Posted on

Rep Josh Gottheimer Gets Pointers on the Finer Art of Bagel Making in Ridgewood

301196220 643565260458814 7136280381902701036 n

photo courtesy of Rep Josh Gottheimer

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Rep Josh Gottheimer is not taking any chances  and it’s always good to have a backup plan .Rep Gottheimer visited Bagelicious in Ridgewood to help make sure everyone could start off their day with a freshly made Jersey bagel! The congressman is already looking for useful job skills when he gets voted out of office in November . Gustavo, the owner of Bagelicious, spent the morning  teaching Rep Gottheimer the secrets of what makes Jersey bagels the best!

Continue reading Rep Josh Gottheimer Gets Pointers on the Finer Art of Bagel Making in Ridgewood

Posted on

1 in 4 Healthcare Workers Quitting Over Vaccine Mandates will Leave the Field

ca nurse 42020istock

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, as more states, private employers, and large healthcare systems institute policies to encourage vaccinations, many reluctant employees are finally getting the shot in order to protect their jobs. However, a notable percentage of the population would prefer to lose their jobs rather than get what they view as a potentially dangerous injection.

Continue reading 1 in 4 Healthcare Workers Quitting Over Vaccine Mandates will Leave the Field

Posted on

Trump Labor Department Boosts Apprenticeship Push with New Website

16601639 10155056993625799 6819157838572236604 o

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Washington DC, “Trump’s administration has aggressively promoted apprenticeships as an alternative to higher education, arguing there is a strong demand for skilled workers not currently being met and that they provide good-paying careers without having to incur the debt typically entailed by higher education,” Sean Higgins reports for Washington Examiner.

Continue reading Trump Labor Department Boosts Apprenticeship Push with New Website

Posted on

New Study Claims American Millennials Are The Most Useless Population In The World

millenials

BY CASS ANDERSON 03.12.15

A new study seeking to measure the overall competency of age groups throughout the globe has found that American Millennials are without a doubt the least skilled population in the world.

The ETS study tested individuals aged 16 to 65 across 23 countries, and measured Literacy, Numeracy, and “problem-solving in technology-rich environments.” Across the board American Millennials scored a ‘feeble wet fart’ on the competency scale when compared with their foreign counterparts. Long thought to be the most technologically savvy and educated generation in history, American Millennials (people aged 16-34) just can’t hack it when it comes to the skills employers are looking for.

Japan crushed it, but there was no indication as to whether or not the Japanese culture’s infatuation with tentacle porn had any bearing on workplace competency.

Here are some key findings from the ETS study:

In literacy, U.S. millennials scored lower than 15 of the 22 participating countries. Only millennials in Spain and Italy had lower scores.
In numeracy (ability to apply math to everyday situations), U.S. millennials ranked last, along with Italy and Spain.
In PS-TRE (problem solving in a technology rich environment), U.S. millennials also ranked last, along with the Slovak Republic, Ireland, and Poland.
The youngest segment of the U.S. millennial cohort (16- to 24-year-olds), who could be in the labor force for the next 50 years, ranked last in numeracy along with Italy and among the bottom countries in PS-TRE. In literacy, they scored higher than their peers in Italy and Spain.
Top-scoring U.S. millennials (those at the 90th percentile) scored lower than top-scoring millennials in 15 of the 22 participating countries, and only scored higher than their peers in Spain.
Low-scoring U.S. millennials (those at the 10th percentile) ranked last along with Italy and England/Northern Ireland and scored lower than millennials in 19 participating countries.
Although a greater percentage of young adults in the U.S. are attaining higher levels of education since 2003, the numeracy scores of U.S. millennials whose highest level of education is high school and above high school have declined.
U.S. millennials with a four-year bachelor’s degree scored higher in numeracy than their counterparts in only two countries: Poland and Spain.

To summarize: American Millennials are the overall worst generation in the world when it comes to useful skills. Even if American Millennials didn’t finish dead last in EVERY SINGLE CATEGORY, they managed to finish at or near the bottom across the board.

https://brobible.com/life/article/american-millennials-most-useless-in-the-world/

Posted on

What’s Missing In The Millennial Skillset?

millennials

April 22,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, One thing is clear: millennials – those born after 1980 – are the world’s future, and they’ve already made significant contributions.

Social media alone wouldn’t be what it is today without millennial entrepreneurs, for example.

“It’s not just technology defining the youngest working-age population, it’s also a distinct optimism and a desire to do work that matters,” says youth psychologist Dr. Jason Richardson.

“I don’t think millennials lack the work ethic and soft skills that others say they do. Many of those things come with age regardless of when you were born. But I do think millennials have been coddled. Many have an aversion to seek resolutions to problems within themselves – outside of technology.”

Richardson, author of “It’s All BS! We’re All Wrong, And You’re All Right!” (www.drjasonrichardson.com), offers millennials suggestions for expanding their skillset.

• Try more authentic “connections.” Competition among millennials can be fierce, especially when it comes to how your social media profile looks. You can have a thousand friends, “Like” the cool, trendy items and have an impressive bio with the right degree from the right school. More one-on-one time with your peers, however, helps with truly interpersonal settings, including working with people from older generations.
• Distinguish yourself by offering your full attention – a rare commodity nowadays. People never have to be bored anymore. If we must wait for anything, we can find distraction in our smartphones, which are on-demand boredom-killers. On the job, dividing your attention while on your phone with clients, management, during conference calls, etc. will not be appreciated. It’s not multitasking when your attention is compromised – a major hindrance in communication.
• Take a cue from older generations; grow thicker skin. Today, colleges are catering to students with “safe spaces” in case their feelings are hurt. Professors often warn students of “trigger warnings” in case academic content could be seen as offensive. Older generations were not as coddled, which helps them accept criticism at work. Thin skin can keep you from finding solutions to problems. Learn to accept professional criticism graciously so you may think more clearly on possible solutions.
• Base progress on doing good and less on feeling good. Doing good and feeling good don’t always coincide. Remember, you’re the baby who learned to walk despite many failed attempts. You didn’t need to feel good to be successful. Place value in the work and personal gains made as you move forward. Think of yourself as continually developing or becoming. You are more than what’s written on your social media profile.

“We can’t always control the conditions of this amazing world,” Richardson says, “but you can take control of the amazing you, if you believe you can.”

About Jason Richardson, Psy.D., MBA

Dr. Jason Richardson (www.drjasonrichardson.com) is a psychologist who earned his principles for self-improvement as a world-traveling athlete, doctoral student and student of life. He maintained top-10 status on the professional BMX circuit for most of his 15-year career, retiring with a gold medal at the 2007 Pan American Games.

Posted on

How To Get Hired Right Out of College With The Right Internship

graduation

April 6,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Improving economic conditions have finally caught up to millennials, providing them with a brighter job market, according to the United States Department of Labor.

But a recent Federal Reserve Bank of New York report says the devil is in the details. Not all new college graduates are doing equally well. The kind of degree they earned is an enormous factor in the job hunt.

“There’s no question that your field of study significantly alters your prospects, but even having chosen the right field is no guarantee,” says Matt Stewart, an entrepreneur and co-founder of College Works Painting (www.collegeworks.com), an internship program that provides practical business experience for college students.

How you approach your field, such as engagement at an internship, can boost your professional prospects immensely.” 

For example, interns with College Works Painting operate their own house-painting business with hands-on guidance from mentors. They learn valuable leadership skills by functioning as leaders in a business.

“Unemployment for our alumni has remained at less than 4 percent, including when youth unemployment exceeded 16 percent a few years ago,” Stewart says. “This kind of challenging yet fun student experience helps ensure a good career for college graduates right out of the gate.”

He offers tips about what students should look for in an internship so they can gain the professional experience they need to land a job after graduation.

• Know what you will actually be doing.  While simply being in a company’s culture has value, many businesses assign students to their lowest-level work. Grunt work, to some extent, is a fact of life in most professions. But that kind of work won’t propel a student’s career. Consider an internship that gives you real responsibility and provides experiences that will definitely come in handy in your future career.
• Consider a company’s internship recognition. Don’t accept an internship with just any organization. Think about the business awards the company has won, the type of articles that have been written about the company, and how the company contributes to their industry and community. If you can, get information on how other former interns fared.
• For any student, real experience is crucial. Whether you’re an artist, athlete, musician, theater major, English student, a STEM-field student, or a business major or future entrepreneur, getting experience often comes with a heavy price. This includes the loss of personal or family finances. Look for opportunities that provide guidance while allowing you to apply skills to real-life challenges such as budgeting, marketing, and managing employees. These are transferable skills that apply to any industry.

“Regardless of how the economy is doing, you’ll want to put forth your best effort,” Stewart says. “As we’ve seen, the market can take a nosedive at any time.”

About Matt Stewart

Matt Stewart is co-founder of College Works Painting (collegeworks.com), which provides business experience for thousands of college students each year. The award-winning program also offers high-quality house-painting services for homeowners.

Posted on

Fewer community college students eventually attain four-year degree

Bergen-Community-College

JANUARY 19, 2016, 6:02 PM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2016, 7:35 PM
BY PATRICIA ALEX
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

The pipeline from community college to a bachelor’s degree needs some work, according to a national report released Tuesday.

New Jersey is three percentage points above the national average, but only 17 percent of students who start at a community college in the state wind up getting a bachelor’s degree within six years, according to a report from the Community College Research Center at Columbia University.

Among students who started at community college and successfully transferred to a four-year college, only 42 percent completed a bachelor’s degree, compared with the 60 percent degree attainment rate of students who started at public four-year colleges, according to the report.

All but one of the state’s 19 community colleges were surveyed in the report that included data from 43 states, according to the center. The statistics were not broken down by college and only a statewide figure was provided.

Community colleges have been promoted as providers of an affordable first step toward a bachelor’s degree, but graduation rates remain low, particularly among low-income and minority students.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/report-fewer-community-college-students-eventually-attain-four-year-degree-1.1494918

Posted on

Is it Time to Stop Pushing the “College-for-All” Mantra?

graduation

Would today’s students be better off if we provided and encouraged more hands-on training program options?
Annie Holmquist | January 19, 2016

In Forbes today, columnist Erik Sherman addresses a common mistake that politicians and the public make about education. All too often, writes Sherman, “we move from ‘education is good’ to ‘education will fix income inequality’ or otherwise charge the economy.”

Because the public has believed such taglines, the push to send every student to college to get a degree has seen a dramatic increase in recent years. And as the push to college has increased, so has student debt. In fact, as a recent Gallup poll noted, 35% of students who graduated in the last 10 years have racked up more than $25,000 in debt.

https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/it-time-stop-pushing-%E2%80%9Ccollege-all%E2%80%9D-mantra

Posted on

Readers say pay is commensurate with the skill-level involved

10303748_655574574491262_3770388588557678077_n

Readers say pay is commensurate with the skill-level involved

I know its cold and heartless, but if you want to make more money, its up to you to aim a bit higher than a minimum wage job. And if you continue to earn minimum after experience on the job, consider yourself at the pinnacle of your potential.

There is nothing wrong with that, and certainly pride in a hard day’s work – but you shouldn’t expect things handed to you that aren’t earned. The consumer will be the one who pays – taken to an extreme, just look at the it cost to take the family to a sporting event to help pay the salary of someone who is fortunate enough to have the talent to simply hit or throw a ball.

The pay is commensurate with the skill-level involved. It’s work that is at the lowest level of human performance, and as such, it is intended for teenagers and those that are looking to get their start on the working ladder of life, coming from the lowest levels of acedemia. How on earth this job got to be mainstream, where parents now see it as some kind of way to support their families, and then complain that it isn’t enough, is beyond me.

 If you are truly at that stage in your life when you have taken on the responsibilities of having your own family, then for goodnesss sake, take some steps to make the appropriate changes in your working skills. Don’t load up on these family responsibilities and then expect your employer to somehow pay you more just because you increased your own responsibilities. The market should always be the determining factor in how much people are paid. If you don’t like it, then step aside. There are literally millions who are only too eager to take your job.TaylorMade R1 Driversshow?id=mjvuF8ceKoQ&bids=205477