Stephen Coburn / Featurepics.com
Have you ever found yourself competing for a job with your significant other?
With more and more couples meeting at work, it’s bound to happen: You and your spouse end up in the running for the same job. Have you ever applied for the same job as your husband or wife? If so, we want to hear from you. Please include some details about the situation and how it turned out, plus contact information so we can get in touch.
Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks to students at Dhaka International School.
For women and their careers, it’s often not about what they do but how they look. More proof of that came last week.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made headlines around the world not for anything she did but because she appeared without makeup on a trip to Bangladesh.
“Hillary Clinton addresses ‘au naturale’ liberation,” said political blog The Drudge Report, while trend site Styleite.com declared that Clinton “just wants to be normal and do things like wear her hair in a scrunchie, party with her girlfriends and go out without a stitch of makeup.”
The kicker was England’s Daily Mail, which said Clinton’s moment sans makeup made her look “tired and withdrawn.”
Similarly former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks drew angry comments Friday not just for her role in a phone hacking scandal but for her appearance, especially her curly red hair, when she testified before a British government inquiry led by Lord Justice Leveson.
AFP/Getty Images
Former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks, testifies at the Leveson Inquiry.
Here are some of the popular Brooks tweets for the day:
There’s even a Facebook page dedicated to Brooks' hair, called Rebekah Brook's hair is so big because it's full of secrets.
It goes to show that no matter how high up in business or politics a woman gets — or how hard she falls — in the end the focus is often about how she looks and not what she does.
“We’re still held to a double standard,” said Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who produced the 2011 documentary “Miss Representation” about the underrepresentation of women in powerful positions.
“It’s tragic,” she said. “We have an obsession with women’s looks. Unfortunately our culture has bought into this whole double standard that a women’s value is her beauty not her capacity to lead.”
The Look: Hillary Clinton doesn't care if you see her without makeup
Women certainly feel the pressure to look good. Nearly half of women don’t feel good about themselves unless they’re wearing makeup, according to a study released this year by the Renfrew Center Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on eating disorder research and treatment.
The online study, conducted by Harris Interactive for Renfrew, polled nearly 1,300 adult women and found 44 percent "have negative feelings when they are not wearing makeup," including feeling self-conscious, unattractive or that something is missing. Only 3 percent said going without makeup made them feel more attractive.
“Wearing makeup to enhance one’s appearance is normal in our society and often a rite of passage for young women,” said Adrienne Ressler, national training director for Renfrew and a body image expert. “There is concern, however, when makeup no longer becomes a tool for enhancement but rather a security blanket that conceals negative feelings about one’s self-image and self-esteem.”
Many women trying to climb the ladder of success believe they need to enhance their looks or face career doom.
“This goes to the heart of what we still see in the work world today,” said Nancy Mellard, general counsel for business services company CBIZ, which offers a program to develop of women professionals through focused leadership, mentoring and networking. “Whether you’re coming up the career path or at the height of your career like Clinton, we still see women, certainly more than men, judged on appearance not accomplishments.”
While blatant discrimination in the workplace is less common than it was 20 years ago, she said, there are still subtle biases that may be hardest to combat.
TODAY Style: Kathie Lee, Hoda dare to bare (their faces)
One study sponsored by the Women’s Media Center and She Should Run, a group advocating for more women in public leadership, found that sexist comments about female candidates, including critiques on appearance, lead voters to question how effective they would be.
Often the people bashing how women look are other women. “We’re some of the worst,” Mellard said.
Newsom agreed. “It speaks to our own insecurities. We are complicit and have also bought into this, and the only way to change things is for women to start seeing each other more as sisters and supporting, not judging each other.”
TODAY's Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb have nothing to hide. The co-hosts bare it all and wear no makeup on the show. See who else is exposed without makeup.
Judging each other based on looks, however, is a reality we all have to face because there’s a "beauty benefit" for men as well as women in the workplace.
“Research by economists has shown that ‘beautiful people’, both men and women, have higher pay than less attractive people, holding constant many other factors about the individuals,” said Anne York, associate professor of economics at Meredith College’s School of Business. “So it really does pay for everyone to look good for work.”
“In the case of Hillary Clinton, though, it was quite ridiculous to me that when she went with a natural face, which millions of men do every day, that it made the news with close-up photos of her face," she added. " While her appearance made a lot of news, I don’t think that is necessarily bad if it can start a conversation on accepting more women with a natural appearance.”
Of course, men can fall victim to image-bashing as well.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s hoodie has been a hot topic on social media lately. But unlike attacks on Clinton’s face or Brooks’ hair, there’s little fear hoodiegate will undermine the main power base in the business world today – rich white guys.
Related:
Have you and your spouse ever competed for the same job?
Facebook IPO pits Wall Street suits against the hoodie
Mike Segar / Reuters
Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg delivers a keynote address at a Facebook's marketing event in February 2012.
IBM recently named Virginia Rometty as its the first female CEO, and Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg is on her way to becoming one of the richest women in technology when the company goes public.
But despite these noteworthy feats by these female leaders, the number of women chief information officers at U.S. corporations has declined for the second year in a row. It hit less than 10 percent this year, and about one-third of CIOs report they have no women in management positions working for them, according to a survey released Monday by Harvey Nash, a recruiting firm.
“There’s an overall skill set shortage in U.S., across men and women, as far as the IT space,” said Anna Frazzetto, Senior Vice President of Technology Solutions, Harvey Nash USA. But, she added, this has become even more pronounced among women, creating a growing underrepresentation problem for women in technology.
A number of factors are contributing to the dearth of women, she said, including that the industry isn’t thought of as the most social or exciting out there, and that not enough young women are choosing to study technology when they go to college.
Discrimination and preconceived notions about women’s commitment to their jobs also is contributing to the problem, she added.
The lack-of-women dilemma isn’t just a corner office issue. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women comprised only 25 percent of all computer-related occupations last year, pointed out Jenny Slade, a spokeswoman for the National Center for Women & Information Technology. Women represented about 25 percent of computer and information systems managers; 38.6 percent of web developers, and 19 percent of software developers.
Have you and your spouse ever competed for the same job?
In 2011, women made up only about 18 percent of those getting bachelor's degrees in computer and information sciences, a percentage that's held steady for the past four years, she said.
“Unconscious bias” against women in IT is a big problem, she said, and “women don’t always know what the trajectory is to obtain a leadership role.”
A study done by the Center in 2010 found that “56 percent of women in technology leave their employers at the mid-level point in their careers.”
There are a number of factors causing women to leave, said Slade, but the top reasons were bad relationships with supervisors; feeling they were not on the fast track to promotion; feeling they don’t get credit for their work and a hostile work environment.
One women who made it to the top of the IT biz is Patricia Andersen CIO at Apartments.com. She said she was lucky to have worked for companies in her career, including Waste Management, that didn’t discriminate against women when it came to women and technology roles.
“I really haven’t worked at a place where gender was an issue in moving up,” she explained.
Apartments.com, she added, is looking to get even more women in management and one focus of the strategy will be mentoring.
“I’ve had several mentors through my life,” she noted. The mentors helped her learn one of the most important skills you need when it comes to climbing the ladder of success, she said, “how to handle political situations.”
Nanine Hartzenbusch / for msnbc.com
Jennifer Moss stands in the kitchen of her Boiling Springs, S.C. home on Thursday May 10, 2012. Her unemployment benefits recently expired.
The improving employment situation in South Carolina should be good news for Jennifer Moss, offering hope she can find finally land a job after a year and a half without work.
But in a way, it’s been another blow. The single mother of three kids is one of hundreds of thousands of long-term unemployed Americans who still haven’t found work - and now also find themselves without an unemployment benefit check.
That is because the falling jobless rate in many states has reduced the number of weeks jobseekers can collect unemployment benefits.
So-called extended benefits were eliminated Saturday in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas. The same thing already had happened in April in states including South Carolina, Oregon, Washington and Tennessee.
That leaves a minority of states where workers are eligible for that last round of benefits.
The extended benefits provide an additional 13 to 20 weeks of unemployment payouts on top of other extra payments that were made available as part of federal legislation passed in the aftermath of the worst recession in decades. The full package gave some jobseekers up to 99 weeks of unemployment payments.
The precise benefits depend partly on the unemployment rate by states, and in many states the rate has been moving down.
For example, California has one of the nation's highest jobless rates at 11 percent, but that is down from 11.9 percent in August. South Carolina's rate of 8.9 percent has fallen from 10 percent last October.
Nanine Hartzenbusch / for msnbc.com
Moss stands outside her home with her three children, from left, Jami Moss, 5, Josh Moss, 6, and Jenna Moss, 9. A single mother, she's worked hard to hold onto her home during her long stint of unemployment.
Moss, who lives in Boiling Springs, S.C., lost her job doing clerical work and flight scheduling for a small corporate flight department in October of 2010, the same week her divorce was finalized. She had worked in hospitality and other fields, and she’d never had trouble finding a job before.
The weak economy made everything different. Since losing her job, Moss said she’s applied for countless jobs and had maybe 10 job interviews, but nothing has worked out.
“There are many sleepless nights where at 2 or 3 in the morning I might be on a website … applying for jobs,” said Moss, who is 40.
To support herself and her three kids under age 10, Moss has relied on unemployment benefits and SNAP, also known as food stamps. She’s also enrolled in a government program that is helping her cover her mortgage payments.
But Moss received her last unemployment benefit May 1, after South Carolina became one of the states to lose extended benefits because of a dip in the unemployment rate. Her mortgage benefit also is set to expire this summer.
“I’m hopeful that the job will be forthcoming very soon, with everything that I’ve got out there,” she said. “But I’m not above doing what’s necessary, meaning a yard sale or selling jewelry or things of that nature.”
Beyond South Carolina, other states, including Alaska, Indiana and Oklahoma, have recently cut back unemployment benefits even further because those states’ unemployment rates have improved. In Indiana and Alaska, jobseekers are eligible for a maximum of 47 weeks of unemployment assistance, while in Oklahoma the maximum amount is now 34 weeks. The Oklahoma jobless rate is 5.4 percent according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but Indiana's rate is 8.2 percent, about the same as the 8.1 percent national average, and Alaska's is still elevated at 7 percent as the economy recovers slowly.
Nationwide about 12 million people are out of work and actively seeking a job. About 5.1 million of those are considered “long-term unemployed,” meaning they have been looking for work for 27 weeks or longer.
What’s more, one big reason the unemployment rate has been falling is because many people are giving up on finding a job or not entering the labor force to begin with. People not actively seeking a job are not counted as unemployed by the BLS.
“We’re adding jobs, but just enough to keep up with growth in the normal working-age population, not enough to start really putting the backlog of unemployed workers back to work,” said Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute, which focuses its research on low- and middle-income workers.
The labor force participation rate, or the percentage of Americans over age 16 who are either working or looking for work, fell to 63.6 percent on April. That’s the lowest level in more than three decades.
Moss, in South Carolina, has relied on her religious faith and church for emotional support, and said that both her and her ex-husband’s family have helped out with some expenses, such as birthday parties for the kids.
With money so tight, Moss said she and her kids joke about how they’ll get the Polly Pocket toys and other things they want when the family wins the lottery.
Of course, Moss isn’t even buying any lottery tickets these days.
“No, Lord no,” she said. “There’s not even enough pennies to roll together to get a lottery ticket.”
Many are in the same boat. At least 200,000 people will lose their last set of unemployment benefits because of the most recent wave of expirations in May, on top of about 130,000 who lost benefits in April, the National Employment Law Project estimates.
Claire McKenna, a policy analyst with NELP, which advocates for the unemployed, said some who lose eligibility for extended benefits may still qualify for 10 more weeks of payouts if they meet certain criteria.
But many people will find themselves without a job or unemployment check.
Dan Maloney, 41, has a law degree, an MBA and years of experience in the insurance industry, and yet he’s been without a job since June of 2010.
Maloney, who lives in Dover, N.J., said that in his specialized field, he’s found fierce competition for the few available jobs.
He thinks employers may see his degrees and experience and think he’s overqualified.
Some days he regrets getting his advanced education. Other days Maloney admits he just feels worn down. His unemployment benefits will expire at the end of the month.
“You definitely hit a point where it becomes – you feel defeated,” he said. “There are days you want to give up.”
Mary Rojas, 43, also has an advanced education and speaks several languages. She said she lost her job doing customer service for Spanish-speaking customers at a law firm in Fort Lauderdale in late 2010 and hasn’t been able to find a job since.
Her unemployment benefits are set to expire this month.
Rojas, who lives in Pompano Beach, Fla., found out she was pregnant soon after losing her job, and she said that made it hard to land a job.
Her baby is now eight months old, and she still has had no luck finding something that pays enough to cover the cost of child care for her baby and her six-year-old. She estimates she has applied for 200 or 300 jobs.
In April, her family received another blow when her husband, a chef, lost his job.
One day last week, the couple was shopping for groceries and fretting about how they would get enough money together to pay the rent.
“I’m in tears, honestly, just wondering how we’ll get that amount,” she said.
But Rojas said she was still holding out hope that her degrees and work experience will eventually land her a job.
“I don’t want to give up,” she said.
Out of work for a long time or just worried about the dismal job market? Join us Wednesday for a live web chat with economy reporter Allison Linn. Sign up for the chat scheduled to take place 10:30 am ET here.
Given the job market these days, you may be surprised to find that some people actually are quitting their jobs.
Not only that, but they’re giving some pretty creative reasons for why they won’t be coming to work anymore.
Staffing firm OfficeTeam recently asked senior managers to tell them some of the more unusual reasons people have given for quitting their job.
Managers reported that employees had quit to watch a soccer game or take in a movie, because they needed to feed their dog and because they wanted to join a rock band, reality show or beauty contest.
For others, the office atmosphere was literally too much. The 1,300 employers surveyed offered all sorts of sensory-related reasons their employees had quit.
Among them:
"He quit because he didn't like the way the office smelled."
"One employee didn't enjoy the cafeteria food."
"An individual did not like the sound of file cabinets being slammed."
"A person quit because he hated the carpet."
"One worker did not like the colors of the walls."
"The employee quit because the office building was unattractive."
Readers: Tell us the crazy reasons you or one of your co-workers have given for quitting a job. Enter your comment below or on our Facebook page.
Maybe you chose your home state because you born there or have family there, or just because you think it’s a nice place to live. Or maybe you moved there for a better life.
A study out this week from Pew Charitable Trusts finds that where you live matters a lot in terms of whether you can achieve the American Dream of moving up the economic ladder.
The study was good news for residents of New York and New Jersey and not as cheery for those who live in Louisiana and South Carolina.
About 8,000 readers took our poll on the topic, with about half saying they do think there’s a chance to move up the economic ladder where they live. The article also prompted a heated debate about whether things really are so tough in the South, and if so whether politicians and partisan politics are to blame.
Some readers argued that economic success boils down to one thing: Hard work.
“Upward mobility is accorded to people who go after it. Want to work 9 to 5 in your home town, and hang with you high school friends? Forget about upward mobility,” one reader wrote.
Whether or not you’ve made it up the economic ladder, chances are at some point you’ve taken on debt. Another story this week noted that some Americans seem to be taking on more debt again, either by choice or necessity, after cutting back sharply on borrowing over the course of the recession and weak recovery.
The monthly increase in debt appeared to mostly be to fund education and new vehicles, but there also was some increase in credit card debt. Still, most readers who took our poll said they just say no when it comes to credit cards.
Many readers said they now use credit cards only if they know they’ll be able to pay off the balance at the end of the month. Others said they were skipping the plastic to focus on their financial health.
“Haven't used credit in about a year. Our plan is to pay off debt, including student and car loans, before buying a house or anything else,” one reader wrote.
Still, with the economy still weak, some readers said they’ve had no choice but to rely on credit cards.
“Still have to borrow from Peter to pay Paul until our income improves to where it used to be before 2005, if that ever happens,” one reader wrote.
Getty Images
Men expect to find work quicker if they lose their jobs, but feel less secure in their jobs than women.
Most everyone is worried about the job market in general, and with good reason. The unemployment rate has been higher than average for years, and improvements have been painfully slow.
But it turns out, the specifics of what they're worried about differ for men and women.
A new survey from Randstad finds that men are more likely than women to say the economy has had a negative effect on their career plans. Fifty-one percent of men feel that way, compared to 41 percent of women.
Men also are more likely to say they feel left behind in their careers, with 39 percent of men complaining that the economy had that effect compared to 31 percent of women. Men are also slightly more likely to be extremely worried about losing their jobs.
But the Randstad survey of about 3,000 full-time workers, which was conducted in February, finds that women are more jittery about what would happen if they actually did lose their jobs.
Women are slightly more likely than men to say they don’t think they could find a new job right away that they would want to accept.
In addition, women expect that it would take them longer to find a new job. The average amount of time women said they think it would take to find a new job is 5.4 months, compared to 4.7 months for men.
Kate Gallagher Robbins, senior policy analyst with the National Women's Law Center, said women may be more worried about finding a new job because they are seeing other women lose good-paying jobs in fields such as the public sector, and either strggling to find new work at all or taking a job that pays less.
"They’re really not hearing may good stories about women’s jobs right now," Robbins said.
On the other hand, men -- and particularly young men -- may feel particularly hard hit because the early part of the recession was so hard on them, she noted.
During the recession, men were losing jobs at such a fast pace that some dubbed it a “mancession.” But as the economy officially went into recovery, meaning it was slowly growing again, men started seeing job gains at a much faster clip than women. Only recently have things started to even out.
The unemployment rate for men was 8.2 percent in April, down from a high of 11.2 percent in late 2009. For women, the unemployment rate was 8 percent in April, down from a high of 9 percent in late 2010.
It turns out there are other ways in which men and women react differently to work stress.
A separate study from the University of Calgary, which was also recently released, found that high levels of job strain increased the risk of depression in full-time male workers, but not of full-time female workers.
On the other hand, women who felt unappreciated in their jobs had a higher risk for depression, while the researchers didn’t see the same correlation for men.
The results were first reported by MyHealthNewsDaily.
TODAY's real estate expert Barbara Corcoran discusses how using bright colors in your home decorating can help attract buyers to your home.
Where you live may be hampering your economic potential.
If you live in New York, New Jersey or Maryland, chances are your prospects for moving up the ladder of financial success are better than if your home is in Oklahoma, Louisiana or South Carolina.
A study by the Pew Charitable Trust called “Economic Mobility of the States” paints a gloomy picture for many southern states when it comes to whether residents there are likely to have better economic mobility. But many states in the Northeast seem to fare better when it comes to things like average earnings growth.
“When it comes to achieving the American Dream, it matters where you live,” said Erin Currier, project manager of Pew’s Economic Mobility Project, released Wednesday.
The report looked at average earnings for workers ages 35 and 39, and measured those earning from 1978 through 1997. Researchers then looked at how those rose and fell a decade later when the same individuals were 45 and 49.
To measure economic mobility, the researchers looked at absolute mobility – average earnings growth over time – and upward and downward relative mobility – measuring people’s rank on the ladder relative to their peers.
Here’s a breakdown on the economic mobility winners and losers:
Several factors propel economic mobility, said Nikolai Roussanov, professor of finance at the Wharton School of Business.
“For the bulk of the population, education is the main driver of upward mobility; accessibility to education and educational opportunities,” he said. “But, it’s also determined on how you apply the education, what sort of careers people go into.”
Beyond education, he added, entrepreneurship has the potential to enrich individuals. “The ability and willingness of people to start their own businesses and take risks is a big driver of wealth mobility,” he said.
And just because you don’t live in a region with better overall economic mobility doesn’t mean you won’t succeed, he said. “Even in areas where there is limited access to education there could be people taking big risks, and they can be successful and move up,” he said.
The Pew numbers tell an interesting story on where the better job opportunities may be, and it seems employers also see the potential.
Another study on mobility, this one from national moving company Atlas Van Lines, found that the Northeast is the top transfer location for companies relocating employees.
Atlas reported earlier this month that: “The Northeast is now the top destination of transfers (42 percent) followed by 2011’s top destination, the Midwest (37 percent) and the South (31 percent). The West remains fourth in relocation numbers (26 percent).”
If your company isn’t willing to move you, or you don’t have a job yet, it might be a smart idea to consider relocating yourself to a state offering more potential when it comes to upward economic mobility.
The Pew study also found those individuals who moved out of the state where they were born had “better mobility outcomes on average.”
To find out how your state fared in the study go check out Pew’s interactive map.
Just as speed dating adds more stress to the search for a mate, speed interviewing is sure to make the job hunt more tense.
Yes, speed interviewing.
In at least one extreme example, workers are being given just one minute to sell their skills to a hiring manager. If they fall short, they are out the door.
That’s the approach MediConnect Global has been taking with its interview process. Even though it may sound like a nightmare for some job seekers, it has worked out great for the medical records company and some lucky employees who passed the test.
When Zane Davis, 34, a client services representative, interviewed at Mediconnect two years ago, he was told before the meeting that he’d have less than a minute to pitch himself to a panel of company managers. “I had never heard of a company doing these speed interviews,” he said.
Davis, who had been a welder and was looking to change careers, said, “They wanted to know why they should hire me within 30 seconds or so.”
When he got to the company’s offices in Salt Lake City, Utah, there were 12 other job candidates waiting for the quick why-you-should-hire-me interview spiel. He recalled everyone else had flashcards they were studying, but he decided to focus on being confident and highlighting the skills he could bring to the table.
“I don’t remember what I said, but it worked,” he said. The company called him back for about five minutes of follow-up questions that day, and about a week later he was offered the job. “It’s kind of a nerve-racking experience, and very humbling.”
While quick back-to-back, rapid-fire interviews with multiple candidates have been a fixture at job fairs, tactic is unusual within the confines of company offices.
Many job seekers have reported a growing trend in the opposite direction, with employers putting applicants through endless hours of interviews. (I recently wrote about the phenomenon.)
“We have not received much pick-up amongst our clients in regards to speed-dating type interviews,” said Bob Kovalsky, senior vice president for Adecco Staffing. “The process that the majority of our clients uses is one that’s a bit more comprehensive.”
But using the speed-dating type format is not unheard of.
Booz Allen Hamilton uses “a technique where candidates can go from table to table to meet with interviewers who represent differing capabilities of the firm,” said James Fisher, a spokesman for the consulting firm. “This helps us ensure that we’re making the best match of candidate skills and job opportunities.”
In a post on the jobs website Glassdoor, one anonymous job seeker likened it to "speed dating."
“I don’t know that we would use the term ‘speed dating,’” Fisher said.
In situations where employers want to churn through lots of applicants quickly, some hiring managers are using the tactic, said Jay Meschke, president of recruiting firm EFL Associates.
He’s not convinced, however, it’s a smart move. “Sure people want applicants to meet with as many people as possible in a short amount of time, but what can you learn in a few minutes?”
Quite a lot, according to MediConnect CEO Amy Rees Anderson.
About two years ago, she heard about speed dating and thought it might be a great way to review many job applicants in a short time. While she began by giving candidates just 30 second to pitch themselves, she ultimately decided one minute was best.
“The purpose of that minute is to get a sense of their confidence, personality, ability to represent themselves,” she said.
Before the candidates make their brief presentations, the company has them complete skills, IQ and personality tests. “By the time they come for the interview we’ve got a pretty good profile of them,” she explained.
Sometimes applicants are nervous, she said, but the managers don’t hold that against them. Too much confidence can get you booted. “Someone that came in was so overly aggressive about why we should hire him, and when his time was up he refused to leave,” she said.
Two memorable applicants, she said, did something out of the ordinary. One candidate brought in 5-hour Energy drinks because he thought the managers conducting the interviews might be tired. And another applicant pulled out a huge stack of dollar bills, laid them on the table before his pitch, and picked them up when he left. “It caught our attention, made us remember him,” she said.
Verisk Analytics Inc. bought MediConnect in March. Officials from the parent company recently asked Anderson to walk them through the speed-interviewing process because they’re considering expanding the technique.
It’s not just about the words they say, or how creative they are, Anderson said. “You get a sense of the person,” she said. “They come in and tell us about themselves.”
Jason R. Henske / AP
Dartmouth College graduates Greg Agron and John Agbaje laugh as Conan O'Brien delivers the commencement address in 2011. New research finds that college grads with business degrees may face better job prospects.
If you are heading off to college in the fall and looking to get the most bang for your buck, you may want to major in business.
IBISWorld, an industry analysis firm, took a look at fields that are expected to see the most growth in the next five years. Then, they looked at which of the most popular college degrees a person would need to get a job in those industries.
The analysis found that business grads had the most positive outlook through 2017. That’s because business graduates are most likely to work in industries where higher-than-average job and wage growth are expected.
Those fields include commercial banking, reinsurance carriers and human resources. Jobs typically held by business degree holders pay an average $70,000 a year, which is expected to rise to $77,000 by 2017, IBISWorld said.
A degree in health sciences also is likely to serve you well. The IBISWorld analysis found that job growth in health-related fields such as primary care, dentistry and nursing care will be about on par with the overall economy, but wages will grow at a slightly faster rate.
The outlook is less promising for people who major in social sciences, history and education.
Other research has shown that college graduates are more likely to be employed if they choose a major with a specific career path, including business. But that research, from Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce, was more bullish on education because of the projected low unemployment rate in that field.
If you don’t have a head for business or an interest in health care, that’s not necessarily a reason to fret. Other research has shown that just going to college should give you a leg up in life over those who don't.
The unemployment rate for people with a college degree or higher was just 4 percent in April, compared with 8.1 percent for the general population. College grads also are likely to make more money than their less educated peers.
Related:
The upside to not saving for your child’s college education
Yes, college degree has value – try $1 million
Legislation that would give workers broad protection from the prying eyes of employers was introduced in both houses of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday. Both bills would make it illegal for employers to force workers or candidates to divulge social media passwords, similar to legislation nicknamed SNOPA, which was introduced last month. But the new Password Protection Act, sponsored by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.. goes even further, extending such limitations to smart phones, private email accounts, photo sharing sites and any personal information that resides on computers owned by the workers.
But Blumenthal's proposal -- and its companion in the House, introduced by Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo. -- is narrower in some ways than the Social Networking Online Protection Act(SNOPA) introduced April 27 by Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N. Y. SNOPA extended similar protections to elementary, high school and college students. Under the Password Protection Act, students would not be protected.
Still, Calabrese said his organization will work to include students before any proposal reaches a vote in Congress.
"Students are clearly the target of a lot of social media monitoring," he said. "We think students should have the same rights as everyone else. We'd like to see the best of both of these pieces of legislation combined."
Blumenthal, who has been publicly critical of firms that have requested employee Facebook passwords, said legislation is needed to protect workers.
“Employers seeking access to passwords or confidential information on social networks, email accounts or other protected Internet services is an unreasonable and intolerable invasion of privacy,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “With few exceptions, employers do not have the need or the right to demand access to applicants’ private, password-protected information. This legislation, which I am proud to introduce, ensures that employees and job seekers are free from these invasive and intrusive practices.”
Bradley Shear, a Maryland lawyer and activist who has helped draw attention to the issue, said he "applauded" the efforts of legislators who introduced the Password Protection Act, but was also concerned that students not be left behind as the legislation works its way through committee.
"Hopefully all the different interested parties will come together to find a solution that covers everyone," he said. "This is something that won't go away unless it's handled now."
The Facebook password issue has been bubbling up for years — in 2009, a Maryland state employee complained that he was required to provide his Facebook password during a job interview. But the subject has gained much more attention in recent weeks, after several news reports, including an msnbc.com investigation.
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I know just too many people that have had jobs that are unemployed now.