Here’s some encouraging news out of my home state of Georgia: Record numbers of students are enrolling in technical colleges, inspired to try new career fields and seeking to quickly gain the knowledge needed to land those jobs.

Data from the Technical College System of Georgia shows a 24 percent increase in 2009 enrollment compared to 2008, with 110,254 students in the state’s 28 technical colleges. The previous record: 91,838 students, in 2003.

Officials say the enrollment increase is due to the downturn in the economy. The education provided by technical schools can provide marketable skills that open doors to jobs in high-demand fields such as healthcare, business and office technologies, and computer information systems.

You can gain that knowledge faster than at traditional four-year colleges and universities.  In Georgia, its 600 certificate, diploma, and degree programs can be completed in six months to two years, depending on the program. That’s much like other areas of the county, and the costs are low ($2,100 is the annual tuition and fee average in Georgia).

And the interesting thing is that technical colleges have a diversity of ages among the students enrolled. The schools in Georgia are seeing an increase in students under 21, with recent high school graduates joining experienced workers in the classrooms. Having that diversity of ages in programs is beneficial to everyone, preparing you for a multi-generational workplace.

You may be among those who have lost jobs or are just ready for a different career path, and technical colleges are an affordable route worth considering.

-Lori Johnston

If you haven’t seen the prolific public service announcements yet, you will. This month, be on the lookout for TV stars like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Masi Oka, and Rainn Wilson singing the praises of service and volunteering through a new Web site, iParticipate.org. In fact, all sorts of celebs are offering up personal stories on the impact of service, including former bad-boy Mark Wahlberg, who wrote an essay on making a difference for troubled youth.

Why the spotlight on service? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the rate at which Americans volunteer is around 26 percent, and it hasn’t increased in 40 years. Talk about a sad stat – especially when everyone has something to give.

So the long-range, multifaceted iParticipate campaign, led by the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) – the leading charitable organization of the entertainment industry – seeks to promote a new way of thinking about service and persuade millions more Americans to volunteer regularly. After all, they say, great change begins with small choices, and one decision to change leads to others.

If you don’t know where to serve, click into iParticipate.org, which simplifies the process of finding volunteer opportunities in your local community. Opportunities are categorized in one of five key areas of service: children and education; community health and wellness; environmental conservation; financial security; and support for veterans and military families. You can register a project for Make a Difference Day, October 24, or you can volunteer any day of the year. EIF has even provided grants to key organizations in order to help build capacity to accept, train, and deploy volunteers.

Once you decide where you’ll volunteer, the site enables you to recruit friends to join you in service. After all, reports the BLS, nearly half of all people who volunteer started because they were asked by someone they know.

Benefits of Service
Though the people you’re serving are the obvious beneficiaries of your commitment, they’re not the only ones who receive a reward. When you get involved and enrich the lives of the people in your community, you strengthen your own wellbeing. Doing good for others enables you to live a longer, happier, healthier life. After all, studies show that those who volunteer early in life experience greater functional ability and better health outcomes later in life.

And volunteering doesn’t need to exist independent of your current activities. In many organizations, employees are actively involved in company-sponsored community service. Corporate community service is a great way to forge bonds with co-workers and supervisors as you become united toward a common, higher goal. Helping the less fortunate can bring a level of compassion and empathy that’s often missing in the workplace. Plus, volunteering can make you a more focused and motivated employee, which always pays dividends in your professional life. You may even decide to take it a step further, and explore a career that gives back.

If you want to change the world, this is one place to start. I participate. Do you?

-Robyn Tellefsen

I love reading articles about college major trends because that’s a good way to gauge which career fields are up-and-coming and eager to hire. Lucky for us, writers at The Chronicle of Higher Education did some legwork in yesterday’s story, “5 College Majors on the Rise.”

Not surprisingly, all of the majors they list have something to do with making ourselves and/or the environment a little healthier, and finding new ways to solve problems. In fact, each field can be classified as “higher” education in some way, since they each have a higher purpose than just simply memorizing facts, performing calculations, or appreciating some type of art.

Take a look…

Sustainability — A few weeks ago, I actually had to look this up — no joke! That’s how new an idea this is when it comes to education and business. If you’re wondering what it is (which is nothing to be ashamed of), I’ll tell you. It’s the concept of making something more “green” or ecofriendly. Many businesses today are sustainable businesses. So college students, be sure to at least take a class on this because it’s the hottest buzzword in the workplace today!

Service Science — This is another buzzword that may not be what you think it is. The article describes it as cultivating “‘deep problem solvers’ who understand the economic, human, and technical dimensions of complex systems.” Yikes! That’s a mouthful, isn’t it? The idea is to improve productivity and encourage innovation in various service industries. In other words, these grads will help find more efficient ways of doing things. That sure is a good skill set to have.

Health informatics — The idea is to take each person’s tons of health data and digitalize it. The Feds are totally behind this initiative, and so a new field has emerged that will demand lots of technological know-how with a health care twist.

Computational science — Math meet science. Science meet math. Together, you’ll solve problems. At least that’s the gist of what computational science is all about. I’m not a techie or a number cruncher so it’s a bit beyond me, honestly, but the article says this: “Companies have used computational analysis to increase the absorbency of disposable diapers and to tweak the shape of potato chips so they drop into packages rather than fly off the conveyor belt.” OK then, moving on…

Public health - If the swine flu epidemic has taught us anything, it’s that public health is an expansive field. Students who merge the biology stuff with the public policy stuff will be huge commodities in our society.

Intrigued by any of these up-and-coming fields? They are definitely worth paying attention to for anyone interested in entering a viable industry. One day, they may even be as commonplace as English literature or psychology, so get studying!

-Dawn Papandrea

It has all the earmarks of a buzzword or business jargon, but call it what you want, career experts in all walks of life say personal branding is vital to today’s career success. So in case you don’t know what it is, I’ll tell you.

Personal branding is all about marketing yourself or creating yourself as a “brand.” What do you stand for? What sets you apart from your competition? What are your unique attributes? How do you represent yourself online and offline?

Here’s another way I like to think of it: If you could give yourself a tagline or slogan, what would it be? Think of it as a witty extension of your job title. I like to say I’m a “higher education writer and blogger extraordinaire,” for instance. An editor friend of mine gets even more creative, calling herself the “content pimp” (although not on formal letterhead, or anything, but you get the idea).

I recently interviewed Frank Schoeneman, CEO of Empire Beauty Schools, the largest provider of cosmetology education in the country, for our sister blog, A Minute With SpaBeautySchools (check it out for some of his great beauty industry tips and quips next week), and he was touting the importance of personal branding.

“You are your own brand. What makes you so special? There are a lot of those people out there who are very good at what they do — that have better skills than you do — but there’s nobody better at being you, than you. If you’re able to develop the people skills to know your product, to know your services, to figure out how and when to apply them to the right customer, your branding has been set.”

Now remember, this is a professional in the beauty industry. Yet in our conversation, we didn’t talk hot hair colors and cosmetology trends — we discussed his mission to help students market themselves. And I think that’s true of all fields these days, which is why more and more colleges and career schools are catching on and teaching this concept to their students. Right now, though, you’ll mainly hear about personal branding offerings in the form of seminars or one-day workshops. But mark my words — you may start hearing about schools offering it as a full-fledged elective course in the near future.

Personal branding guru, Dan Schawbel, has been campaigning this idea for quite some time. He blogs:

“You need to reach across boundaries, in a world where everyone is on the same plane, and you can almost touch hiring managers at companies you want to work for. Don’t send out a 10,000 resume blast because that is just like the 10,000 emails reporters get everyday and they are discounted as spam. The real way to succeed in college is to understand how the internet can be used to get a job or start a business, and then act.”

So how do you want to brand yourself? Think about it, and start doing it ASAP. It can make all the difference, especially in a tight economy.

Just for fun, what would you like your tagline to be?

There’s something to be said about paying your dues in the working world, especially now as the country faces the highest unemployment rate in 14 years. A low-paying job is better than no job, I say, and according to one career expert, it might even be the best thing you ever do for your career. That expert is Paul Facella, CEO of consulting firm Inside Management and author of “Everything I Know About Business I Learned at McDonald’s” (McGraw-Hill, November 2008).

I love this idea in the same way that I think internships are often more eye opening than any business class you’ll take. Even if you’re filing and running mail from floor to floor, there’s much to be observed. And in my own experience, working in a video store during college taught me more about customer relations, marketing, and sales than my business minor did. No joke! I also have a good friend who worked at the mall to help pay the bills while she was earning her master’s degree in speech therapy. She wound up climbing up the retail chain while she schooled, and ended up becoming a regional manager for a prominent clothing store. So you never know.

That being said, here’s Facella’s rationale for why working in McDonald’s — or an equivalent low-rung job — can be a real learning experience (beyond how to operate the fry machine), if you let it…

• It teaches you the ropes.
  Be curious, ask questions, and offer suggestions. You’ll wind up learning more about business than in most MBA classes.
• It hones your work style.
  Always work hard—and never be satisfied. Traits such as these will serve you down the road as an executive or entrepreneur.
• It refines relationship skills.
  Now is the time to perfect your people skills. “Practice” listening more than talking, resolving conflicts, and rolling with the punches.
• It creates opportunities.
  Choose wisely and you can move up the ranks quickly. Look for a company like McDonald’s, with a proven track record of aggressive talent management and exceptional career velocity.
• It forms networks.
  Take care with your work relationships—higher-ups, peers, and subordinates. You’ll have career champions for a lifetime.
• It reinforces humility.
  There is no upside to unemployment. Learn to appreciate the goodness of work itself and what a job can teach you.

The point here is not necessarily to go work at the local fast food joint if you’re out of work, or that school is a waste of time. But when entering a new job or career — especially in a down market — you may have to consider opportunities beneath your skill level or take a pay cut. In doing so, however, it may give you a chance to apply and flex the skills you learned about in the classroom. And that just may turn out to be a wise investment.

Tell me about your lowest level job and what you learned there…

Many career experts will tell you that it’s vital to learn new skills to stay afloat and competitive in a tough job market. If you’re like me, you equate that with hard skills, like some sort of computer proficiency like Web design, or knowledge that’s very specific to a trade (like medical billing). Often overlooked is the most basic of communication skills — learning a new language.

Like anything else, becoming conversant in a new language requires a time and money investment, and therefore, you need to consider what the payoff will be beyond showing off at parties. In other words, you’ll have to choose a language that can open up new career avenues for you. For instance, if you currently work in the business sector and deal with international clients, it might serve you to learn Japanese if that’s what your company’s client base speaks. If you work in fields like homeland security or in the armed forces, being able to speak and understand Arabic is an extremely coveted skill (think Jack Bauer on “24″!). Educators who can speak Spanish or Chinese can better serve a growing population of ESL students. If you work in the hotel and restaurant industry, consider learning a language that will help you better converse with clients and vendors (perhaps French or Italian?). Realtors who work in areas with a lot of non-English speaking buyers/sellers can pick up new business by eliminating the need for a translator. The list goes on and on…

The great thing about learning a language, is that it’s a skill you can take with you forever, and it’s relatively less expensive to pursue than some other courses of study. Plus, many language study providers allow you to learn at home online, or with really in-depth software programs. In other words, it can be done at your own pace. On an intellectual level, once you become confident in your new language abilities, you’re on your way to experiencing a whole new culture, and it may even inspire you to visit new places — not only in your career, but in your personal travels.

What about you? Have you been considering learning a language? Or if you have already, please share how it’s helped in your career and life.

Credit is fast becoming an outdated concept. The stock market is tanking. Layoffs are out of control. There is one bright spot in this down market, however; many of those affected (or afraid of being affected) are taking a proactive approach to getting back on their feet via continuing, technical, or career education.

According to a New York Times article this week, applications are surging at New York’s community colleges, a sign that adults are seeking to improve their skills or learn new ones to make themselves more marketable.

And an increasing number of adults looking for a second income have been turning to the continuing education department at La Guardia Community College in Long Island City for classes in taxi driving and computer repair; enrollment in computerized bookkeeping for Windows is up 57 percent.

“This is unprecedented,” said Winston Yarde, Queensborough’s director of admissions. “When Circuit City lays off hundreds of employees, these are the students who are coming to Q.C.C. to prepare themselves for careers in electronic technology, not just jobs.”

… In some fields, like health services, the growth has been even more rapid, as much as 30 percent on some campuses.

The news is encouraging in the sense that people are not taking the impending recession lightly. They are trying to arm themselves with specialized career training so they can land jobs in secure fields, or avoid being laid off. It’s something to consider, no matter your industry or career level.

Have you been thinking about taking some courses?

No matter what’s making headline news these days, it seems like it has a direct effect on your pockets and someone’s job, right? Hurricane Ike’s devastation not only took its toll on Texas and the unfortunate folks living and working in the Texas area, but it will mean higher gas prices throughout the nation. News on Wall Street this morning means a plummeting stock market that will wreak havoc on 401Ks and other investments in the coming days, and the loss of many jobs. And the upcoming presidential election will (hopefully) spark new changes and a positive outlook that will bring about a healthier economy. At least that’s what I’m hoping…

What it all boils down to is the need to protect yourself career-wise from whatever the next week, month, or year will bring. You can achieve that in two major ways:

Choosing a career that has staying power. Fields like health care will always afford lots of job opportunities, especially with an aging population and people generally living longer. The same can be said about technology and “green” careers, which are the hot fields of tomorrow.

Arming yourself with transferable skills that’ll take you to new places should your company fold or a natural disaster rip your place of business apart. There was a time when majoring in business and working your way up the ladder at a big firm was a “sure thing.” And while that may still be true for some, the days of spending a lifetime with one company are over (just ask the folks at Merrill Lynch). Mergers, downsizing, outsourcing — you name it, it’s killing careers. So if you’re a corporate type, don’t be loyal to one employer and keep your eyes peeled for new opportunities. Be sure to network, keep your resume fresh, take advantage of learning and continuing education because you never know where you’ll be next year.

Sick of hearing about the impending recession? Just this morning there was yet another segment on The Today Show (check it out!) about how to recession-proof your job. But my feeling is that even in good economic times, it’s always smart to do a PR push — a public relations campaign, if you will — to promote why you’re an important asset to your company.

Of course, you may not always be able to control your fate when layoffs happen and new corporate visions don’t mesh with your skills, in which case, it might be a good time to assess if you want to make that career change you’ve always talked about. But if you’d like nothing more than to flourish at your current company, take the following tips from The Five O’Clock Club’s book, Navigating Your Career, to heart, you’ll become the kind of employee bosses want to take along for the bumpy ride:

Train your brain. When companies clean house, they first look to people whose skills are obsolete. Take classes, join trade organizations, stay in tune with the industry as a whole. Plus, doing so is good networking anyway in case tough times send you packing.

Take initiative. Don’t let choice assignments go to someone else. Volunteer for critical responsibilities, including tasks that will have you working more closely with higher-ups. Just doing your job well may not be enough if you want to make the cut.

Put on a happy face. Or as the Today Show experts say, “no drama, no diva, no complaining.” If you’re a problem child, a complainer, miss your deadlines, or gossip too much, a staff cut-back may be a good excuse to get rid of you. Work as if Big Brother is always watching, and be a source of support for your co-workers.

Become visible to those above you in the corporate pecking order. Make sure everyone knows about your great work and what you bring to the company. In other words, increase your emails to higher ups about project updates, ask questions, or offer encouragement about initiatives in other departments. Showing a genuine interest in the company as a whole will make you a more likely candidate for a lateral move should your department get the axe.

Keep an eye out. In unstable times, don’t feel like you’re being disloyal by keeping your resume current and your eye on job postings. You never know what tomorrow may bring, and you don’t want to be caught off guard.

When I saw the press release for the 2008 Shoprite “Best Bagger” Annual Contest, I chuckled. And then I realized — who am I to laugh? Being your best at what you do — whether it’s bagging groceries, writing blogs (a-hem!), treating patients, fixing air conditioners — whatever! – is super-important.

Oh sure, every industry has its criteria for being the best — in this instance, it’s “Speed, proper bag building technique, distribution of weight between bags and style-attitude-appearance” — but it’s all equal in the world of work.

Start thinking about what it is that will earn you top professional honors. Is it staying an extra hour to put in time on an important project, helping a new hire settle in, or enrolling in a certificate program to boost your skills? Do any one of these, or another career-boosting thing, and you’ll have advancement (sorry…) in the bag!

Before I go, I must share one more tidbit this blog inspired: How come when I go to Shoprite, I have to bag my own groceries? They’re holding out on me…

-Gina LaGuardia

Photo: Stephen Coburn