Improving Your Job Search

Many who have found themselves out of work thanks to the recent recession have headed back to school for retraining in a more lucrative profession – or so they thought. It turns out that many of those so-called hot industries highly touted during the slowdown are only lukewarm at best for many of the college grads trying to hunt down the openings.

Here's a look back at how things were in 2010.

The Hot Market Illusion

Check out any news publication today, and you will find at least one article about the hottest markets that are currently hiring. Case in point: A piece on the New Year's Day edition of Good Morning America this year listed four hot markets for college graduates to consider. The industries included health care, law enforcement, business services, and sales.

A recent article on CareerBuilder.com lists companies that will be hiring college graduates this summer. Some of those companies do fall into the industries listed by Good Morning America earlier this year. However, finding a company or industry that is hiring, and landing a good job right out of college are too different things, thanks to the many complexities of a dragging economy that hasn't pulled itself out of the unemployment slump just yet.

Factors Affecting Hiring

The truth is that it is simply hard to predict where the jobs will arise because there are many factors that affect the hiring prospects of any single company.

With the scandals of Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom in the past, today's corporate world demands a mixture of business acumen and ethics. To combat corruption, many employers are looking to hire candidates with business ethics qualifications. If you are looking for ways to enhance your resume and candidacy, consider enrolling in an ethics business class at your community college.

What are Ethics Business Courses?

Courses in business ethics are relatively new options, but they are certainly growing in relevance. As the Business Network explains, "Business ethics consists of a set of moral principles and values that govern the organization's behavior with respect to what is right and what is wrong."

Specifically, business ethics courses outline any company's moral philosophies and obligations. Business ethics classes often explore topics such as:

• Evaluation of prohibited actions in the workplace
• Legal frameworks on which an organization may be governed
• Evaluation of the most common pillars of ethics. For example, evaluation of ethical philosophies such as deontologism, relativism, egoism, and utilitarianism (although these pillars of focus may vary for each course)
• Examination of ethical violations in various business organizations (often based on hypothetical cases, historical occurrences, etc.)

This video explains business ethics.

Benefits of an Ethics Business Course

While many community colleges offer business ethics courses, North Seattle Community College (NSCC), located in Washington, has been pioneering its curriculum with practical, hands-on applications of business ethics.

NSCC

As the job market is becoming increasingly competitive, many community college students are taking advantage of internship opportunities before they receive their diplomas. Internships can provide students with a variety of benefits, many of which often help push a prospective job candidate’s resume to the top of the application stack.

Benefits of Internships

Learning More about Your Major

One of the foremost benefits of a community college internship is the experience allows students to receive hands-on interaction with work in their field of study. Added to this, for students who are unsure of their major, or uncertain of what their major may lead to careerwise, they can utilize internships to ensure that they are on the correct path of study.

According to college advisors, the average student changes majors three times before finalizing their course of study. According to Dr. Fritz Grupe of My Majors, approximately 80% of high school students begin college without knowing what major they want to study.

By working with different internships, you can hone your professional interest and find the appropriate major for you.

This video reports on a student's internship with Facebook.

Build Your Resume

As a great number of candidates may be applying for a single position, community college interns are able to build up their resume with significant work experiences. In today’s competitive work environment, your resume is what sets you apart from other candidates.

If you