Daily Career Connection

All over the country, people are worried about the economy. The word “recession” is all over the news. And the people at the highest risk of suffering from a poor economy are the 39 million Americans who don’t have a high school diploma. As jobs get scarcer, more highly qualified workers are on the job market, looking for employment. In an economy where, in some job markets, 75% or more of jobs require a high school degree, the prospects for someone without one are already slim. As jobs become more competitive, people without a GED or high school diploma are the most likely to find themselves without employment.

When the economy begins to look shaky, people tend not to want to make changes in their lives. They put off buying new things, and that includes investing in their education. But the truth is that, when the economy is soft, it’s the worst time to put off pursuing better education. If you’ve been thinking about getting that GED, there has never been a better time. A small investment in studying for and taking the GED exam can lead to a much more secure future and put you in a better position if you need to search for a job.
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Licensure requirements:

• Differ from state to state, occupational specialty and work setting
• A lot of states require school counselors to have a State school counseling certification and to have completed some graduate course work. Most schools require a master’s degree.
• Some states require school counselors to be licensed (this generally requires continuing education credits)
• Some states require public school counselors to have counseling and teaching certificates and some teaching experience

Counselors outside of schools:

• 49 states and the District of Columbia have some form of counselor licensure that governs the practice of counseling
• Requirements usually include the completion of a master’s degree in counseling
• the accumulation of 2 years or 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience beyond the master’s degree
• passage of a State-recognized exam
• adherence to ethical codes and standards
• the completion of annual continuing education requirements

Different licensure requirements may exist for counselors working in certain settings or in a particular specialty. A career counselor working in private practice may need a license, but a counselor working for a college career center may not.

Substance abuse and behavior disorder counselors are usually governed by a different State agency or board than are other counselors. Criteria for their licensure vary greatly. In some cases, these counselors may only need a higher school diploma and certification.

Other qualifications may include:

• a strong desire to help others and should be able to inspire respect, trust and confidence
• should be able to work independently or as part of a team
• must follow the code of ethics associated with their respective certifications and licenses
• High physical and emotional energy to handle the array of problems they must address. Daily problem coping and solving can create job stress.

Certification and advancement:

• Counselors may elect to be certified by the National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc (this is a general practice credential of National Certified Counselor)
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Education is an essential of any developed nation, and so it is likely that qualified teachers remain in demand throughout the world. In the U.S., there were over 3.8 million philosophy jobs for 2004 including preschool, kindergarten, elementary, middle school, and secondary school teachers. If you are seeking a career that will see good growth and with high employment availability, then becoming capable for teaching job may be proper career abundance for you.

Rally Round And Funnel People Concerning Education:

If you find pleasure helping people gain knowledge of, then fetching qualified for teaching jobs may be in your best concentration. Teaching jobs are found in a number of environments, each of which has different requirements for working in those particular teaching jobs. In some cases, you may have to obtain a two to four year degree and pass a certification exam, and in other cases your job experience may qualify you for certain teaching jobs. There are no federal requirements for teaching jobs that occur in schools, so often necessities for teaching jobs in schools are dictated by local or state laws.

When it comes time to begin applying for positions, you have a wide range of options available to you. If you’re a certified teacher, the best place to begin is with a school search. Try to narrow the field to areas where you’re interested in teaching and then does an internet search for schools or organizations in that area. Most of them will specify on their website whether or not they accept applications from foreign locales. And don’t forget to frequently check job bank databases–perhaps the best way to stay informed about current job openings.
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by Mary White, M.A., SPHR Mobile Technical Institute & MTI Business Solutions 

Whether you’re getting ready to apply for admission to college or are seeking a professional certification, preparing to take a standardized exam can be very stressful. Not only do you need to possess a solid understanding of the material covered by the exam, you also have to know how to read questions that sometimes seem to be worded in a deliberately tricky manner.

To compound the issue, you also have to cope with the added variable of dealing with completing your exam with an allotted amount of time in a controlled testing environment. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to take some of the stress out of the standardized test taking process.

Test Taking Techniques
If it’s been a while since your last standardized exam, you’ll probably need to spend some time brushing up on your test taking skills before you actually take your test. Most standardized exams consist of multiple choice or true/false items, or a combination of the two types of questions.

For multiple choice questions, be sure to read the question very carefully. Try to pick out the key words so you can be confident that you clearly understand what is being asked. The next step is to read each possible carefully and eliminate the ones that are obviously wrong. This process of elimination will help you narrow down your choices for each item, increasing the odds that you will chose the correct answer.
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