition in the job market. Other recent grads as well as other professionals in your same field. Now, traditionally, the college student or recent grad could always rely on the unpaid internship as a fall back plan. But according to the Wall Street Journal that option is getting tougher as well.

Laid off professionals, or those who are looking to shift careers are turning to unpaid internships in the recession to add experience to their resumes. For students and recent grads this is bad news - to face increased competition. There really isn't a lot of advice, except to stress the skills you do possess as an undergrad. But, for professionals looking to change course after a lay off or whatever, the article does contain some useful advice.

To land an internship after working elsewhere, you’ll need to explain why you’re willing to take a step back, says Constance Dierickx, a management psychologist at RHR International Co., an organizational-development firm in Wood Dale, Ill. “You need to talk early about the benefits of hiring you,” she says. “It works well to say that you’re looking to make a career change or to learn something new. It doesn’t work well to say I lost my job and don’t have anything else to do.”

Put as much effort into your candidacy for an internship as you would for a salaried position, adds Ms. Dierickx. Research employers and study their Web sites to show you are familiar with them and are serious. “Just because a company isn’t paying doesn’t mean that it’s not investing in you,” she says.

On to The Links ...

Fistful of Talent Reminds You: Be careful who you send your emails to at work, and especially careful of how you word them. FoT (or would it be FfoT?) relays a story from the early days of Netscape and an irritated young product specialist who drew the ire of co-founder Marc Andreessin with a snippy email.

The Thin Pink Line Thinks: Internships are more important now than ever before. Lindsey Pollack says times have changed and the internship is no longer a luxury for the ambitious college student ... it is a must have for anyone looking for a post-collegiate job. Lindsey goes on to offer some useful tips for the interning process.

Gradspot Offers: Advice on finding a job with a start up. College Mogul proprietor Alex Lindahl gives his take on jobs with startups: "You don't have to go corporate if you don't want to. Find a job at a startup so you can wear multiple hats, learn how to grow and scale a company, connect with extraordinary businessmen, and network with the best. But most importantly, do it because its straight up fun and will lead to more opportunities."

The Monster Blog Asks: Are you settling? "Should one of these possible positions materialize, would I be taking a job that is basically treading water in the career path? Would I be settling by taking a job that is right for just now and then continue a sideline job search while gainfully employed, yet slightly underutilized?" - Good questions ... and good answers.

"Marathon Crowd" courstesy thomas_sly via Flickr Creative Commons