"Kent Niederhofer can't find enough mechanical engineers to work for him - in southeastern Michigan. You know, where Detroit is, with its 13.3% unemployment rate. Niederhofer is president of the American branch of Ricardo, an engineering consultancy that designs the power trains of some of the coolest stuff around: Bugatti sports cars, huge wind turbines and unmanned aerial vehicles. "We are doing rocket science every day," says Niederhofer. "It's just not on rockets." So Ricardo got a little desperate, renting a billboard to place a help-wanted ad that featured a picture of a sexy-looking sports car, the tagline "Why you became an engineer" and a Web address for job seekers. He calls it engineer porn."

"In the last few years, leadership programs have sprung up in remarkable numbers at colleges and universities across the country. Institutions as diverse as Creighton University, Arizona State University, and Highland Community College, in Illinois, now offer leadership training and opportunities to their students. Some universities and colleges, like Gonzaga and the City University of Seattle, have developed degree programs in leadership, and many more such programs are being planned. It seems that every university Web page and presidential message now highlights leadership opportunities for students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels."

"I met Dorothy Walker in my first year of Shades Valley High School, one of several schools in the Birmingham, Ala., area. Confident of little and terrified of much, I entered the honors section of her 10th-grade English class. Known to us simply as Mrs. Walker, she began by using the prescribed curriculum to shape and mold us as her students. Without my realizing it, she began teaching me a lesson that took me three graduate degrees, 24 years of service in higher education, and countless life experiences to understand: the enormous impact educators can have on their students."

College students work for different reasons. Many take jobs to pay tuition and related educational expenses. Others work to afford electronic gadgets (often ones that we, their professors, don't yet know exist). Regardless of the reasons, many professors and administrators consider students' working during college to be an unfortunate distraction from what should be their primary focus: their academic studies.

"Matthew Gonzales Sanchez calls it his "midterm crisis." Halfway through the first semester of his freshman year here at Our Lady of the Lake University, he considered dropping out. He had failed all of his midterms. "It scared me because, man, I was giving it my all," says Mr. Gonzales Sanchez, 22. "I thought, 'What am I doing wrong? They say college isn't for everybody, and maybe that's me - maybe I'm not one of those people who belongs in college.'""

"10 Things Your Boss Won't Tell You"

"College-admission letters are starting to roll in, but a growing number of students will decide instead to take a year off to try out potential careers or broaden their horizons. Gap-year activities range from doing volunteer work or taking classes, to working for pay, traveling or tackling outdoor adventures."

"As the economy gradually recovers, some big U.S. companies are cranking up their recruiting and advertising thousands of job openings, ranging from retail clerks and nurses to bank tellers and experts in cloud computing."

"Companies plan to raise their salary budgets a median of 2.8% in 2011 after giving median 2.4% raises in 2010, according to a survey by management consulting firm Hay Group."

"Job boards are irresistible because they seemingly put everything within easy reach. Unfortunately, the majority of job hunters are competing for the same small pool of jobs and getting turned down."

Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018 - PDF Full Report. Georgetown University - Center on Education and the Workforce

Workshops and training opportunities for NYC employees.

"I recently received a call to set up an interview for a job for which I applied a while back. This should be great news, but I'm starting to get nervous because I exaggerated a couple of my responsibilities on my résumé. What if questions about them get raised during the interview? Should I say something right at the beginning or just wait and see if they come up?"

"Welcome to the executive suite. But beware: Your smallest acts can cause big consequences."

"Social Media isn't just for staying in touch with former school classmates. There are ways to use social media to stand out from the competition. It does take some strategic thought, but it can really take you to the next level. Here are 3 simple ways to get started using social media to advance your brand."

"Since the shocks of corporate re-engineering and leveraged buyouts in the late 1980s, the watchword to employees has been take ownership of your own future. Instead of efforts to build bench strength, which had characterized talent development efforts since the 1950s, most organizations shortened talent planning time horizons and reduced learning and development investment, resorting instead to hiring talent on a just-in-time basis. "

"Are you interested in writing an article for the Government section of Career Convergence, but not sure about the topic? Here are 20 ideas to get you started. These are only the beginning…feel free to develop your own idea!"

"Research shows that motivation is positively correlated with college performance, academic discipline, and future occupational success. It is critical that practitioners and educators direct more attention toward implementing practices that focus specifically on increasing client motivation and behavior change-thus maximizing graduation rates and minimizing future educational, occupational, economic, and personal consequences (Miller & Rose, 2009; Willis 1994). Motivational Interviewing (MI) is one approach that is used to help clients engage in the career planning process."

"After serving on four faculty-hiring committees at community colleges in three different states, I've come to the conclusion that many universities do a poor job of preparing graduate students to negotiate all aspects of the academic job market. Certainly, departments offer sound advice on how to land professorships at four-year institutions, but they fail miserably when it comes to helping master's and doctoral students understand how to apply for jobs at two-year colleges and technical schools."