Youth Radio - Topic: Jobs

Job Search Swag

denise — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:56:41 -0600

The following originally aired on KCBS

The months following graduation have been a precious time for me to reflect on what I want to do with my life. What kind of work should educated young people like me aim for and what wages must we expect entering the work force?

I am not returning to school in the fall for the first time in seventeen years. I don’t have classes to enroll in or textbooks to buy, but pressure is building up for me to move forward and launch my career--whether it be as a poet, public servant, actor or journalist.

Now I’m starting to post my resume online and submit applications to organizations I respect. I’ve been getting myself out there, volunteering for campaigns and media outlets to get more experience and to stay active.

But will all that, I know an undergraduate degree may not immediately translate into a high paying job. During this transitional phase, I’m making sure to keep my job search swag.

Membership Has Its Privileges

denise — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:21:38 -0600

The following originally aired on KCBS

By: Asha Richardson

Every day I check my Gmail and tell my Macbook Pro how much I love it. But when I graduate from college next year, I’m not sure how much these companies will love me, and by love me I mean hire me.

This year as a part of Youth Radio’s App Lab, I visited the headquarters of one of the world’s biggest tech giants four times and was never introduced to a single black engineer or executive.

Silicon Valley often identifies as a place where people advance based on their ideas and achievements, but what gets glossed over is that it’s only a meritocracy if you’re in the club.

It seems like membership requires attending a well funded high school, doing well on the SATs, and earning top grades…preferably from an Ivy League College. Race, privilege, and class continue to affect Americans’ opportunities.

Hopefully, more tech companies will recognize the value, and profitability, of ideas and input from a variety of demographics. As an emerging entrepreneur, I don’t want my ideas to be funded because I’m a black woman. I want them to succeed on their merits. But for that to happen, I need to be in the room.

Membership Has Its Privileges

denise — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:46:04 -0600

The following originally aired on KQED-FM.

By: Asha Richardson

Every day I check my Gmail, chat with friends on Facebook and tell my Macbook Pro how much I love it. But when I graduate from college next year, I’m not sure how much these companies will love me, and by love me I mean hire me.

Less than 1% of startups funded last year were founded by African-Americans. This year as a part of Youth Radio’s App Lab, I visited the headquarters of one of the world’s biggest tech giants four times and was never introduced to a single black engineer or executive. Maybe they were in a different building or all at a meeting?

That experience reminded me of visits to my father’s office in the 90’s. He worked at Intel for ten years, and I could count the number of his African-American colleagues on my little hands.

The tech industry argues that there’s a pipeline problem. In other words not enough African-Americans are entering the industry. And there’s some truth to that. Until recently tech was considered Steve Urkel nerdy, not Steve Jobs cool. Plus where are black kids going to gain exposure to programming? For example, In Oakland, only 2 of 20 public high schools offer classes in computer programming.

Silicon Valley often identifies as a place where people advance based on their ideas and achievements, but what gets glossed over is that it’s only a meritocracy if you’re in the club.

It seems like membership requires attending a well funded high school, doing well on the SATs, and earning top grades…preferably from an Ivy League College. Google famously screens prospective employees for high GPAs, even when applicants have proven themselves as leaders in the field.

While we try to ignore it, race, privilege, and class continue to affect Americans’ opportunities.

Hopefully, more tech companies will recognize the value, and profitability, of ideas and input from a variety of demographics. African-American techies do exist, and we’re working to increase our visibility. As an emerging entrepreneur, I don’t want my ideas to be funded because I’m a black woman. I want them to succeed on their merits. But for that to happen, I need to be in the room.

Too Much Emphasis on Academics, Not Life Skills Says Article

denise — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:20:05 -0600

According to an editorial in the Boston Globe by a top adminsitrator at University of California, students aren’t always to blame for low graduation rates -- high school curriculums have a lot to do with it.

Vice Provost Russell W. Rumberger argues that school systems get locked into a dogmatic “college-ready” approach to academics that might actually be pushing kids away from paths to higher education. “In Chicago, a 2010 study found no positive effects on student achievement from a school reform measure that ended remedial classes and required college preparatory course work for all students,” Rumberger said, “High school graduation rates declined, and there was no improvement in college enrollment and retention rates among students who did graduate.”

He also says that though college readiness is important, strict academic standards may not be providing students with the skills they need. “A number of economists, including Nobel economist James Heckman, have documented the need for noncognitive or so-called soft skills in the labor market, such as motivation, perseverance, risk aversion, self-esteem, and self-control,” he said.

It’s not immediately clear how to teach students soft skills, but Rumberger says that engaging them is the first step. Rumberger cites a 2006 Civic Enterprises report called The Silent Epidemic, in which high school dropouts reported that the most common reason for leaving school was that classes were not interesting. The solution, Rumberger says, is creating more vocational and training programs—which studies show increase attendance and also the likelihood of jobs after graduation.

Recent College Grad Dons “Hire Me” Sandwich Board

rgee — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:24:47 -0600

Sayre Quevedo, Turnstyle News

Adobe Flash Player is not installed. Please download and install it to listen to audio.

(download mp3)

Alexander Monsanto has achieved a lot of firsts. He’s a first generation American, the first in his family to graduate high school, and the first to get a college degree. All eyes are on him to succeed, but it’s been ten months since he got his accounting degree from Florida Atlantic University, and still no job.

“There are times where I would question what I was doing," said Monsanto. "I studied accounting for four years. If it’s going to be this difficult to get a job, is this really the field I want to be in?”

The jobless rate in the San Francisco Bay Area is above the national average, and unemployment is especially high for recent college grads. Month after month, Alexander Monsanto emailed resumes and wrote cover letters with little success. One morning he says he responded to every Craigslist ad in the San Francisco Bay Area that mentioned accounting, and didn’t receive a single response.

“It turns into this viscous cycle where it’s not helping to stay home to look for a job. You kind of have to just get out of the house and go and network and put yourself out there. I needed to find something different,” said Monsanto. And that is exactly what he did.

The lanky 25 year-old is a regular commuter on a 7:45 AM bus from Berkeley to San Francisco, but unlike most on the bus, Monsanto is hunting for a job instead of heading to one. When he arrives in San Francisco, Monsanto pulls two straps over his shoulders and begins walking the streets of the financial district wearing a sandwich board with the words "Hire Me" spelled out on the front with big black sticky letters. The sign beats against his chest with every step.

It’s a moment that he says fills him with embarrassment every time, but the need for a job eclipses any insecurities. “Whatever it takes, that's what I keep telling myself,” said Monsanto. “I mean a lot of people probably think I’m crazy but I’m not.”

There’s no arguing with his results. Monsanto estimates that he gets three to four interviews per week using his sandwich board, almost double his tally when searching Craigslist. And even if he’s not necessarily getting jobs, he sure is getting attention.

Kim Tobias did a double take as Monsanto walked past one recent morning. "I think it’s a little wacky, but I think it would work," said Tobias about Monsanto's sandwich board. "Shows me that he’s really interested in finding a job, he’s got initiative. That’s even better than LinkedIn.” Tobias, a corporate recruiter, asked for a resume before running off to a meeting.

A few blocks later Janet Myers calls out, "Hey you in the sandwich board." The University of California employee has a tip about accounting positions. But before she can finish giving Monsanto the information, she's interrupted by Eric Shroeder, a Senior VP at insurance giant Aeon, who snaps a picture with his phone, promising to post it on Linkedin.

One of Monsanto’s favorite stories is about the day he met his potentially perfect match. Representatives from the solar company SunRun were on the same street corner as him in downtown San Francisco, wearing T-shirts with the advertisement "We're Hiring.” Monsanto followed up with a resume and even landed an interview, but no job.

“I think what happened was that the opportunities we had listed weren’t really a fit for his background,” says Susan Wise, PR manager at SunRun. “But I think it’s a good example of how with seeking employees and employees seeking jobs, the concept of a mutual fit is tremendously important."

But with so many midcareer job seekers competing for the same positions, it’s hard for newcomers like Monsanto to be that "perfect fit" employers are looking for. So forced to face the reality of paying bills, Alexander Monsanto has put his dream of a full time accounting job on hold. Instead he’s willing to accept a part-time or even temporary job as an accountant. And in the meantime he keeps beating the streets in his sandwich board.

A version of this report aired on NPR’s Morning Edition.Photo gallery on Turnstyle News by Brett Myers/Youth Radio

A Lone Holdout for the Dream Job

cfoster — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:00:45 -0500

This commentary originally aired on WAMU, American University Radio in Washington, D.C.

By Rohjanae Mathis

When we were younger, all of my friends wanted to become lawyers, doctors or veterinarians. Everyone had big dreams, the kind of dreams that require years of college and maybe even grad school.

I'm excited as I head to college, but only a few of my friends will be doing the same.

I've spent hours online researching schools, participating in campus tours, pricing laptops and finding decorations for my new dorm, but most of my friends are spending their time getting ready for the next party. They either dropped out of high school or are three grades behind.

We were all now supposed to be getting ready to go to college together, but I can count on one hand my childhood friends who'll be doing that.

If you think of us as flowers, where you're planted affects how you grow and whether you bloom. As I look around my neighborhood, I'm not surprised that many of us never got a chance to blossom.

So many parents are on drugs or just don't care whether their children get an education or not, let alone a college degree. So their kids -- my friends -- don't care either. They cut school, use and sell drugs, and are in and out of jail.

Many already have children. That's normal in my neighborhood.

Some of my friends have tried to talk me out of going to college. They want me to stay, and scratch out a living with them. I think they realize they're stuck and it's hard to see someone else succeed when your own dreams of success have disappeared.

I'm not the most privileged person. I'm from a middle class family, and while we're not wealthy, I do have the things that matter: a family who supports and cares for me, good role models and a little more financial security than most of my friends.

I also knew I would go to college, no matter what. When I started high school, I left the neighborhood and traveled nearly an hour across town to go to a better school. My friends stayed in the neighborhood high school.

Growing up, I never wanted to accept that having more money or a stable family would be the difference between succeeding or not. I thought we all had an equal shot at success.

I now know that's not true.

It saddens me to realize I’ll be leaving behind so many of my friends. I always knew dreams can change, but I didn't realize how easily they could disappear.

I'm one of the lucky few. I'm still pursuing my childhood dreams.

These commentaries by D.C. area teens are part of a collaboration between WAMU's Youth Voices program, Youth Radio and the Latin American Youth Center.

Seeing the Down Side of the American Diet

Striving For Diversity, Living In Separate Societies

Talking to Teens About Sex

The Top 8 Jobs You Should Target

rgee — Tue, 10 May 2011 15:43:51 -0500

By Robyn Gee, Turnstyle News

The The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced last week that 244,000 new jobs were created in April 2011. As college students graduate and think about employment options, we wanted to know a little more about those 244,000 jobs, what industry they're in, and how much they pay.

BLS offers employment projections for the future. Below are eight of the occupations showing the most growth between the years of 2008 - 2018, as projected by the BLS, and their associated wages.

(Note to self: go for VH and highest percentages!)

[VH = very high median annual wages, H = high median annual wages, L = low median annual wages, VL = very low median annual wages]

1. Biomedical engineers 72% VH

2. Network systems and data analysts 53.4% VH

3. Home health aides 50% VL

4. Personal and home care aides 46% VL

5. Financial examiners 41.2% VH

6. Medical scientists (except epidemiology) 40.4% VH

7. Skin care specialists 37.9% L

8. Physicians assistants 39% VH

Now for the doomsday projections... which jobs are going away in BLS projections between 2008 and 2018?

-Textile Bleaching / Dying workers -44.8% L

-Textile knitting / weaving machine setters -39.5% L

-Shoe machine repair operator -34.8% L

-Sewing machine operators -33.7% L

-Semiconductor processors (make microchips out of silicon) -31.5% L

-Gas pumping station operators -20.6% H

-Tire builders -17.6% H

-Petroluem pump system operators -15.25 VH

-Photo-processing machine operators -24.3% VL

-Postal service mail sorters -30.3% H

Slate recently published an article about which jobs will be replaced by robots. Maybe we have our answers, thanks to the BLS.

Obama Holds Youth Town Hall On MTV, BET, CMT

rgee — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 10:04:42 -0500

This Thursday, President Barack Obama will hold a town hall discussion with 250 young people in Washington D.C. The discussion, called “A Conversation With President Obama,” will air on MTV, BET, CMT, Tf3s, mtvU and Centric, according to MTV.com.

Viacom President and CEO Philippe Dauman announced in a statement, "We know that America's youth hold strong views about the challenges our country faces as well as their own aspirations for the future. We are honored that the President has chosen to appear on our cable networks to continue his dialogue with the nation's young people."

The direct audience will be pre-selected to ensure that there are a wide range of political views and interests in the audience. Some critics, including Sunlen Miller on ABC News, say this takes away the authenticity of the conversation.

However, the conversation is meant to reach a much larger audience. The President will also be taking questions that he receives via Twitter. You can submit questions by using the hashtag “#ask”. MTV.com explains, “If you'd like to ask President Obama about how he plans to create jobs, you'd tweet "#askjobs" and then your question. If it's a question about education, you'd tweet "#askeducation."

The show will air live at 4 p.m. ET/ 3 p.m. CT (and tape-delayed at 4 p.m. PT) on MTV, BET, CMT, mtvU, Centric and Tr3s. The show will also be made available on-demand 30 days after its initial airing.

MTV has a lively history with politics. The network has interviewed Bill Clinton, George Bush, Al Gore and others, always asking the untraditional questions. A few remarks might ring familiar. "If you had it to do over again, would you inhale?" was posed to presidential candidate Bill Clinton. According to MTV.com he replied, "Sure, if I could. I've tried before."

Others might remember when Sway Calloway interviewed Barack Obama back when he was a senator. Obama told Calloway, "I think passing a law about people wearing sagging pants is a waste of time. We should be focused on creating jobs, improving schools, getting heath care, dealing with the war in Iraq. Having said that, brothers should pull up their pants." This Thursday's discussion aims to continue MTV's tradition of engaging young people in politics.

Jobs Scarce For New Teachers

denise — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:30:02 -0500

By: Maya Cueva

The following was broadcast on Marketplace Money on September 3, 2010

Adobe Flash Player is not installed. Please download and install it to listen to audio.

(download mp3)

Nessa Mahmoudi graduated from UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education this spring. She was 24, just starting a career and, like everyone else in her class, facing one of the toughest job markets in memory. But Mahmoudi had a strategy.

MAHMOUDI: You know in my mindset I’m like where do they pay the least, that’s where they need me the most.

In the San Francisco bay area, that means Oakland Unified, where teachers are among the lowest paid in the area. But Oakland Unified didn’t exactly need Mahmoudi.

With 122 million dollars in budget cuts this fiscal year, dozens of tenured teachers were already being laid off. And district administrators told Mahmoudi not to bother applying.

But she ignored them.

MAHMOUDI: Though I know I don’t have a lot of space to be picky because there’s not a lot of jobs. I figure it’s best to go in with the mentality that there is something that I am looking for, and the school needs to be a fit for me and not just whatever job that pops up.

Burnout is high for new teachers, so finding the right school goes a long way towards keeping teachers happy and productive. Mahmoudi’s former professor, Ingrid Seyer-Ochi coaches students to be selective about jobs. But with less than 10 percent of her students landing jobs by graduation…

SEYER-OCHI: They feel like they’re not going to be in a position to be able to choose the kind of school they want to teach at, they’re going to have to take, in some cases, the jobs that they can get.

But Mahmoudi kept her sights set on Oakland Unified,

MAHMOUDI: Because though she’s saying don’t look, in August they’re going to need teachers, it’s just the reality, and we’re kind of just having the faith.

Mahmoudi’s faith paid off, well ahead of schedule. In July an East Oakland elementary school hired her to teach first-grade in a dual-immersion English/Spanish program. It was pretty much her dream job.

But she was lucky. Many teachers who play the waiting game, don’t end up with offers until after the school year has started.

CHAN: I couldn’t imagine being a first year teacher and trying to start your classroom and get your classroom culture going, a week into school when they’ve had a week of substitutes.

That’s Emily Chan. She was one of the few teachers lucky enough to have a job by graduation. Early into her spring semester, Chan started applying to charter schools, which had some of the only jobs available. She landed a middle school science position at Making Waves Academy in Richmond, California. And because her school hasn't been hit as hard by state budget cuts, Chan expects to have more resources than most public classrooms, and more time for staff development.

But Chan made other compromises. Her school isn’t unionized, there’s no tenure, and…

CHAN: They don’t actually have a pay scale. It’s not like if I work there for however many years it’ll go up. So that’s a point of concern a little bit for me.

A concern because Chan has thousands of dollars in student loans to repay on her teacher’s salary. Mahmoudi also has school loans, but money isn’t her main worry.

State budget cuts mean larger class sizes. That’s a real challenge for a new teacher….

MAHMOUDI: That I’m afraid of yeah. I mean I was in a first grade class with 24 kids. 24 was fine, but that’s the limit, you know, but it’s not going to be the limit.

With the first day of school here, Mahmoudi is feeling optimistic. She gets that from her parents, who emigrated from Iran during the revolution. She says they raised her to be idealistic...

MAHMOUDI: But they also raised me to believe that big scale revolutions are not possible, and that you start with one-to-one work with people.

And this perhaps is the biggest worry about the shortage in teaching jobs…that in five years they’ll be no one left to do that one on one work in the classroom. Analysts say fewer jobs today, means people won’t train to be educators tomorrow, and eventually when senior teachers retire, we’ll be looking at the opposite problem – a teacher shortage.

Fresh Off The Press: The Low Down On Youth Employment

rgee — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:46:58 -0500

Every month, the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes an update on the employment situation in the U.S. They just released their July Employment Situation report today.

Here’s the breakdown of the employment / unemployment situation for 16 - 19 year-olds today. The statistics are in three categories: Unemployment, Civilian Labor Force Participation, and the number of full-time employed youth.

Unemployment Rate [The number of 16-19 year-olds who are actively trying to get a job, but do not have one.]
* In July 2010, the unemployment rate for this age range is 26.1 percent.
* Since January 2010, the unemployment rate for youth has remained essentially unchanged, hovering around 25-26 percent.
* At the beginning of the recession (December of 2007), the unemployment rate was 16.9 percent. This means that the unemployment rate has increased by 10 percent since the beginning of the recession.
* Ten years ago in July 2000, the unemployment rate was 13.4 percent. Wow.

Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate [The number of 16-19 year-olds either employed, or actively trying to become employed. The total number of people participating in the job market.]
* In July 2010, the participation rate is 34.6 percent, which means a third of the population is actively employed or trying to be employed.
* Ten years ago, in July 2000, the participation rate was 51 percent. What a significant drop in the number of youth who are participating in the workforce! The number dropped from half the population, to a third.
* At the beginning of the recession (December 2007), the participation rate was 41.1 percent, which means the participation rate in the labor force has decreased by 6 percent among youth.
* The participation rate began declining steadily approximately one year ago.

Employed Full-time [The actual number of 16-19 year-olds who currently hold a full time job]
* In July 2010, 1,176,000 youth are full-time employees.
* Ten years ago, in July 2000, the number of youth that were employed full time was 2,437,000. This means that the number decreased almost by half.
* At the beginning of the recession, (December 2007), 1,972,000 youth were full-time employees. We can see that the recession has significantly affected how many youth are getting jobs.
* However, in January 2010, the number of full-time employed youth was 926,000. So between January and July of this year, the number of full-time employed youth has increased by 250,000.