Job Search Best Practices

How skills in sales, communication can improve job prospects
Besides job-specific skills, candidates should develop skills in areas such as sales and communication, Kontrary founder Rebecca Healy writes in this blog post. The best candidates also will have basic coding skills and an entrepreneurial drive, as well as the ability to see a project through to completion, she writes. U.S. News & World Report/On Careers blog (12/10)

A social media strategy for finding your ideal career
Landing a job via social media is all about interacting with the right people, Heather Huhman writes. "The best way to land a job using social media is to follow companies you’d love to work for" and engage with their social content, Huhman writes. Personal Branding Blog (12/9)

Other News

Higher Ed Employment Trends

Students give male professors better evaluations, study finds
Students in online courses may rate professors higher if they believe them to be male, according to new research from North Carolina State University. Researchers had a male and female professor "switch" genders during a course and students rated the female professor higher when students were told the instructor was a male. The perceived male professor was ranked higher in areas such as professionalism, promptness and fairness, the study found. InsideHigherEd.com (12/10)

Opinion: Too many tech grads stay in academia
The shortage of Ph.D.s in the technology industry would be less acute if so many did not stay in academia, Gary McDowell writes. Cultural biases push students toward research careers, despite the lack of tenured positions for most Ph.D.s, he writes. PhysOrg.com/The Conversation (12/9)

Other News

Higher Ed in the News

Pell Grants face cuts as Congress considers new spending bill
A compromise appropriations bill being considered this week in Congress would cut $303 million from the Pell Grant program while modestly increasing funding in other areas, such as work-study programs and minority-serving colleges and universities. Some education leaders have criticized the proposed Pell cuts, saying that they would cause problems for the program in coming years. The Chronicle of Higher Education (free content) (12/10)

Leadership Focus

Can partnerships help colleges and universities survive?
Public colleges and universities should be fostering partnerships with private businesses to improve academic programs, job prospects for students and funding, Matthew Lambert, the vice president for university advancement at William & Mary, asserts in this blog post. Schools that are successful are increasing private support, reducing costs and moving toward autonomy, Lambert writes. The Hill/Congress blog (12/9)

HERC News

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HERC offers free jobseeker webcasts on demand
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