Daily Aid 69: Jobcast, student loans, micro-resume

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Daily Aid 69: Jobcast, student loans, micro-resume

22 January 2009 1 views No Comment

Daily Aid 69: Jobcast, student loans, micro-resume

Student Financial Aid News

This year’s freshmen are about as likely to rely on family resources as first-years did in 2001, but they’re also turning to self-sufficiency: 49.4 percent of freshmen say they plan on getting a job to meet their college expenses, another all-time high.

In other words, “It’s more, and,” says Sylvia Hurtado, professor and director of the University of California at Los Angeles’s Higher Education Research Institute, which administers the survey. “They’re using everything they can. They’re using loans and deciding to work more and using scholarships and any kind of aid.”

Commentary

No surprises here. Everyone is financially strapped and pulling out all the stops to make college affordable.

From NASFAA:

“For the first time in its 32-year history, the bank of last resort for Utah college students anticipates an operating deficit, although officials are confident students’ access to educational loans will not be disrupted,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports. “Tight credit has saddled UHEAA with interest rates exceeding the subsidized rate student borrowers pay on its $2.1 billion in outstanding loans. The result is a projected $6.8 million deficit by the end of the fiscal year on June 30.”

Commentary

Unsurprising to hear that subsidization of student loans is running into financial headwinds. Pressures like this will continue and it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that other state student loan agencies are running into similar trouble. Let’s hope they can endure.

And a spoonful of politics – President Obama revoked executive order 13233, which limited access to many government documents. Historians and investigators are now given more access to presidential records. This is a good thing from my perspective – the more insight we have into how our government works, the better.

Featured Scholarships

Jobcast

The pile of resumes I’ve been reviewing lately has got me thinking a lot about the resume and especially about how to catch someone’s attention in a job hunt. We posted some job openings up on our corporate web site and the flood of resumes has been overwhelming. More important, the flood of resumes accompanied by cover letters that are not attention getting is overwhelming.

Be sure you read our free eBook, How To Write A Killer Cover Letter.

Here’s a thought for your job search. Try something different. Do something different, something attention getting, something worth noting, something to make people take the next step. Instead of the same old boring cover letter, try something like the postcard attached to today’s show. It’s not hard to make, not today, and it’s different, different than the “I think I am a good fit for blah blah blah…” that fills most cover letters and resumes. The best part is that this micro-resume is 4″ x 6″ – exactly the same size as a photo print at Wal-Mart or the photo center of your choice – and at 9 cents a copy, it’s probably cheaper than the photocopier and certainly cheaper than business cards.

Oh, and the paper resume? Still important, but more important that you have your own appealing, attractive personal web site for business use. Make sure your web site looks clean and professional, appropriate to the industry you’re looking to work in. Have a blog, or better yet, make sure your site IS a blog, and write frequently about issues in the industry.

If you’re not getting the results you want out of your job search, try out the micro-resume format example. Do something creative, different, out of the box but still professional, and see if it gets you better results than the standard same old, same old.

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