“In a tough job market, it makes sense to look for ways to set yourself apart from the competition. But is extra school the best — or most cost-effective — way to advance?

This year, 26 percent of graduating seniors headed for a graduate or professional degree, up from 24 percent last year, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, a professional association. Add to those ranks people who are working but want to go back to school — or who are simply not working and are applying to school as a back up — and enrollment swells even more.

But if these students are looking at grad school as a refuge from a tough economy, it’s the wrong approach, says Kathy Sims, the director of the University of California, Los…”

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Really cool article! One thing’s for sure: entrepreneurship = learning process.

“In the late 1990s, while working as a sales engineer at Sun Microsystems, I decided that I wanted to do something more technical, more on the programming side of things. I was interested in developing an application server, a program that manages the applications for an enterprise, using Java, a Sun programming language with which I was familiar. “Open Source,” whereby a developer licenses the code to users at no cost, was just coming into its own at the time. Users could run the program, and access the source code or even modify it, at no charge.

Given the business climate at that time, I felt that there was a good likelihood of finding venture capitalists to fund the project. In other words, once I firmed up the product, I could stay focused on the product while the suits could figure out how to make money and build a real…”

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 ”I’m going to guess you’ve made a financial mistake or two in your life. Who hasn’t? For some of us, it was more than an occasional late fee or random urge to overspend that brought us to our financial knees. But I’m not talking about the kind of blunders that got us into trouble—we could list those in our sleep. Instead, I want to focus on the mistakes people make while they’re working their way back to financial health. Whether you’re recovering from a season of unemployment or from a financial mess you created on your own, avoid these goofs and you’ll get where you want to go much…”

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[pic: yahoo.com]

“The federal government’s “help wanted” sign is up. The problem, applicants are finding, is getting in the door.

More than a quarter-million federal workers are expected to be hired in the next three years, which makes the government attractive to job seekers at a time of 9.8% unemployment and shrinking private payrolls. But the government, it turns out, isn’t very good at hiring. Its screening process has been making it hard for applicants…”

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“Stick to It

It hasn’t always been easy. “Sometimes you have to go backward in order to go forward, and the market is not very forgiving,” Mr. Conant says. “You have to be open minded and willing to learn, and you have to persevere.”

What does Mr. Conant recommend for people who are interested in becoming the business world’s future top executives?

First, be a student of leadership and great leaders. Read all the books you can get your hands on. Also, make an effort to get to know senior leaders in your organization, inside and outside your department. Note who is most …”

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“After the sudden drop in the Dow this time last year, many investors were left to wonder what else could happen to deflate their savings and investment portfolios. We came up with a list of some of the scariest — and potentially most costly — financial mistakes you could make. Take steps now to ensure that you don’t lose money by making some of these big, bad choices.

Not Rolling Over Your 401(k) Savings

If you leave a job and opt to take the savings you have accumulated through your employer’s 401(k) plan, you need to roll it over into a qualified investment vehicle (i.e. a new employer’s 401(k) or 403(b) plan, an IRA, etc.) within 60 business days or …”

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“Does the possibility of earning $75,000 feel completely out of your grasp? You’re not alone–the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports median earnings of less than $40,000 in this country. But if you’re reaching for more, don’t give up now. With hard work, a commitment to career training, and these five secrets, you could find that $75k just around the corner.

Secret #1: Get an advanced degree

Earn a college degree and you’ll earn more…”

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“… list of small moves that yield big dividends:

1. Save a bit at a time

I get so frustrated when people tell me it’s unrealistic to create an eight-month emergency savings fund, or have money saved for a home down payment, or pay off their $5,000 credit card balance. I am not suggesting that you can snap your fingers and have everything taken care of.

What I’m telling you is to move toward your goals in steps. Rather than get lost in the big picture — “Eight months? Are you crazy, Suze? I can never do that!” — focus on what is within your power: the sums you can sock away every week or month to get closer to what you’re trying to achieve.

Put $50 a week into a bank savings account earning 2 percent interest, and in three years you will have saved more than $8,000….”

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“Natalie Ann Roig completed a marketing internship last spring—while riding the bus, sitting on her parents’ couch and lounging at home in pajamas.

The internship, in which she worked 15 hours a week researching and blogging about corporate workplace benefits, was virtual—she needed only a computer and Internet access. Ms. Roig, a senior at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, never even met her boss, in Atlanta.

“I didn’t have to dress up. I didn’t have to sit at a cubicle for hours,” says Ms. Roig, a senior studying graphic design. “It was more like work at your own pace and get the work done.”

Virtual internships, while relatively rare, are becoming more common…”

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…. “The recession has brought migration to a grinding halt: Fewer people moved across state lines in 2008 than at any time since 1950, when the population was smaller by half, says William Frey, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit Washington research organization.

Here’s a look at our survey’s top five cities:

First Place (Tie): Washington, D.C.

The 2008 election touched off a youthful pilgrimage to the capital that most panelists say won’t end soon. “In the eyes of some young people, Barack Obama is America’s coolest boss,” says Richard Florida, author of “Who’s Your City?” and a professor of business and creativity at the University of Toronto’s…”

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