Free Republic

Wes Bihn watched his sister slogging her way through six years of university training to enter the psychiatry field, and he knew that path wasn’t for him. “I was raised on a farm,” Bihn told Cowboy State Daily. “And I’ve pretty much worked nonstop my entire life, and I just always hated being in school.” The mere thought of spending six years in a classroom was like torture for Bihn, who is from Indiana, really driving home the realization that he wanted something different. Bihn is like a lot of people in Generation Z, ranging in age from 13 to...

Over 4 million Gen Zers are not in school or work in the U.S. and in the U.K. 100,000 young people joined the NEETs cohort. But it’s not generational laziness that’s to blame. Experts are taking swipes at “worthless degrees” and a system that “is failing to deliver on its implicit promise.” There’s been a mass derailment when it comes to Gen Z and their careers: about a quarter of young people are now deemed NEETs—meaning they are no longer in education, employment, or training. While some Gen Zers may fall into this category because they are taking care of...

Exactly two months after her election loss to Donald Trump, Vice-President Kamala Harris will preside over the certification of her own defeat.As president of the Senate, on Monday she will stand at the House Speaker's rostrum to lead the counting of Electoral College votes, officially cementing her rival's triumph two weeks before he returns to the White House. The circumstances are painful and awkward for a candidate who decried her opponent as an urgent threat to American democracy, but Harris aides insist she will conduct her constitutional and legal duty with seriousness and grace. It is not the first time...

School Counselors Recommended Careers Career Recommendations by School Counselors: School counselors often recommend careers that align with a student’s interests, skills, and academic strengths. Based on their expertise, here are some careers that school counselors commonly recommend to students: Mental Health Counselors: School counselors may recommend this career path to students who are interested in helping others and have a passion for mental health. Teachers: For students who enjoy teaching and mentoring, school counselors may suggest a career in education, such as teaching at the elementary, middle, or high school level. Social Workers: Students who are interested in social justice...

While speaking recently on something called “The Story of Woman” podcast, Hillary Clinton said that the U.S. makes it “as hard as possible” for women to have careers.Really, former first lady and Secretary of State? There are countless female CEOs, accountants, doctors, lawyers, and store managers in the United States today. No fewer than 60% of college students are female. Roughly 86 of the approximately 328 women billionaires on Earth are American, including Oprah Winfrey. That’s more than 26% of all female billionaires alive. (There are 195 nations on the planet. Do the math.) Contrast this with, say, various Muslim...

Even with college application season in full swing, many families are questioning whether a four-year degree is still worth it. Some experts say the value of a bachelor’s degree is fading and more emphasis should be directed toward career training. A growing number of companies, including many in tech, are also dropping degree requirements for many middle-skill and even higher-skill roles. ... Still, 44% of all job seekers with college degrees regret their field of study. Journalism, sociology, communications and education all topped the list of most-regretted college majors, according to ZipRecruiter’s survey of more than 1,500 college graduates who...

CTECH's grand opening ceremony drew hundreds to the brand-spanking new facility on Thursday. The crowd had a chance to tour the building and listen to Mike Rowe's take on why the rest of the country can learn from the example of community partnership demonstrated by Hobbs.Opening video

Most Americans have been conditioned to believe that if you don’t enroll in college after high school, you have almost no chance at a successful life. That’s not true. As a 3rd-year engineering student working for a semester at an old-school machine tool company in Detroit, I got my first inkling that alternative paths into careers other than expensive college degrees existed. On my first day of work, the shop foreman told me in no uncertain terms that I was not to disturb the gray-haired “master craftsman” seated next to our enormous CNC machining center, reading the Wall Street Journal...

Despair is in the air. Three-quarters of Americans believe their own country is in decline. Trafalgar Group, December 2021It’s hard to dispute that when you see things like junkies destroying U.S. infrastructure while governors who liberally micromanage law-abiding people throw up their hands.What westerners think India is like vs. what it's actually like.Contrast the Ascending vs. the Descending world – LA and random cities of India quietly switching places as the Westerner maintains his perpetual denial. pic.twitter.com/0Z2i2RZYJv— The Last Contrarian (@lastcontrarian) January 15, 2022h/t Aaron RennI do think there are major problems in our country that are not likely to...

A pandemic-tightened labor market has given willing and able workers more of an upper hand with their employers for the first time in generations. While workers are trying to take advantage of this rare moment of opportunity, economists are less convinced. Worker power is the ability of an employee to command higher wages and benefits and set terms about their working conditions. Since the 1950s, worker power has generally been on the decline as the power of corporations and shareholders grew and union strength fell. But now the nation has the most job openings it has ever had since the...

<p>Currently, there are 17 COVID-related shortages in major and minor consumer products and medical supplies but expected to be resolved, albeit with price increases. Included are new cars, chlorine, lumber, pet food, homes, chicken, and hotdogs, to name a few. Most formidable is a fuel shortage — already in play due to the lack of gas truck drivers (see more on that below) — but exacerbated by the oil pipeline cyberattack, on the verge of becoming a national security threat. Now, after paying ransom, the pipeline is slowly reopening, but supply vulnerabilities remain.</p>

Key takeaways The unemployment rate is extremely low, which means people are switching jobs more frequently for opportunities that better fit their needs.Switching jobs in a strong economy can give you more negotiating power.Employers are hiring already-employed candidates at a higher rate than unemployed candidates.Job switchers often change industries, but not at a higher rate than usual.Job hopping doesn’t always look bad on your resume (and, in some instances, can even help increase your hireability). Have you been considering leaving your current employer for another opportunity? If so, you’re not alone. In recent years, the job switching rate has...

Tom Brady is a now free agent, but the NFL player doesn’t have the same worries as millions of Americans over 40. Workers over 40 are only about half as likely, or less, to get a job offer than younger workers if employers know their age, according to research released this week that was conducted by economics professor David Neumark at the University of California, Irvine. The data was adjusted for differences in skills, fit and availability. Key to the study was a major change that a company made to its hiring systems. Previously all applicants at a national restaurant...

The idea of college-for-all puts a lot of students in a bad position, because not all high school seniors have a firm grasp of the financial risk being taken—the average graduating college senior in 2017 was $28,650 in debt. Students should fully understand the ramifications of incurring student loan debt and that there are other, less costly, post-secondary options. There are dependable careers, with attractive pay, that are attainable without a college degree, the training for which can be fostered by high schools via Career and Technical Education. An electrician, for example, makes on average $50,977 a year in Texas....

Yes, you need to send a thank-you note after a job interview. This might be unwelcome news, especially if you sided against the somewhat old-fashioned practice at the center of the recent, highly contentious online debate surrounding an article by Business Insider executive managing editor Jessica Liebman. In a post for Business Insider, Liebman wrote that when she first started hiring, she came up with "a simple rule: We shouldn't move a candidate to the next stage in the interview process unless they send a thank-you email." Plenty of people disagreed with Liebman, but her stance gets at the very...

We all work. Those who work in offices or on highways, those whose work is taking care of family and household needs, those who work at being students. Work is built into the created order of things. The Bible has much to say about the dignity of work, which helps us to see our labor as more than “just a job.” And, of course, we should keep in mind the labor of many who may not receive a paycheck for what they do, but whose contribution is just as valuable. Studying at the university or changing diapers or volunteering at...

You have to work hard to get your dream job. But your dream job title might just be a pay cut away. According to one hiring expert, more and more job applicants initiate conversations about lowering their starting salaries in favor of getting the job title they want, with no change to their job description and responsibilities.

Freud was supposed to be a wise man, but he could never answer the question "What do women want?" When he suggested that women who want the power and authority to be like men suffer "penis envy," he coined a modern myth. He didn't get it quite right, but the meaning behind his diagnosis became a driving force of modern feminism. (You could ask the women running for president.) A half-century after Freud, ambitious women saw their chance. With the pill, affirmative action, college education, and careers, they felt free not to marry. And today, they're marrying later and marrying...

Every Wednesday, the second hour of my national radio show is the “Male/Female Hour.” A few weeks ago, a woman named Jennifer called in.For reasons of space, I have somewhat shortened her comments. Every young woman should read them. This is precisely what she said:“Dennis, I want to get right to it. I’m 50 years old with four college degrees. I was raised by a feminist mother with no father in the home. My mother told me get an education to the maximum level so that you can get out in the world, make a lot of money. And that’s...

With my new investment influx into the company I've been green-lit to start hiring. I'm looking for a developer and for the first time using Indeed and LinkedIn to post this job. This whole thing is very, very funky and it's very different than the last time I looked for work. Maybe what I have to say will help job seekers here understand what the process looks like and clear up some questions, frustrations and the golden answer : "Why does no one contact me back?!"