Despite what you may have heard, not all jobs are being outsourced or phased out. Many jobs are experiencing tremendous growth. The keys to landing a high-growth job are location and training. You must be in the right place and have the right training to take advantage of growth in the service, healthcare and technology sectors. Business 2.0 Magazine recently released their “10 Hot Cities for Job Growth” report, which identified the cities that are projected to experience the most growth through 2015. Among the things used to measure the growth of the leading cities were projected job growth, companies driving the job growth, median household income and median housing cost. The 10 cities with the greatest projected percentage of job growth are:? Las Vegas, NV, with 35.5%? Orlando, FL, with 28.3%? Riverside, CA, with 26.7%? Austin, TX, with 24.7%? Phoenix, AZ, with 24.3%? Jacksonville, FL, with 20.8%? Tampa, FL, with 19.7%? Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX, with 19.4%? Charlotte, NC, with 19%? Atlanta, GA, with 18.8%  
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How you can turn free time into an education grant worth thousands of dollars

Financial aid can sometimes be a tricky thing. There?s a lot of financial aid available out there, but you have to qualify for it through a few approval processes. Unfortunately, many people who are seeking a better education and a better life don?t always qualify for this aid. But do you just have to sit there and take ?no? for an answer?

Answer: No.

There?s another way you can get a great head start on money for your education, no matter who you are, where you live or what kind of credit you have. It?s called AmeriCorps!

AmeriCorps is a government institution that organizes citizens age 17 or older into action groups that sign up for periods of service in one of five training locations around the country. As you work for AmeriCorps, you earn hours that go toward an education grant. Yes, that?s right ? a grant, not a loan that will need to be paid back. You pay for the grant up front with your work hours, not later with money and interest.

The Term of Service
Since this is a civil service organization, time must be set aside for the training camp. AmeriCorps camps are not like military boot camps (although you do wear a uniform). AmeriCorps is real-life education and work experience wrapped into one. As a member, you will learn teamwork, leadership, responsibility and other essential skills that will help you for the rest of your life. You will gain the personal satisfaction of taking on challenges and seeing results.

You can work hard with your body or your mind. You get to choose your area of training. For instance, you can earn your tuition money by:
? tutoring and mentoring youth
? assisting crime victims
? building homes
? restoring parks
? helping a faith-based charity
? providing first aid and support for disaster relief

The Application
If you have decided that AmeriCorps is the best way for you to earn education money, it?s now time to pick your program of interest. Programs can be chosen from current issues the communities are experiencing or from a broader range of skills and abilities, like construction, electronics, leadership and many more.

Once you have found the appropriate program, you need to pick your area of service and the training camp you will attend.

After you confirm all of your eligibility requirements and your age, you are then ready to prepare for service in a rare type of adventure that few experience.

The Award
After successfully completing a term of service, AmeriCorps members who are enrolled in the National Service Trust are eligible to receive a $4,725 AmeriCorps Education Award. You can use your AmeriCorps Education Award to pay education costs at qualified institutions of higher education, for educational training or to repay qualified student loans. This $4,725 is for a year of full-time service and is prorated for part-time service. You can access the award in full or part and can take up to seven years after your term of service has ended to claim the award.

What can you use it for? You can use your education award in the following ways or a combination of them:

? to repay qualified existing or future student loans
? to pay all or part of the current education expenses to attend a qualified institution of higher education (including certain vocational programs)
? to pay expenses while participating in an approved school-to-work program

And here?s one more big reason to look into AmeriCorps and their generous awards: You can get more than one. That?s right ? if you have the time, you can serve your community for up to two years, reap double the benefits, and receive two awards, both worth $4,725 for a year of service. That?s $9,450 to put toward education to help you build your future!

Why They Do It
Aside from the obvious benefits of getting people involved in bettering their communities, AmeriCorps is also a way for the government to curtail costs of natural disasters, urban decay and other expensive projects that can?t be completely covered by the private sector. It?s a win-win situation for everyone.

Tags:  careercolleges responsibility participating unfortunately construction experiencing institutions organization requirements satisfaction successfully application appropriate combination communities educational electronics eligibility institution americorps challenges completely completing government leadership

For many high school graduates, entering college as a freshman can be a very scary time. They might not know what to expect. They may feel as if they are being pushed from an airplane without a parachute or walking a tightrope without a net.

And frankly, the dreaded freshman year can be a scary time. The homework can be harder than ever before; familiar friends may be few and far between; and being the newbie is rarely fun or comfortable.

But freshman year can also be an exciting time. A new start, a chance at a great future, the beginning of an exciting journey. Below are some helpful tips for incoming freshmen that will hopefully ease the transition.

Don?t enter college with any expectations.
Honestly, you don?t know what it is going to be like. Anything you?ve been told is coming from the experiences of others. Gain your own experiences and form your own opinions and wisdom. Whatever you expect will likely either fall short or be exceeded. So expect nothing ? just wait and see what it is actually like.

Be yourself and keep an open mind.
Yes, it is a cliché. But it is great advice. Don?t do anything you don?t want to do (well, except maybe homework). You?re going to meet a great deal of new people; don?t dismiss any of these people or different ideas. But don?t let anyone tell you what to do or who you should be. You can only be yourself, and your circle of friends will accept you for who you are.

Don?t forget why you are there.
Believe it or not: you are not just there to party. Certainly make time to have fun, but don?t allow your new social connections to bog down your schoolwork. You may regret it later when you are closer to graduating ? or when you are sharing your grades with your parents.

But have some fun!
College is your stepping stone to the rest of your life. Don?t let the experience pass you by! Join a club, go to some parties, have some fun! It is important to do well in school. It is why you are there. But you also don?t want to look back at your college experience and say, ?I wish I had done that.?

So there you go. Four tips that, while they may seem obvious, are very important, and it is nice to reinforce them. Be yourself, remember why you are there, have no expectations, and have some fun. Don?t worry ? some of the best times of your life can happen during college!

For more tips for freshmen, check out the following books:

The Naked Roomate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College

Confessions of a College Freshman: A Survival Guide for Dorm Life, Biology Lab, the Cafeteria, and Other First-Year Adventures

101 Things A College Girl Should Know

The Everything College Survival Book; From Social Life to Study Skills-Everything You Need To Know To Fit Right In-Before You’re a Senior!

Tags:  careercolleges expectations comfortable confessions connections experiences adventures everything graduating schoolwork transition beginning cafeteria certainly different following graduates hopefully important parachute reinforce tightrope actually airplane anything

College can be a stressful time for students. Freshmen can be overwhelmed by their new environment and new study habits, seniors can be stressed by their impending graduation and all of the requirements that come with that momentous occasion, and everyone in between can feel pressured by the general rigors of college.

There are many ways students can deal with this stress, but the important thing is that they do deal with it. It is unhealthy for students to bottle their stress up or let it eat at them all of the time.

So what can a student do to deal with the stress that comes with attending college? Extracurricular activities can truly help students relieve the stress they feel. Most colleges offer a wide variety of extracurricular activities to participate in. Below, we will describe a number of these activities so you can judge which (if any) of these events may interest you.

Athletics
Sports are an excellent way to work off stress and calories. They can help you stay fit and relieve pressure by being physical. While most colleges don?t allow students to participate in school sporting events without a scholarship or athletic background, most schools do offer intramural athletics that anyone can partake in. Also, students can organize their own leagues and games at a recreational center.

Student Media
Being a member of the school?s newspaper staff, television crew or radio crew can be extremely fun and can make the student feel like part of the university community. Most newspapers and television/radio stations have positions open that don?t require a major in this field. These options can also make students feel like they are helping people and making a difference.

Fraternal Organizations
Greek life ? being a member of a fraternity or sorority ? can offer a sense of kinship, bonding and fun. Fraternity brothers and sorority sisters often participate in charitable events and usually find time for rest, relaxation and parties as well. This is a good way to feel like a member of a group, and it?s a great way to meet new people and make new friends.

Performing Arts
Many colleges offer creative types the opportunity to join singing groups, bands or drama clubs. These are all great options for the creatively inclined, and they can be exciting, fun and rewarding. Aside from allowing students the opportunity to be creative, these groups also offer students the chance to meet new people and make friends with similar interests.

There are many off-the-beaten-path groups for people with particular interests or who are just not interested in any of the traditional groups listed above. These groups include metalwork, needlework, debate team, woodwork, pottery, poetry, photography and many more.

The list of groups students can join to relieve stress is virtually endless. There are so many options for students; they shouldn?t hesitate to join one of these groups. What is there to lose? Not much. What is there to gain? Friendships that can last a lifetime, fun times they will never forget and the opportunity to blow off some school-related steam ? that is why these groups exist in the first place.

Tags:  extracurricular careercolleges organizations recreational requirements environment friendships opportunity overwhelmed participate photography scholarship traditional activities charitable creatively difference fraternity graduation intramural needlework newspapers performing relaxation television

If you have ever interviewed for a job, you have probably found yourself in this situation.

The interview is going well. You are dressed professionally, confident as you interact with the interviewer, and poised and thoughtful as you answer questions about your career goals, previous job experience and qualities you would bring to the company. Everything is going well until it happens. The interviewer turns the spotlight off of you and onto the company. It is now your turn to ask the questions.

Most people spend huge amounts of time preparing answers to the most common interview questions. They know how to answer questions about their last job, their strengths and weaknesses and how they are the best person for the job. Few people spend as much time preparing to interview the interviewer. Asking the correct questions is just as important, if not moreso, than answering the questions correctly.

Here is a list of the questions we think you should ask when you are interviewing for a job:
1. What are the most important skills for this job?
2. How would you describe your ideal candidate?
3. What is a common career path at the company for someone in this role?
4. How do you think this industry will change in the next five years?
5. What do you think gives this company an advantage over its competitors?
6. What is the company’s biggest challenge?
7. How is it planning to meet that challenge?
8. What is a typical day like in the department?
9. How would you describe the work environment at the company?
10. How do you measure success on the job?
*This list was compiled from resources on Career Builder, Hot Jobs and Monster.

Tags:  careercolleges professionally interviewing competitors environment interviewed interviewer department everything thoughtful weaknesses advantage answering candidate challenge confident correctly important interview preparing qualities questions resources situation spotlight

If you have a busy or unpredictable schedule or limited transportation options or you simply don?t live near a school that offers a program you?re interested in, an online education can be a great solution! But before you take that step, make sure you do your research and consider the following questions:

Is the program you?re interested in available online?

Some schools offer a mixture of online and face-to-face classes. Some schools even offer the bulk of classes online, but might require one or two weeks in person or want you to take tests at an official testing center. Make sure the program you?re interested in fits your schedule!

Do you have all of the equipment you?ll need?

When taking an online class, it?s important to make sure that your computer and Internet access meet the minimum requirements! Find out if you?ll need to run any special programs or software, and if they suggest a broadband connection to the Internet or if dial-up is sufficient. If you?re planning on doing your coursework from a library or other public space, make sure that you?ll have both sufficient access and the time that you?ll need and that you allow enough time.

Do you have a clear idea of how classes and discussions will be conducted?

Every online program has its own methods of dealing with the issue of how to present material in a non-traditional setting. Whether it?s through streaming video, downloadable lectures, written material or real-time chats, each method has its own strengths and works well for different people. Find out how material is presented and in what ways you?ll be expected to interact with your classmates ? and use that information to find a program that?s most comfortable for you and your learning style.

Achieving an education online is not only possible ? it?s probably easier than you think! The important thing is to make sure that the education and program you choose is one that?s right for you!

Tags:  careercolleges transportation unpredictable downloadable requirements comfortable discussions traditional classmates connection coursework sufficient achieving available broadband conducted different education equipment following important presented questions streaming strengths