Do you have emotional intelligence? Do you know why you need to have emotional intelligence?

It once was thought that your education was the best measure of your potential and predictor of your success. You only needed to graduate college with good grades and land a good job. Now emotional intelligence is being seen as an equally important factor in your success.

Employers Want Emotional Intelligence

A recent survey detailed what skills and traits employers want in entry-level employees.

1. The ability to learn on the job
2. Listening and communications skills
3. Adaptability and creative responses to setbacks and obstacles (problem solving skills)
4. Personal management, confidence, motivation to work toward common goals, a sense of wanting to develop one’s career and taking pride in their accomplishments
5. Group and interpersonal effectiveness, cooperativeness and teamwork, skills in negotiating disagreements
6. Effectiveness in the organization, wanting to make a contribution, leadership potential
7. Competence in reading, writing, and math

When you look at this list only one of the seven listed is academic. Competence is reading, writing, and math. The other six traits fall under emotional intelligence. Employers want soft skills, but they also want emotional intelligence.

Why Emotional Intelligence is Important to a College Student

When you graduate college and find a job you can not totally rely on your academics to bring you success. You may graduate in the top of your class and still lack the emotional skills needed to be successful in your career.

Simply put, emotional intelligence is the measure of ones ability to understand and deal with their own emotions, the emotions of others and how to properly act on those emotions.

For years the current generation has been criticized as being self-absorbed,  emotionally lacking and narcissistic. They attached a label, “Generation Me” (good read) to signify the perception that with this generation the needs of the individual come first before anything else.

The problem is these traits do not fit into the workplace very well. When you look at the skills and traits desired by employers in the survey you see that most are not centered around the individual, but ones ability to work with a team and as an employee to meet the needs of the company.

Emotional Intelligence 101

Developing your emotional intelligence requires time. Most of all it requires a serious examination of your emotional behavior, how you interact with others and recognizing areas you need to improve in.

Some key areas to examine and develop include:

• Emotional Self-Control – Learn your emotional triggers and methods to control them.
• Acceptance of Criticism – It will come and can leave you emotional charged.
• Teamwork and Collaboration – You must get along with and work well with others, even if you don’t like them.
• Communications – Communicate clearly and be specific, without emotional interjection.
• Empathy – Understand and accept that the emotions of others are just as important as yours.
• Resolve Conflict Positively – Conflict will occur and an emotional response makes it worse.
• Build Positive Relationships – With your co-workers, your boss and the people in your life.
• Learn Body Language – You communicate with your body language and so do others. Learn what is important to do, not to do and how to read it.
• Learn To Deal With Stress – As a college student you already know about stress. Stress can take a physical and emotional toll. Learn ways to cope with it, overcome it and use it to your advantage.

Cognitive ability is the most important factor in determining your success in the workplace. Emotional intelligence is a very close second. Don’t sabotage your career because you can not manage your emotions of the emotions of others.

Developing your emotional intelligence is important for personal, family and business relationships.

Photo credit: alamosbasement

Down the road life will be full of memories and trust me a ride down the whitewater rapids at the USNWC is something you will remember for a long time.

USNWC Activities

Mountain Biking

The USNWC offers some of the best mountain bike trails in the area. With 14 miles of trails there is something for all skill levels from beginners to experts. The scenery is great with woodland trails and river views.

Kayaking

Whether you want to slowly paddle your way around the 1.5 miles of flat water along the Catawba River and enjoying the scenery or take a thrill ride in the whitewater you will enjoy every moment.

Climbing

If you enjoy rock climbing or have always wanted to do it the USNWC offers a huge outdoor climbing facility with their 46-foot spire to challenge you. If you are a beginner don’t worry the staff will guide you. You can always do the kids rock.

Whitewater Rafting

This is where the real fun is! The USNWC offers three types of rafting. Family rafting is a more relaxed trip for those of you who may not be up to a wild rapids ride. For those of you who are they offer adventure rafting that takes you down their class II-IV whitewater channels.

For those thrill seeking types (you know you are) try rodeo rafting. Their guides take you through the most aggressive whitewater where you will be lucky if you can stay in the raft. It’s definitely a wild ride.

Want photos of your wild ride so you can prove to your friends and family that you really did it? You can purchase photos in a variety of packages. Visit the USNWC Photo website to see them.

Trails

Whether you are a walker, a runner or a hiker the USNWC has trails for you. There are 14 miles of scenery to take in along the trails. The green trail is nice since it is mostly flat and you can see kayakers and rafters along the walk. For you iron men and women the black trail offers steep elevation changes to put you to the test.

Other Activities

Want to take a 40-foot free fall and come to a safe landing? Try the mega jump. The adventure course is an aerial rope obstacle course that will test your limits. It’s all safe though since you are secured with a harness. The zip line (oh yeah!) is a wild ride, but it is currently not available. When it is you have to try it.

River’s Edge Bar and Grill

The River’s Edge Bar and Grill is a great place to eat, drink and just sit back and relax taking in the scenery. They offer food, beer and wine. You can sit outside on the patio that overlooks the whitewater area and the food prices aren’t bad. They also have a walk up area where you can get drinks and snacks if you just want something quick.

River Jam

Each Thursday and Saturday night they offer live music near the entrance. You can sit about anywhere and enjoy it. Sitting on the River’s Edge patio is a great place. Visit the River Jam website for more information and a schedule. There’s no charge so if you want you can just pay the $5 for parking and enjoy the live music, scenery and fun.

A Whole Lot of Fun!

There is much more to do at the US National Whitewater Center. The best thing about it is the environment. Even if you only pay the $5 parking fee you can have a good time. Watching all of the activities is cheap outdoor fun. There’s plenty of places to sit, even right next to the whitewater area.

All of this fun comes with a price, but maybe one day they will offer a break to poor college students. Depending on what you want to do and what time you come passes range from $49 to $15. You can also get a season pass for $149. It is good until the end of the year.

You don’t have to pay more than the $5 for the parking pass to come check it out. It will be the most fun you’ve had for $5 and you can see if you want to do more or make plans for a return trip. The park is dog friendly so you can bring your four-legged friend along.

Here is a video of what you will find at the US National Whitewater Center.

For more information visit the US National Whitewater Center website.

Looking for directions from UNC Charlotte? MAP-IT!

If you do go come back and share your experience in the comment.

Photo credit: Zevotron

Part of my Sunday always includes some time for reflection and connections. A time to calmly sit back and look at the past week and to the week ahead. Sunday is also a time when I like to make connections with people who matter to me or those I have lost touch with.

30 Minutes For Reflections

Grab a pen and a journal and take 30 minutes each Sunday to look back at the past week. Write down what went right and what went wrong. Write down memorable moments. Write down your hopes and dreams. Write down anything that has meaning to you at this time.

Reflect on where you have been and where you are going. See if you are on the path you need to be on or if you need to make changes. Sunday is also a good day to start changes. Look back in your journal and your past reflections. Then sit back and think. You may find one of the connections you lost is with yourself.

30 Minutes For Connections

Take another 30 minutes of your Sunday to make connections with people you care about. Family members would love to hear from you. Send an email to an old friend you lost touch with. Go visit someone you care about, but do not get to see much. We need to take the time to remember to appreciate one another.

Taking pictures is a way to make connections that last. Take your camera out and explore. Take pictures of places you want to remember and people you never want to forget. Video is even better since it captures real life and memories better than a picture.

One Hour to Put Life in Perspective

The other six days of the week we are wrapped up in the frantic rush of life. To keep yourself grounded it is important to take some time each Sunday to reflect. To gain a perspective on your life and connect with others for your well-being. Call it a mental walk about. A time to look at your past, connect with your present and dream of your future.

After a hard week one hour of reflection and connections will help put your life back in perspective and get you ready for the next week. Do this each Sunday and later in life the journal, pictures, videos and memories will be some of your most cherished possessions.

Photo: swimparallel

To get good grades in college you need to learn how to study in the college environment and develop good study habits.  There are three questions you must answer about how to study. Where to study, when to study, and how long to study?

Where To Study

The best environment to study in is one of isolation so you can fully concentrate on your work. You’re not being antisocial, you are making the best use of your study time by avoiding distractions. If you can’t avoid the distraction of your cell phone, turn it off when you study.

Your dorm room may be convenient, but it is often a poor place to learn. There are too many things in your dorm room to distract you from studying, your roommate, your friends, social media, the temptation to nap, etc.

Here is how to find the best places to study. Get a map of the campus and your schedule. Look for several places around campus where you go to just to study. Try different ones and see which ones work best for you. Use your schedule to find places close to your next class to maximize your study time.

When To Study

Not at night! It may seem logical but nighttime hours are not the best time to study. At night your body and mind are starting to wind down and temptations to do fun things rise. You should try to do all of your studying before you eat dinner. This leaves you with worry free nights for fun knowing your studies are out-of-the-way.

Study during the daylight hours when you are more alert and your mind is in an academic mode. When your schedule has an hour or two open head straight to one of your study areas and get to work. Even if you can only get 30 minutes, take it.

How Long To Study

Break your study time up into chunks of 30-50 minutes then give yourself a 10-15 minute break. The ideal is 50 minutes of study followed by a 10 minute break. Taking a break gives you mind time to recharge and regain your concentration. Try out different times and see what works best for you.

Don’t procrastinate! When you have a paper or exam don’t wait until the day before it is due to start. Break it down into little chunks and fit it into your study schedule. Cramming and all-nighters at the last-minute are not effective ways to study.

Develop a Study Schedule

Once you answer the where, when and how long to study create a schedule and stick to it. Plan around your schedule and block out free time to study in one of your locations. A study schedule allows you to make the most out of your study time and develop good study habits.

For a college student time is a one of your most valuable and most wasted resources. Develop good study habits and stick to your study schedule and you will do well in academics and still have time for fun.

Study Habits Resources

• How to Become a Straight-A Student
• How To Relieve Exam Stress

Even if you are not graduating now, it is a good idea to start thinking about it. Good planning now can save you headaches when you do graduate.

Below are resources for career, money, student loans and adjusting to life after college.

Career and Job Resources for College Graduates

• Monster College – Monster College is part of the online job site Monster.com. It is aimed specifically at college graduates to help them find their first career. They offer resources, interview tips and tricks, resume templates and skill-building quizzes.
• CareerBuilder – CareerBuilder.com is one of the largest online job sites. Post your resume.
• After College – AfterCollege is an online professional platform that connects college students, alumni and employers through customized career networks at colleges and professional organizations across the country.
• College Grad – CollegeGrad.com is an Internet job search service for college students and recent grads. They exclusively target college students and college graduates. They offer entry-level job searches, tips and more.
• Government Jobs – Interested in a job with the federal government? USAJOBS is the United States Office of Personnel Management web site. USAJOBS is the Federal Government’s official one-stop source for Federal jobs and employment information.
• Linked In – Linkedin.com is the Facebook (sort of) for professionals. It is may not be the best place to find a job, but it is defiantly a good place to network. They still have their “’09 Grad Guide” up, but by graduation time the ‘10 Grad Guide should be up.
• Interview Cheat Sheet – HRWorld has an Interviewing Cheat Sheet: 100 Resources for Interviewers and Candidates that offers great advice on preparing for and what to expect at a job interview.
• Best Places to Launch a Career – An interactive table from Business Week tells you what cities are best for starting your career.
• Fortune – Fortune magazines 100 best companies to work for.
• Stimulus Jobs for New College Grads – For college seniors and recent graduates with technical and liberal arts degrees, the stimulus plan will provide tremendous entry-level job opportunities.
• Best Internships – Business Week offers a list of where the best internships are.
• Top Cities to Start a Career – This is a list of the top 25 cities to start a career after college. It is based on job growth rate, cost of living and average salary. Interesting that Charlotte is # 15.
• Post-Grad Internships – Here is an article from The Wall Street Journal about trying internships after graduation.
• MS Office Resume Templates – Microsoft Office resume templates and more for college graduates. If this link does not work go to office.microsoft.com and search for “college graduate resume”.
• Writing The Perfect Resume – If you have not started it, you should. Your resume is your first introduction and it must be good.
• 50 Best Career Books for College Students – a current list of 50 books for college students for college graduates. Sections include “Finding a Job”. “Career Advice”, “Preparing to Enter the Real World”, “Using Your Degree”, “Networking”, “Internships” and “Grad School”.
• Cleaning Up Your Online Profile – Don’t think potential employers will not look. Better take those pictures down now. Don’t think they can not get around privacy settings. There are companies whose business is reporting back on the social profiles of job candidates.

Money Resource for College Graduates

• Salary Calculator – Salary.com has a salary calculator where you can enter a job title and a zip code and they will show you the salary ranges for that type of job in that zip code.
• How to Blitz Your College Debts – How to deal with student loans and credit card debt.
• Credit Card Calculator – Bankrate.com has a credit calculator that lets you explore different options for paying off a credit card.
• When Will I Be Out of Debt? – Another handy calculator you can play with to help you budget and get out of debt.
• How to Build Your First Budget – Just out of college you will need to build a budget!
• Mint.com – Popular FREE online money management and budgeting software. You can set up alerts to send you an email or text messages for any number of budget or money related items. A good place to set up a budget, track your expenses and much more. Did I say it was free?
• Top 10 Shocks for College Grads – Money issues you probably have not thought about.
• Your Guide to Money in Your 20’s – On MSN Money they offer many tools and articles to help you manage your money.
• Money 101 – The CNN Money web site has a good list of articles on a variety of money related topics. For college graduates there are a few good articles like buying a car, making a budget, and other topics.
• Twentity – Twentity.com has a good collection of articles in their Life After College section on a variety of subjects.
• Money Tips – Money Tips for New College Graduates – Spending, Saving, & Budgeting Advice.
• How to Budget and Still Have a Life – College Grads: Sticking to a Personal Budget Doesn’t Mean Sticking to Ramen.
• Finding Health Insurance – It is the last thing you think you will need, but a major medical expense can bankrupt you before you get started. A quick check with BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina shows someone of college graduate age in the Charlotte can get a comprehensive plan with a $2500 deductible for $168 per month. The least expensive plan is a $5000 deductible (ouch) for $102 per year. The cheapest plan is a HSA plan where you pay all the cost until you meet your deductible of $5000 and the premium is only $68 per month.
• Check the health insurance plans for any location at eHealthInsurance.com. Check around though as they do not work with all insurers. The site offers a lot of different ways to sort and search for health insurance plan.

Student Loan Resources for College Graduates

• Income Base Repayment (IBR) – Income-Based Repayment (IBR) is a new way to make your federal student loan payments more manageable.  And if you’re a teacher or work in government or at a nonprofit (501(c)(3)) organization, you might qualify for a new type of public service loan forgiveness after 10 years of eligible payments and employment.
• Student Loans Repayment Calculator – SallieMae has a nice worksheet calculator to help you estimate your monthly payments and total interest paid on your student loans. (depressing)
• Consolidating Student Loans – Federal Direct Consolidation Loans web site shows you how you can consolidate you existing Federal education loans into one loan.
• The Project on Student Debt – this is a web site run by the Institute for College Access & Success. A really good article to start with is The Top 10 Student Loan Tips for Recent Graduates.
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness – The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 established a new public service loan forgiveness program. This program discharges any remaining debt after 10 years of full-time employment in public service
• Good Behavior – Good advice on paying back your student loans.

Life After College Resources for College Graduates

• Life After College – LifeAfterCollege.org is a personal development/personal blog. The tag line “Life after college, no one said it was easy” sums it up. There are sections on Life, Work, Money, Career and more. One of the best sections are the templates like Four-Step Budget, Simple Appointment Tracking, Professional Development Strategy, Job Interview Sheet, and more.
• Lifehacker – Lifehacker.com is a great site for tips that help you save money, do things cheaply, technology tips and daily tips on ways to make many aspects of your life easier. One of my favorites that will help you long after college.
• 10 Tips For First Time Apartment Renters – You need a place to live!
• Online Degrees Hub – Their web site has nice list of 100 Inspirational Blogs for Life After College on a variety of subjects.
• 100 Life Hacks for College Graduates – 100 links to Life Hacks specifically for college graduates.
• College Afermath – CollegeAfermath.com has a great tag line. “When the best four years of your life are over”. There are a number of good articles on topics such as money, jobs, relationships. life and more.
• 21 Incredibly Practical Tips to Survive the “Real World” – a must read for any new college grad.
• GradSpot – GradSpot.com has a number of “survival guides” for college graduates.
• How to Adapt to Life after College – a well-rounded blog post.
• 30 Happiness Tips – Trust me, you will need them.
• Loneliness is a Bitch – How not to deal with it.
• Wardrobe Essentials For College Grads – This one is for men.
• Twentysomething: Be responsible, go back home after college – According to Monster.com 60% of college graduates move back home after college graduation and for good reasons.

First be sure you know what resolution you need for your computer or phone. You can resize with software, but it will not look right if you do not know what to resize it to. Not only do wallpapers make your computer or phone look better, but you can print them, or have them made into beautiful posters.

If you do not see a download link for an image click on the thumbnail or the image to open it in a new window. To save the image right-click and select Save Image As.

Don’t forget about UNC Charlotte’s official wallpaper!

Top 10 Sites For Computer and Phone Wallpaper

Interfacelift

Interfacelife offers free high-resolution widescreen wallpapers. You find wallpaper using a variety of sorting methods or type a keyword in the search box and you will be shown links that match your search. The site also offers themes for the Mac, Windows and Sony PS3. You can also find a variety of desktop icons. Their Backdrops iPhone application ($1.99) brings a wallpaper collection to your iPhone..

DevianART Wallpaper

DeviantART is well-known for quality images and their wallpaper section is no different. Their images are more artist-centric and have a loyal following of contributors. Don’t just go for the wallpaper, be sure and look over the rest of their site.

Wallbase

Wallbase offers a collection of over 370,000 wallpapers. You can search using specific keywords or colors, view random wallpapers, or take a look at the current most popular wallpapers. Wallbase specializes in general, anime and high-resolution wallpaper

4chan

4chan is an image based bulletin board where anyone can post images. There are sub-boards with a variety of topics. The /Wallpaper/ board is where you will find a variety of wallpapers. 4chan is as much social as images. You can post comments and give feedback on images posted.

Wallpaper Abyss

Wallpaper Abyss has over 25,000 wallpapers and claim a new wallpaper is added every hour. One thing I like about this site is it gives you your monitor resolution which makes it easy to select the right image to download. They also offer mobile wallpaper, avatars, full-screen 4:3, and widescreen 16:10. All downloads are free.

Caedes

Caedes is community based site of artists, designers and photographers. They offer a number of galleries of wallpaper and image sizes. They have a tutorial gallery if you are interested in learning how to make your own wallpaper.

Desktop Nexus

Desktop Nexus features over 215,000 wallpapers in a variety of categories. A nice feature of this site is it detects your monitor resolution and when you download a wallpaper it helps tweak the image to look good on your desktop. This does not always come out well, but you can select Options and download different sizes or the original and tweak it yourself.

Vlad Studio

Vlad Studio is the work of a talented Russian wallpaper artist, Vlad Gerasimov. In addition to wallpapers Vlad Studio also features desktop wall clocks, puzzles, e-cards, and icons. There is a lot you can download for free, but you must register to download everything else. Registration costs from $29.99 for a lifetime to $9.99 for 3 months.

You can download wallpaper in low quality, high quality, widescreen, 2 or 3 monitors, and for a variety of mobile phone sizes including the iPhone. You must be a registered user to download some content.

Social Wallpapering

Social Wallpapering is a community that offers standard, widescreen, an dual-monitor wallpaper. They use a classification and community ranking system to highlight the best. You can browse their collection (now over 7000) or click on random and be surprised. Using the Browse drop-down menu allows you to select different categories.

Digital Blasphemy

Digital Blasphemy has a collection of 3D rendered computer wallpapers. They also have dual-monitor, triple-monitor and mobile versions in their collection. Some images are free to download, including most versions that offer mobile versions. To download all images you must register. Registration ranges from 90 days for $14.95 to lifetime for $79.95.

Mandolux

Mandolux is run by a self-professed “bum” in Southern California who makes desktop wallpaper. Browse the archives for a variety of dual-monitor, triple-monitor and single monitor wallpaper. If you find something you like for a dual-monitor, but only have a single monitor visit his Flicker site to download the single image.

NASA

If you enjoy breathtaking pictures from space look at these two sites of NASA photos. The Astronomy Picture of the Day Archive offers hundreds of NASA pictures dating back to 1995. The NASA Image of the Day Gallery offers the most current images as well as other types of multimedia.

Alternatives

Google Images

Go to Google Images and type in a keyword such as “wallpaper” or “beach wallpaper” and you will find LOTS of wallpaper. The wallpaper search returned 22,800,000 hits.

Bing Images

Bing Images offers fewer hits that Google, but they have a nice interface to allow you to select wallpaper by size, layout, color, style or people.

Okay it was more than 10 sites, but there are some I did not want to leave off.

There is a method you can use to stick to your New Year’s resolutions regardless of the time, energy or difficulty. With a busy life the key to reaching your goals is to take small steps. By taking small steps you can reach any goal or accomplish any task regardless of the constraints you may have.

Small Steps

Using the small steps method of improvement is simple. Let’s say you want to start walking one mile each day. You start out, maybe do it a few times and then give up because it is too difficult. The reason you fail is you mind and your body have not been conditioned to do the task.

Now take this same task and break it down into smaller, more achievable goals. Start off by walking a quarter mile each day for a week. The following week add another quarter of a mile. In four weeks you will have conditioned your mind and body and be walking one mile each day. If time is an issue use the amount of time you can devote to it as the goal.

The small steps method can be applied to anything you need to get done in your life and any improvement you want to make. If you have tried something in the past and failed try it again using the small steps method.

The Keys

The keys to success using the small steps method:

• Breaking down a task or goal into achievable steps
• If time is an issue break the task or goal into smaller steps that fit your schedule. Some tasks can be done in as little as 5-10 minutes per day. (like cleaning your room)
• Since your steps are small and achievable you overcome the mental blocks that a task is too large or too difficult. With each small step you achieve you get a sense of accomplishment that will boost your confidence.
• Since we are by nature resistant to change to make it stick we must make it a habit. By using smaller steps we are less resistant to change and more likely to be successful.

Some Suggestions

Here are some suggestions for New Year’s resolutions for college students.

Stop Procrastinating – College students are major procrastinators either by choice or by lack of time. You have heard the saying “Why put off for tomorrow what you can do today”. When you have a paper that is due in one week don’t wait until the last day to start it. Use the small steps method and set aside short periods of time to work on it. Procrastination leads to cramming and cramming usually leads to a poor academic outcome.

Don’t Be A “Class Tourist” – Being a tourist is great when you are on a trip, but not for college. You can not just show up for class when you feel like it. When you do show up for class avoid zoning out, not taking notes or any of the other dozen things you can do other than paying attention and learning. The goal of college is not just to graduate, but to graduate with good grades. If you miss 20% of your classes it will be hard to do.

Party! – Partying and college seem to go together. It is a natural rite of passage. However for some people their week starts on Thursday and ends late Sunday night. Those other days they perform the dull, boring tasks such as going to class (maybe), studying (unless there is something else to do) or doing homework (see studying). You are spending thousands of dollars on a college education that will play a large part of the rest of your life. There is nothing wrong with partying, but it should not be your first priority.

Super College Student – Maybe you are the opposite of the partier. You are the super college student who devotes all of their time and energy to their education. For you a social life is talking to the librarian. Lighten up some and enjoy life outside of academics. Your college life is a once in a lifetime experience. You can still get great grades and have fun along the way.

In the survey nearly three-quarters of the employers said they prefer job candidates who have the work experience that can be gained through an internship. By comparison only sixteen percent were looking for college graduates with any work experience.

How much of an inside track can an internship give you? General Electric reports that over 80 percent of their full-time new hires came from their interns and co-ops. Most companies prefer to hire from within and interns are candidates who they already know about.

Since most interns perform nearly or the same job as their full-time employees they usually can make an immediate impact for the company once they are hired. Internships can also pay off financially. Not only do many pay while you are an intern, but companies report giving a higher starting salary to their interns.

While taking part in an internship will not guarantee you a job after college, it will make you a more marketable candidate. If you start early enough in your college career you can take several internships, maybe in different areas of a field you are interested in. Even if you are not hired by the company the work experience looks great on your resume.

Another major benefit to internships is being able to network with those who share an interest in your field and people who already are working in the field. This type of inside scoop can give you valuable insight into a career and what you need to do to prepare for it.

Here is a list reported by CollegeGrad.com of the top 15 intern employers for 2009 and the number of interns their projected intern new hires.

1. Walgreens General Merchandisers 5,650
2. New York Life Insurance Company Insurance: Life, Health (mutual) 3,500
3. Southwestern Publishing, Printing 2,800
4. General Electric Energy 2,400
5. Deloitte & Touche USA LLP Other 2,300
6. PricewaterhouseCoopers Other 2,279
7. KPMG LLP Other 2,000
8. Northwestern Mutual Financial Network Diversified Financials 2,000
9. Lockheed Martin Aerospace and Defense 1,932
10. Ernst & Young Other 1,869
11. Enterprise Rent-A-Car Automotive Rental, Leasing 1,800
12. Intel Electronics, Electrical Equipment 1,600
13. Target Corporation General Merchandisers 1,100
14. Microsoft Computer Software 1,000
15. Sandia National Laboratories Aerospace and Defense 900

For more information about these and other internships visit the CollegeGrad.com web site.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics current “Occupations Outlook Handbook” gives us a glimpse of job market may look like by 2016. It will be interesting to see if the next handbook changes due to the current economic climate, but there are some sectors that will remain the same.

Below is a listing of some of the information from the BLS outlook. Assuming you want a good job when you graduate college it may be worth your time to do some research of the projected job market.

Education and Health Service Jobs

This industry super sector is projected to grow by 18.8 percent, and add more jobs, nearly 5.5 million, than any other industry super sector. More than 3 out of every 10 new jobs created in the U.S. economy will be in either the health care and social assistance or public and private educational services sectors.

Health care and social assistance

Including public and private hospitals, nursing and residential care facilities, and individual and family services—will grow by 25.4 percent and add 4 million new jobs. Employment growth will be driven by increasing demand for health care and social assistance because of an aging population and longer life expectancies. Also, as more women enter the labor force, demand for childcare services is expected to grow.

Public and private educational services will grow by 10.7 percent and add 1.4 million new jobs through 2016. Rising student enrollments at all levels of education will create demand for educational services.

Professional and Business Service Jobs

This industry super sector, which includes some of the fastest growing industries in the U.S. economy, will grow by 23.3 percent and add 4.1 million new jobs.

Administrative, Support, Waste Management and Remediation Services

This sector will grow by 20.3 percent and add 1.7 million new jobs to the economy by 2016. The largest industry growth in this sector will be enjoyed by employment services, which will be responsible for 692,000 new jobs, or over 40 percent of all new jobs in administrative and support and waste management and remediation services.

Employment services ranks second among industries with the most new employment opportunities in the Nation and is expected to have a growth rate that is faster than the average for all industries. This will be due to the need for seasonal and temporary workers and for highly specialized human resources services.

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

These sectors will grow by 28.8 percent and add 2.1 million new jobs by 2016. Employment in computer systems design and related services will grow by 38.3 percent and add nearly one-fourth of all new jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services. Employment growth will be driven by the increasing reliance of businesses on information technology and the continuing importance of maintaining system and network security.

Management, scientific, and technical consulting services also will grow at a staggering 78 percent and account for another third of growth in this super sector. Demand for these services will be spurred by the increased use of new technology and computer software and the growing complexity of business.

Management of companies and enterprises will grow by 14.9 percent and add 270,000 new jobs.

Information Technology Jobs

Employment in the information super sector is expected to increase by 6.9 percent, adding 212,000 jobs by 2016. Information contains some of the fast-growing computer-related industries such as software publishing, Internet publishing and broadcasting, and wireless telecommunication carriers.

Employment in these industries is expected to grow by 32 percent, 44.1 percent, and 40.9 percent, respectively. The information super sector also includes motion picture production; broadcasting; and newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishing. Increased demand for telecommunications services, cable service, high-speed Internet connections, and software will fuel job growth among these industries.

Leisure and Hospitality Jobs

Overall employment will grow by 14.3 percent. Arts, entertainment, and recreation will grow by 30.9 percent and add 595,000 new jobs by 2016. Most of these new job openings, 79 percent, will be in the amusement, gambling, and recreation sector. Job growth will stem from public participation in arts, entertainment, and recreation activities—reflecting increasing incomes, leisure time, and awareness of the health benefits of physical fitness.

Accommodation and food services

This sector is expected to grow by 11.4 percent and add 1.3 million new jobs through 2016. Job growth will be concentrated in food services and drinking places, reflecting increases in population, dual-income families, and the convenience of many new food establishments.

Trade, Transportation, and Utilities

Overall employment in this industry super sector will grow by 6 percent between 2006 and 2016. Transportation and warehousing is expected to increase by 496,000 jobs, or by 11.1 percent through 2016. Truck transportation will grow by 11 percent, adding 158,000 new jobs, while rail transportation is projected to decline.

Warehousing and Storage

This sector is projected to grow rapidly at 23.5 percent, adding 150,000 jobs. Demand for truck transportation and warehousing services will expand as many manufacturers concentrate on their core competencies and contract out their product transportation and storage functions.

Retail Trade

Employment is expected to increase by 4.5 percent. Despite slower than average growth, this industry will add almost 700,000 new jobs over the 2006-2016 period, growing from 15.3 million employees to 16 million. While consumers will continue to demand more goods, consolidation among grocery stores and department stores will temper growth. Wholesale trade is expected to increase by 7.3 percent, growing from 5.9 million to 6.3 million jobs.

Utilities

Employment is projected to decrease by 5.7 percent through 2016. Despite increased output, employment in electric power generation, transmission, and distribution and natural gas distribution is expected to decline through 2016 due to improved technology that increases worker productivity. However, employment in water, sewage, and other systems is expected to increase 18.7 percent by 2016. Jobs are not easily eliminated by technological gains in this industry because water treatment and waste disposal are very labor-intensive activities.

Financial Jobs

Employment is projected to grow 14.4 percent over the 2006-2016 period. Real estate and rental and leasing is expected to grow by 18 percent and add 392,000 jobs by 2016. Growth will be due, in part, to increased demand for housing as the population grows.

The fastest growing industry in the real estate and rental and leasing services sector will be activities related to real estate, such as property management and real estate appraisal, which will grow by 29 percent—remnants of the housing boom that pervaded much of the first half of the decade.

Finance and Insurance

This sector is expected to add 815,000 jobs, an increase of 13.2 percent, by 2016.

Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments

This sector is expected to grow 46 percent by 2016, reflecting the increased number of baby boomers in their peak savings years, the growth of tax-favorable retirement plans, and the globalization of the securities markets.

Credit Intermediation and Related Services, Including Banks

This sector will grow by 8.2 percent and add almost one-third of all new jobs within finance and insurance. Insurance carriers and related activities are expected to grow by 7.4 percent and add 172,000 new jobs by 2016. The number of jobs within agencies, brokerages, and other insurance related activities is expected to grow about 15.4 percent. Growth will stem from the needs of an increasing population and new insurance products on the market.

Government Jobs

Between 2006 and 2016, government employment, not including employment in public education and hospitals, is expected to increase by 4.8 percent, from 10.8 million to 11.3 million jobs. Growth in government employment will be fueled by an increased demand for public safety, but dampened by budgetary constraints and outsourcing of government jobs to the private sector.

State and local governments, excluding education and hospitals, are expected to grow by 7.7 percent as a result of the continued shift of responsibilities from the Federal Government to State and local governments. Federal Government employment, including the Postal Service, is expected to decrease by 3.8 percent.

Other Services

Employment will grow by 14.9 percent. About 2 out of every 5 new jobs in this super sector will be in religious organizations, which are expected to grow by 18.9 percent. Other automotive repair and maintenance will be the fastest growing industry at 40.7 percent, reflecting demand for quick maintenance services for the increasing number of automobiles on the Nation’s roads.

Also included among other services are business, professional, labor, political, and similar organizations, which are expected to increase by 13.6 percent and add 68,000 new jobs. This industry includes homeowner, tenant, and property owner associations.

TubeMaster++ allows you to capture and save multimedia files. Captured files can then be saved to your computer or converted to many popular video and audio formats such as AVI, MPEG, MP3, MP4, IPod, PSP and more. These can then be transferred to portable devices. Best of all TubeMaster++ is FREE.

Setting Up TubeMaster++

If you run Windows Vista or Windows 7 you will need to start TubeMaster in administrator mode. You will need to right-click on the TubeMaster icon and select Run as administrator. When TubeMaster starts up capture is enabled. Be SURE you start TubeMaster in administrator mode on Windows Vista and Windows 7 or it will not work!

You should set the options before you start using it by clicking on the Options icon. You can stop capture from automatically starting when the program starts. This stops it from capturing everything you run across before you get to what you want to capture.

You will also want to set the folder where your captures and saved files are stored. I like to have a folder specifically for captures and then when they are complete I move them to a media library folder. You can change the MP3 bitrate (Kbps) from 64 to 320. You get great sound at 224, but if you need files smaller files 192 sounds good.

Using TubeMaster++ To Capture and Convert to MP3

Say you want to capture Jay-Z’s new Blueprint 3 from Imeem. Locate the playlist and click on/off the tracks you want to capture. Then click the Enable Capture icon on TubeMaster and start playing the songs on Imeem.

TubeMaster will capture the stream and save it as a FLV file. You have the option to change the title of the file at this point. Take advantage of this to name your track when you are recording it. The program will capture the entire song before it finishes playing, noted by a green check next to the captured file.

When the next song begins TubeMaster will start a new capture. In capture mode you have options to convert the file or play the file. To convert the file to MP3 that you can play on your computer, IPod or other MP3 play click on Convert File and select “Audio MP3”.

Using TubeMaster++ To Capture and Convert Video

Capturing video is as easy as capturing audio. Disable capture until you read the video you want to capture and convert. Let’s stick with the Jay-Z theme and capture the official D.O.A. (Death of Auto tune) video from the Jay-Z channel on YouTube.

Enable capture on TubeMaster and click the play button on YouTube. TubeMaster will start capturing the video file. It takes longer than the audio file because video is larger. Still before the end of the video TubeMaster has captured it.

Click in the “untitled” box and give the video a name. Now you need to decide what format you want to convert it to. If you have an IPod you will want to click on the Convert File icon and select Video MP4. If your portable media player needs another format select AVI 320×240 for your portable devices, AVI 640×480 for your computer, or DiVX.

If TubeMaster captures an advertisement in the process you can always click the red X and delete the captured file. If you are not sure what the capture is click on the play button to view it.

MORE Conversion Options

TubeMaster can convert your captured files to many different formats. Nearly every phone format is included. You can save as DVD format including HQ full screen and wide screen. Here is a shot of the available formats.

Built-In Video and Audio Search

TubeMaster comes with built-in search capabilities to help you find specific audio and video files. Select video or audio, then type in what you are looking for. TubeMaster will search for active live streams which you can capture. You can preview the stream by clicking the play button (disable capture first) and if it is what you want click on download.

I did not find this feature very useful. Bing is really good with video search.

Get TubeMaster++

Visit the TubeMaster++ web site for more details and to download. It is available for Windows and Linux and soon for the Mac. There are many stream capture programs and convertors out there. Most of the better ones can run you close to $80. For what it does I think that TubeMaster++ is a pretty good for free.

TubeMaster++ works on video sites that display video using HTTP FLV steams. Popular sites like Hulu and most major TV sites use secure RTMPE flash video .FLV streams. TubeMaster++ will not capture these streams. I am still looking at FREE options for those sites. If you know of one please post a comment.