A much smaller number of the college graduates this year will find jobs. That fact has been over examined in the press along with the fact that the long recession means that those graduates who do find jobs will get them at relatively low wages. Furthermore, those wages will stay low for the next several years while the economy recovers.

What has not received much press is the fate of the young people who are in the 2009 graduating class at U.S. high schools, especially those students who will not go on to college. Unemployment among college graduates is still below 5%. Unemployment among people who have only graduated from high school and have no additional training is over 10%. People who did not graduate from high school at all have greater than a 15% chance to be among the jobless.

Check out why college seniors should feel hopeless.

As a recent graduate from a university rated “Most Selective” by US News & World Report, Tyler was understandably disappointed when he landed in a cubicle-drone job that barely pays minimum wage — that is, until he was laid off and ended up substitute teaching for even less.

With a double-major in Spanish and psychology and a strong GPA, he thought for sure he was on the fast track to a career in event planning, a field he’d secured a summer internship in, palling around with the stars of CNBC. But with corporations scaling back their parties and conventions (lest they be associated with seamy AIG-style taxpayer-funded beach junkets), Tyler found himself working in loss-prevention for Brookstone for $10.50 an hour. Then he was laid off. Now he’s substitute teaching for $10 an hour.

Tyler isn’t the only one struggling. Read all about why this might be the worst year to graduate college…ever!

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What is a radical career? And does it involve surfing? These were the questions I had when I met up with Sally Hogshead, a noted advertising creative director turned author and motivational speaker. (And yes, she recognizes the humor in her name, so I’m not going there.) Sally’s new book, Radical Careering, explores the 100 best ways to live your work life, all presented in a simple, yet startling original way.

“I come from advertising, so the format of the book to me was inseparable from the content,” says Hogshead. “I know how to communicate with people so they’ll respond. If you’ve been to the career section of the bookstore, you know how awful it is. It’s dark and scary and there’s all these losers hanging out there. I’m not one of those people! I needed something that reflected me.”

Hogshead started her career exploration path after her own ad agency, which opened on Sept. 10, 2001, faced a rough future.

“I learned a lot of lessons; my own path had been seemingly easy, but after 9/11, I realized I wasn’t charmed. Essentially, this is what I learned: you are driving your own train! You have to create your own path and be passionate about what you do; otherwise, you’re just a victim of circumstance. That’s radical careering.” (more…)

The key to success? Be a nice guy. Seriously.

Obviously, be competent, smart and forward-thinking. But according to Tim Sanders, author of The Likeability Factor, your career success depends on having personal well-being and playing well with others.

‘The grim reality is that life is a popularity contest,’ says Sanders, a Loyola-Maramont graduate and former indie-rock musician. ‘There was a Harvard Business Review study about how people select who they want to work with. And you know what? Everyone would rather work for a likable fool than a competent jerk.’

Sanders is part of a new breed of managers who are looking for ‘emotional talent.’ rather than just physical and mental skills. Being a nice guy, he shared with us some tips to finding emotional satisfaction in our career, from finding a perfect job to loving the one you get. (more…)

I didn’t go to an Ivy League school or graduate at the top of my class. I didn’t even come from a family rooted in my field (not all connections are from mommy and daddy). But somehow, right out of school I landed a job as a broker at one of the top investment banks on Wall Street.

So how did I do it, you ask? Bribery? Sneak attacks? No! I became a networking rock star.

Here’s how to do the same:

Begin with the network you already have.
Think about the people you already know: school alumni, your local bartender’s cousin, that pal from your summer waiter gig. Even if they are not working in your field of interest, don’t be afraid to politely ask them to put you in touch with people who are. (more…)

I have had many an internship, so I know a sweet deal when I see one. And Trevor, the Mentos intern, has just about the best gig one can procure.Trevor’s “internlyâ€? duties don’t consist of mailing packages, running errands, getting coffee or database entry but rather whatever the public demands.

Yes, you too can tell Trevor what to do. And then watch him do it. Feel like doing a little bit of mid-day office yoga? Become a yogini along with Trevor every day at one. Bored and feel like chatting? Call Trevor up, his phone number and email are on the website. (more…)

As if the New York City heat wave wasn’t hell-sent enough, it chose to hit at the exact moment that the air conditioning in our cluttered intern’s den became kaput. Working at this music television station had simply become one crazy story after the next.

The other day I was asked to get one of the VJ’s dogs groomed and was given an anal leakage prescription that, to my horror (this is my luck we’re talking about) got carried away by a breeze and was handed back to me by a beautiful, beautiful (somewhat queasy-looking) but beautiful boy. Anal leakage is not such a cute ‘So how’d you two meet?’ type of story. So, I bailed pronto.

Anyway that was the other day, today was today, and today I was sweating like a recovering nymphomaniac who’d accidentally stumbled into a brothel. The glory of it all was that miraculously, the AC had only died out in our small cubicle encrusted room, so no one with any actual power had any desire to get it fixed anytime soon.

Oh, the agony of a summer internship.

I was immersed in checking for evidence of the dreaded pit stain (little ones already and it was only nine, boo) when my boss Pierre came to what seemed like my rescue, informing me that I’d be working in the filming studio today. I clapped my hands together, this I’d never done before! (more…)