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Health & Fitness

The Importance of Career Development- Part 1

By Aafke Loney

 Let’s face it; the majority of students today have absolutely no idea what they want to do.  They know they should consider some type of post-secondary education because one, that is what everyone is telling them to do; and two, a high paying job awaits them after college graduation, or that is what everyone is telling them is true.  The whole “career thing”, well, they will figure that out when they get to college after taking a few classes and bouncing around in a few different majors.  But does that really make sense? 

 Business and Education Connected, LLC is a career development company.  We believe career development interconnects individuals, education and careers. Career development provides an individual with the essential information needed to understand what steps are needed to find a fulfilling career. This area is often neglected to make room for sports, clubs, SAT and ACT tutoring, Common App development, and college or post secondary education visits, etc. to reach the final goal of college.  But is college the final goal? Ask a majority of college graduates who are struggling to find a job. According to a recent article from Gallup Business Journal Is College Worth It? “As a result of the recent economic downturn, many graduates are not finding well-paying jobs. Meanwhile, over the past two decades, average tuition at American colleges and universities has jumped 248%. As a percentage of household income, tuition has risen from 23% in 2001 to 38% today…Student loan debt in the U.S. recently surpassed $1 trillion -- more than all credit card debt combined.” 

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 In reality, the final goal for an individual should be having the right skills to acquire and maintain a fulfilling career.  College is one of many tools to assist in getting to this end goal.  Career development is a process, which creates a career path starting in high school connecting with different career industries.  Companies are faced with a challenging array of changing labor needs; they have a vested interest in the development of the right skills for the up and coming workforce.

 Business and Education Connected, LLC helps connect these two very important populations: students and businesses.  We begin by helping students understand their uniqueness with their own set of strengths and interests, which quite often they are somewhat aware of but not entirely in tune with. By taking time to consult with the student one on one, through strength and interest assessments a transformation takes place.  They begin to understand who they are, why their strengths will help them be successful and how their strengths and interests will link them to their future career path.  It gives them hope, focus and confidence in their next steps.  At the same time, we are contacting different career industries, which will complement the student’s strengths and interests to provide the optimum job shadow experience. 

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 The mission of Business and Education Connected, LLC is to provide students avenues to future careers.  Our goal is after our students conclude the BE Connected Consult and BE Connected Job Shadow, they will have tools which will first, guide them in their future career decision and second, guide them in their post secondary education decision, and ultimately a fulfilling career. Thus creating a plan, which aligns with the student’s strengths and interests to short term and long-term goals in order to be successful in their lifetime goals. A plan which, as one of our student clients pointed out “narrowed it down and broadened it out” meaning the student began to understand what career to focus on and could begin to research the opportunities available in their selected career industry. We believe the Gallup Business Journal definition of success says it best, “Success as defined by well-being is less about students getting the highest-paying job and more about figuring out what they like to do and what they do best.”

 

Business and Education Connected, LLC is a women owned company in Western Pennsylvania, which is helping businesses build and retain top talent and skilled workers through work based learning.

 

 

For more information on the services of Business and Education Connected, LLC visit:

http://www.business-education-connected.com

To schedule a consultation please contact:

Aafke Loney:  412-496-2389 or aloney@business-education-connected.com

Christine Ricci: 412.303.9822 or cricci@buisness-education-connected.com

 

 

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