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Driving and managing change will remain the number one priority for leaders according to a recently published study. But the reality is that most change efforts fail. Many of these failures can be traced to these common change management mistakes:

Summary * Sixty percent of students change majors before graduating. * There are many factors that contribute to choosing a major. * If you're in the wrong major, it may be time to change. Picture yourself in a room with nine other college students. Before you graduate, at least six of those students will have changed their major at least once. And one or two of the remaining four will likely leave school regretting the major they chose and wishing they too had switched to another major.

"We read in newspaper headlines that the economy may have permanently lost 20 million jobs, that 70 million "baby-boomers" are ready to retire, that 50 percent of the workforce will be people of color by 2028, that younger workers are changing careers five to seven times, that America is losing its half-century of global economic dominance and that the global skills gap is worsening. The US workplace is experiencing radical transformational changes. These changes will require new skill-sets for future career success and to start closing the non-competitive skills gap."

"[I]f you are asked "how has your teaching changed over the years" or "how has your management of people changed over the years" or "how has your interaction with clients changed over the years" the wrong answer is "it hasn't.""

Being able to find a satisfying and fulfilling job in this day and age is quite a challenging task. There are many people who have to run from pillar to post just to obtain an interview. If you are someone who has bagged another job and are wondering how to change from one job to another, without much trouble at all, then you ought to read on. If you are unable to make the transition well, then you might end up messing up your professional reputation.

To change perceptions about your employment status, start with the way you network. When you have been out of work for a while, people in your network may feel guilty because they are employed and you are not, says Lavie Margolin, a career coach in New York City and author of "Lion Cub Job Search." You don't want them to feel sorry for you or to see you as defeated, so make sure you have something to offer them, whether it's sharing an article in a trade magazine, talking about an industry blog or mentioning a professional opportunity they may not know about, he says.

The prospect of losing one's job is a very daunting fear for most people. Changes that come with the loss of a job can affect one socially, emotionally as well as financially.

"In the U.S. higher education system, students are challenged to declare a major or choose an occupation in their sophomore year in college, sometimes even before starting college. That's an onerous task, especially if done without sufficient self-knowledge or guidance. Perhaps that is why at least 60% of college students change their major at least once before graduating and, on average, students change their major three times during their college career. Many graduate, even begin work, and find that they have made a poor vocational choice. That's discouraging and costly for both students and their parents. Such a situation is less likely to occur at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, where career counseling, using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Step II combined with the Strong Interest Inventory, provides students with effective, empowering guidance."

"The biggest changes in family life sometimes happen gradually. New employment data suggest one such seismic change is upon us: Job-holding patterns between the generations have turned upside down."

It's no secret that U.S. workers are in trouble, with the unemployment rate at 8.9% and rising. At the same time, the world faces a long-term climate crisis. But what if there is a way to solve both problems with one policy? A number of environmentalists and economists believe that by implementing a comprehensive energy program, we can not only avert the worst consequences of climate change but also create millions of new jobs - green jobs - in the U.S. "We can allow climate change to wreak unnatural havoc, or we can create jobs preventing its worst effects," President Barack Obama said recently. "We know the right choice."

Traditionally, career counseling has focused on career exploration, career redirection, assessment, education/ training, job search skills and placement. Little consideration has been given to the complex emotional dynamics of grief associated with job loss. Understanding grief in the context of job loss and lifestyle adjustment is particularly important when clients are confronting a major life change. Oftentimes, an overwhelming sense of loss distracts or impedes a person's readiness to conduct a job search or effectively move forward with a positive career-life change. Career Counselors working with clients who are experiencing a job or career loss compounded by the need to adjust lifestyle expectations need to comprehend the grief process if they are to empower their clients to succeed.

: I'm in the process of changing my career and am looking for ways to be more productive. What do you think of the current popular methods discussed in books like Timothy Ferriss's "The 4-Hour Workweek" and David Allen's "Getting Things Done?"

The last 40 years have seen dramatic changes in the hours worked at jobs by full-time undergraduates -- with notable increases until 2000, and then a period of relative stability until a sharp drop in 2009, according to research (abstract available here) released Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/01/17/study-explores-increases-and-declines-student-work-hours#ixzz1jjSJWQB8 Inside Higher Ed

"WASHINGTON -- If getting into a college's teacher preparation program were as difficult as gaining admission to its law school or medical school, would that college's graduates be more effective teachers?"

" In 2004, I left a technology company and jumped right into the insurance business. Now I really want to return to tech, but I am having a tough time overcoming and explaining this change. I believe I received very good insight and will do a better job now. How can I convey this to a new potential employer?"

In modern life, a lot has changed in the societal norms and structure. Take the instance of marriage itself. The age for getting married is rising steadily upwards, people prefer to establish themselves in a career or work independently for few years before even thinking of marriage. When it comes to choosing a spouse, again many have a lot of expectations and are not ready to compromise on many factors including age, career path, residence, financial level and educational level of their future partner.

" Preview: Obama's 2013 Budget February 13, 2012 - 3:00am By Libby A. Nelson WASHINGTON -- President Obama today will propose spending $8 billion on job training programs at community colleges over the next three years, part of a budget for the 2013 fiscal year that also would increase spending on Education Department programs and some scientific research. The president will outline the job-training proposal in more detail in a speech at Northern Virginia Community College this morning. But unlike past calls to spend more on community colleges, this plan is aimed squarely at an election-year message of "jobs, jobs, jobs" rather than the administration's goal of increasing the number of Americans with college degrees. The proposal, as outlined by Education Department officials Sunday evening, builds on job training programs already in existence -- especially the Trade Act Assistance Community College Career Training Program, which began making grants to community colleges in September. If approved by Congress, the president's proposal would provide $1.3 billion each per year to the Education and Labor Departments, on top of the trade act grants. While it's unclear whether the money would create new federal programs or build up existing ones, the funds would be spent at community colleges that train workers for jobs in high-demand fields, according to materials released by the Education Department. Programs that are especially successful at finding jobs for their graduates, or at placing those who traditionally have difficulty finding work, would be eligible for additional money. The grants would also be used to encourage partnerships between businesses, states, local governments and community colleges, and to create an online course to encourage entrepreneurs. The money would also support paid internships for low-income college students. But the plan would shut out for-profit colleges, which would not be eligible for the additional funds -- a move alm

A seven-year project in which dozens of small private colleges used a standardized measure of student learning to gauge and try to improve their performance accomplished many of its goals, increasing the colleges' focus on student learning outcomes and stimulating changes in practices on many campuses, says a report on the effort released today.

Benefits of Getting a Qualification- Whether you are presently operating or you are searching for work, you can never be too qualified for employment. With the changing practices and knowledge offered to completely different fields of work, there are always new things to find out.

"You finally got that promotion and now you're the new boss. Things might not feel much different in the beginning, but managing former peers requires a major adjustment on both ends. How you handle the change at the outset can affect the long-term harmony and productivity of the group."