I recently read an article on the Washington Examiner about how college grads are having a tough time finding work in this economy. Yada yada yada we’ve covered that before. However, there was another point being made in the article that I never really considered. As a generation (you know assuming your my age of around 23-ish) we’ve had a pretty rosy life. There was always work to be had and we were always told if we get a college degree we’ll have a great job and a great life. That’s just the way it’s been.

Unfortunately, that’s just not the way the world is now. We can’t simply log onto Monster.com, browse the site for an hour, pick a handful of jobs, and land one of them. While those tools are still there for us to use, we’ve got to take lessons from our parents and actually work to earn our jobs beyond just getting a degree. This means networking, face-to-face conversations, and really showing your commitment to the company your looking to work for.

Get ready for a reality check… it’s gonna be rough couple of years.

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Did you ever wake up one day and get completely sick at the idea of being just another cog at a big faceless corporation? It can be pretty daunting to start a career that way. I mean, sure, those corporations are able to supply job security (most of the time), insurance, 401k plans, and scheduled raises/promotions, but for some of us out there that’s just not where all the fun is. Working at a start-up may not give you all the benefits, but they can certainly be a lot more fun and, at a start up, you’ll feel like your actually doing something.

Alex over at the CollegeMogul.com put together this great list of college websites that are dedicated to helping start-ups find great employees… like you:

1. VentureLoop – A jobs listing service where start-ups that have investment can actively recruit.
2. Startuply – Smaller than VentureLoop but also a bit more… dangerous. Some of the start-ups here may have investment money and some may not. If your looking to ride the edge, so to speak, look here.
3. PartnerUp – If you are looking to be something more than just an employee at a start up, then this website will actually get you on the road to being a serious part of the business.
4. HotStartupJobs – Well the name kinda says it all… start up jobs. That’s what they do.
5. StartupZone – Similar to VentureLoop (start up jobs with venture capital) but they are specifically located in and around Silicon Valley.

Additionally you can check out: RubyNow and StartupHire, although both look a little less professional than the five listed above. Still worth the effort though!

Enjoy!

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As college students, most of us are pretty poor. Sure we may get some assistance from our parents every once in a while, or maybe we have a part time job. Sure enough, however, that money will soon be gone. You’d be surprised, actually, at how much money goes to stupid little things that you don’t even really need. Check it out (courtesy of OnlineCollegeDegree.org):

Food & Shopping

Stretch a buck when you’re eating or buying with these college kid tips.

1. Buy used books: College students often buy used textbooks, at great savings off of list prices.
2. Shop discount stores: Use discount stores like Wal-Mart and Costco to get items on a budget-just be careful not to load up your cart unnecessarily.
3. Get on a meal plan: If your office has a cafeteria with a meal plan, consider signing up for savings.
4. Dumpster dive: Check out curbs and dumpsters to score free furniture and other items.
5. Shop the dollar store: Stock up on cheap staples by paying a visit to your local dollar store.
6. Don’t do delivery: Never pay for delivery unless it’s cheaper than getting it yourself-and even look for carryout specials, often found at pizza places.
7. Avoid brand names: Most of the time, you won’t be able to tell the difference between name brands and store brands.
8. Buy in bulk: Students know to buy large bottles of alcohol for savings-and you can do the same with other items as well.
9. Learn to cook: Put your kitchen to good use and whip up something at home.
10. All you can eat: Visit buffets to make your meals as big as you want them to be.
11. Don’t buy books unless you have to: Wait until you’re sure you need a book, then see if you can find a free ebook, or a cheaper version before you commit to paying full price.
12. Eat cheap: In a pinch, Ramen and Kraft can feed you cheaply-although produce often offers more nutrition for the money.
13. Shop around: Find the best deals and bang for your buck.
14. Buy used whenever possible: Books, baby strollers, or tools, are just a few examples of things you can buy used.
15. Find specials: College students seek out happy hours-you can look for coupons, special purchase days, and more.
16. Freeze food: Make extra food and freeze it for easy meals later.
17. Eat out less: By eating at home, you can save money and live healthier.
18. Share books with friends: Exchange books among your group of friends, and you’ll all save money.
19. Make your own coffee: Don’t stop by the coffeehouse every morning-invest in a good French press and quality beans for your home.
20. Plan for leftovers: Get an almost free lunch every day by making a little extra every night.
21. Buy in bulk: Buy your items in bulk, sharing and splitting the cost with friends.
22. Shop online: If you can’t find products at a discount in retail stores, check out online retailers.
23. Stay away from fast food: Invest in food that gives you more nutrients for your buck.
24. Eat nonperishable food: Avoid wasting money on rotted food-buy groceries with a long shelf life.
25. Buy and sell used clothing: Create a unique style with used clothing-and make some cash by selling your old stuff.

Entertainment & Travel

Use these lessons to keep yourself entertained and having fun without spending a lot of money.

1. Look for discounts: Even though you may not get a student discount, you can cash in on early bird specials, and discounts for seniors and the military.
2. Stay with friends: Avoid hotels, and travel where you can stay with friends.
3. Stay busy: Keep yourself busy with work, family, and hobbies, and you’ll have less time to spend money.
4. Cut out vices: Cut down or avoid vices like beer, cigarettes, and drugs.
5. Take a road trip: Stay close to home and drive somewhere to save some money.
6. Seek out free drinks: Frat parties are out, but you can get free wine at art openings.
7. Take advantage of free and cheap activities: Go to free concerts in the park and other activities to save money.
8. Go on cheap dates: Go outdoors, out to coffee, or free events for a date.
9. Go to cheap shows: Arena concert prices can be obscene-but club shows often only cost a small cover charge, and you’ll save on drinks.
10. Take group trips: Get together and save with friends by taking trips as a group.
11. Plan for fun: Know that you’re going to want to get out and have some fun-so set aside a little cash to play with.
12. Use free communication: Call family, friends and colleagues using free long distance on your cell phone, or using services like Skype.
13. Go to happy hours: Find cheap drinks and appetizers by visiting at the right time.
14. Entertain yourself at home: Students often stay at home to study instead of going out-you can read or educate yourself instead.
15. Don’t bother with a landline: If you have a cell phone, avoid getting a landline to save on communication costs.
16. See obscure films: Stay out of blockbuster movie theaters, and watch independent, foreign, and old films for a fraction of the cost.
17. Avoid big spenders: Don’t hang out with people who like to spend significantly more than you do, or arrange to do inexpensive things with them.
18. Use free 411: Call 1-800-GOOG-411 pr 1-800-Free411 to save money.
19. Get together at peoples’ homes: Avoid meeting friends and family at bars or restaurants-entertain each other in your homes instead.
20. Drink cheap: Although you may not want to start drinking trashcan punch again, picking up a budget bottle of wine can help you save some cash.

Financial Management

These tips can help you keep your money under control.

1. Track your spending: Don’t let your budget get out of control-keep a close eye on what you’re spending.
2. Get help: Although your days of scholarships are over, grants and government assistance are often available to those who need them.
3. Take advantage of government programs: If you qualify, use food stamps, Medicare, and other money saving programs-your taxes pay for them.
4. Pace yourself: Slow down your spending to make your money last.
5. Only use credit cards for emergencies: If possible avoid using credit cards for anything but emergencies.
6. Don’t sign up for useless credit card offers: Avoid signing up for obscene credit card offers in exchange for t-shirts and gifts.
7. Build a good history: Use credit cards to build a good credit history so you can save money on financially sensible products in the future.
8. Pay off your cards each month: Only use credit cards if you’re going to pay off your balance each month.
9. Keep a low credit limit: Avoid the temptation to spend up your credit card by keeping it at a low credit limit.
10. Stay away from fees: Do everything you can to avoid fees from your financial accounts.
11. Don’t max out loans: Smart students avoid maxing out student loans-and you should do the same, avoiding maxing out loans or credit cards you may have.
12. Avoid unnecessary debt: Students have student loans-you may have a mortgage, but stay away from debt beyond the basics.
13. Stay on top of your accounts: Avoid insufficient funds fees by making sure you stop spending before your money runs out.
14. Get good grades: Although you won’t get a good student discount, keeping your credit score up to a high grade will save you money.
15. Take it easy on loans: Just because you qualify for a loan, you don’t have to take it-pay cash whenever possible.
16. Pay bills on time: Stay away from late fees on credit cards, utilities, and more.
17. Shop around for loans: Don’t blindly take the first offer you get-look at others to make sure you’re getting the best deal available.
18. Plan ahead for ATMs: Avoid costly ATM fees by planning ahead and using your bank’s branch or ATM.
19. Plan ahead: Often, students have loans that have to last them a whole semester, so they have to plan accordingly. You can plan ahead like this by forecasting your income for a certain period of time.
20. Use a convenient bank: Set up accounts with a bank that’s close to you and easy to access, and you’ll avoid transportation hassles, and often ATM fees.

Making Money

Follow these college student tips to learn how to make more money.

1. Consider a part time job: Make a little extra money on the side with a part time job.
2. Tutor: If you’re good at math, English, or science, offer to tutor students for money.
3. Save time: Save time to have more free time to work a part time job and earn cash.
4. Be a good employee: Stand out at work, and you’ll have better opportunities for the future.
5. Sell your old stuff: Get rid of old and unnecessary items by selling them in classifieds or online.
6. Donate plasma: Make money from getting your blood drawn.
7. Do seasonal work: Take on a Christmas rush job, or lifeguard in the summertime.
8. Work for free: Internships can open doors for students, as volunteering can do for adults.
9. Actually go to work: College students know they have to go to class-you have to go to work to continue making money.
10. Start your own business: Take advantage of your special skills and start a business of your own.
11. Take off jobs: Accumulate a little money here and there by doing small jobs for people.

Housing & Transportation

With these tips, you can live and get around just a little bit cheaper.

1. Use public transportation: Save money on car expenses by opting to take public transportation instead.
2. Get a roommate: Cut down on your living expenses by sharing your housing with someone else.
3. Live near a bus line: Living close to town can be expensive-so consider living close to public transportation.
4. Stay in a hostel: When traveling, spend your money on experiences and thoughtful mementos, not an expensive hotel room.
5. Drive a clunker: Put off buying a new car as long as you possibly can.
6. Get insurance discounts: Although you won’t get a good student discount, avoiding accidents and keeping a good credit score can lower your car insurance.
7. Carpool: Whether it’s across town or across the country, ride with friends and it will be cheaper.
8. Live small: Dorms and college apartments are not known for their huge amounts of space-save money by living in a smaller apartment or home.
9. Share: Instead of borrowing your college roommate’s clothes, you can borrow your neighbor’s power tools.
10. Buy used furniture: Check out classified and garage sales to find furniture on the cheap.
11. Accept offers: If someone you know has a spare refrigerator, couch, or toaster oven, and you need one, don’t be too proud to accept it.
12. Live close: Many students save on transportation costs by living on campus or close to it, so they can walk or bike to where they need to go on a regular basis.

Miscellaneous

These are just a few more college saving tips.

1. Determine your own spending: Don’t try to keep up with friends and family who seem to have more money than you.
2. Have a financial plan: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail-map out your goals and needs, then stick to them as close as you can.
3. Use free gyms: College campuses often have free gyms, while there are often free or low cost gyms and classes available at community parks.
4. Stay active: Stay healthy and active, and your health costs will decrease.
5. Get health insurance from somebody else: Whether it’s your spouse, employer, or parents, anything is cheaper that getting individual health insurance.
6. Visit libraries: You may not have access to university libraries, but you can save lots of money by using your local library.
7. Take advantage of free services: Use free services available in your community, like libraries, parks, and free classes.
8. Join groups: Fraternities help save college students money on room, board, and food-pool your resources in a group to save money similarly.
9. Take a multivitamin: Multivitamins can help make up for deficiencies in your college student diet.
10. Quit when you’re ahead: Students know to drop classes that are more trouble than they are worth before they hit the deadline-learn to get out of bad situations similarly to save money and more.
11. Do things right the first time: Students who fail classes pay dearly to retake them-save your money by planning carefully for DIY projects, travel, and more.
12. DIY: Avoid hiring professionals whenever possible.

Sure most of this stuff seems kind of “common sense-ish” when you really think about it, but how many of you actually do these things? There’s a lot of money to be saved out there, you just gotta actually attempt to save.

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So there it is…the “herb” that has been a part of many a college student’s life is now a part of college, itself. One wonders how much further this whole medical marijuana movement will go. Is it a burgeoning industry that could be a boon in our down economy, or is it a medical fad that will remain relegated to only a few states?

Is a date the same here and there?

Dating is difficult wherever you go. College students in this country seem to be giving up on it altogether in favor of “hooking up,” and I’m sad to say that after traveling around the world, no one else seems to have it figured out either. But asking about dating on my travels to England, India and Japan did reveal some fascinating differences in how guys and gals are getting together – or aren’t.

England
Over a bottle of beer in Oxford, Xander and Ben explain the mating behaviors of the British male. Xander’s girlfriend, Miranda, provides eye-witness testimony to the accuracy of their account. English men never ask women out on dates. They are convinced that if they were to directly ask a woman on a “date” that they will be turned down flat and laughed at publicly. Since the Number One priority for an English male is to save face, there is no “dating” in England at all.

Xander explains: “You go out to a pub with your friends, some of whom are girls, get too drunk one night (but not too drunk) and end up sleeping with one of them. Then, suddenly, you’re in a relationship. And since she’s already slept with you, you won’t be rejected – presumably. And it usually works out quite well since you were friends first.” Xander and Miranda didn’t follow that exact routine, but they did meet at a pub while she was studying abroad in Oxford. Pubs are one of the few places in which it is easy to meet people and strike up a conversation if you’re new in town.

Breaking up is hard, since it is very English to avoid confrontation. The breaking up ritual seems to involve the man’s shoes being chucked out the window or into the sea (whichever is closer at the time). But that could just be Xander’s bad luck.

India
While India is westernizing in many ways, dating is not yet culturally accepted. In rural areas there is no dating; in urban areas, dating is rare and almost always covert. Ani, a young man from Coimbatore, says dating is “99% without the parents’ knowledge, as parents are conservative and would get REALLY mad if you date.”  When two people do date, dates are exactly what you might find in the West: restaurants, cafes, movies. In India there is no formal asking out on dates. My friend Sheethal breaks it down into four steps:

1. Hang out.

2. Boy tells girl “I love you.”

3. You’re a couple but no one knows about it except a select few friends who won’t tell the parental units.

4. Either marriage when the parental units find out, suicide (if kids are super passionate…this doesn’t happen a lot), or breaking up to keep the family happy.

Families have a lot of influence over their children’s choices – and older generations frown on dating. Arranged marriages are still the norm, and love marriages are often met with difficulties.  When dating does happen, it is taken seriously. Akhila, in her twenties says “People who date, date with marriage in mind. Very few people date to see where it goes.”

Japan
My friend Jessi, an American Expat in Tokyo, and Toshiko, a native are my guides to Japanese dating, and they both agree on one thing: it’s hard to find a date. They aren’t the only ones to notice this problem. This generation of Japanese men are often uninterested in relationships or pursuing women. They don’t want to take on the responsibilities of girlfriends, marriage or children. In 2006, columnist Maki Fukasawa called them “Herbivorous Men,” and the term stuck. These young men in their 20’s and 30’s aren’t even interested in sex, just friendship with women – and, they’re straight.

But, not all men in Japan are “herbivorous.” Dating starts in high school, and goes like this: Much emphasis is placed on “the confession.” Instead of asking a girl out for a cup of coffee and taking it from there, the young man is expected to dramatically confess his feelings to the girl. Then, skipping over the dating part, they are in a relationship from that point onward. Since Japanese men have the same strong instinct to escape embarrassment and rejection as the English men (and all men), declaring love is obviously terrifying. It’s no wonder so many are opting for friendship.

Looking for love isn’t easy. So for those wanting help to meet people, there is “Gokon.” Gokon can be either like speed-dating in an organized group of singles, or a group of single girls meeting a group of single boys in hopes of finding romance. If that fails, parents are a little too happy to step in and help. It’s not uncommon for mothers of 30 year olds to go to matchmaking services on their children’s behalf, and then try to set up dates with the suitors they like best.

After being unable to find a job for three years after he graduated, Daniel Seddiqui decided that he no longer wanted just one job he wanted 50. Yes, you read that correctly, and the best part about it is that he is actually succeeding! You see, he didn’t only want 50 jobs, he wanted to travel for  year and get one job per state. 50 states, 50 jobs. He has now been to Vermont working with a maple-syrup maker, a rodeo announcer in North Dakota, a stilt-walker at Universal Studios in Florida, amongst others.

It’s fascinating how somebody who took what most would consider a worst possible outcome of getting a college degree and actually turn it into something that, on some level, makes even the best-off of us a little envious.

Hey Daniel! Want to be a blogger for a week? Maybe not…

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I don’t think my friends and I were every very good at managing the stress of the end of the school term. We usually just drank more coffee than usual, spent hours in the library, and went on long runs around town. I wish we’d had something like animal-therapy. This all leads me to wonder as to what other stress-saving tactics are being used on your camps during finals week. What have you guys seen in the past? Or what did you see this past finals season?

The “Up2 You” Video Challenge asks you to make your own video and rendition of Dave Stewart’s “Stand Up to Cancer” anthem and upload the video on YouTube. It could win you a Takamine guitar or flip camcorder worth between $350 and $4000. Check the website for more specific details, of course, and be sure to submit your video before July 30, 2010. One of the best parts is that there are no fees involved.

There are three rounds for the contest, the final round being judged by a few celebrities – Laura Ziskin, Dave Stewart and Jesse Dylan. And, there will be five total winners who will either earn a valuable prize or honorable mention and their face on the YouTube web page.

Anyone who is looking for a way to pass the summer months and help fight cancer has nothing to lose here. Having a musical background may or may not help your chances, but at least you have something to anticipate and work for up until September 1, 2010, when the winners will be announced.

Feel free to share your experiences with the contest with the rest of us. For those of you taking it on, good luck!

According to the June 1^st article in the LA Times, UC Berkeley officials are asking new students to volunteer their DNA in an effort to foster discussion at fall orientation. Over 5000 swabs will be sent out this summer, and while no one will be penalized for refusing, genetics ethics groups are concerned that students will feel pressured to join in for fear of alienating future professors.

So what are they testing for? Nothing important, it turns out: gene variations that control reactions to lactose, folic acid and alcohol. These specific genes were selected because they were not “traumatic” and could be ignored with students no worse off. The results of the DNA tests will only be known to participants and the samples will be destroyed.

Every year UC Berkeley has an “On the Same Page” program for incoming students in which they are usually asked to read the same book over summer for discussion in fall seminars. This year, program coordinators wanted to engage students more actively in the cutting edge issue of genetic science. At orientation, faculty members will lecture about what the DNA results mean, things like blushing after drinking, or how lactose and vegetables affect peoples’ bodies differently. September seminars will have scientists, sociologists, ethicists and lawyers discussing genetics with, what program coordinators hope will be, a group of unusually well-informed students.

Is this “Big Brother” trying to control people’s lives? Is this how the world of Gattaca began? Are we flinging headlong into a genetically engineered dystopia? Don’t these sound like awsome essay prompts?

I think that’s the point. Playing with students’ DNA makes them think, whether they agree, disagree, are enthused, or angry about it. If college is a place in which ideas should be challenged, perspectives debated, and minds opened – then UC Berkeley seems to have accomplished all that before the school year has even begun.