In my “Now Trending” series, I curate five recently published articles that capture the future of work or embrace the Millennial mindset. Share your favorite articles of the week in a comment!
Can This Online Course Get Me A Job?
The online education marketplace continues to evolve with a new initiative to legitimize its role in hiring. Apollo Education Group launched their latest project called Balloon, which directly connects online courses to in-demand skills and relevant careers. Balloon will start with nearly 15,000 classes from well-known employers and online education groups Coursera and Udacity. Now you can add online courses to this list of non-traditional experiences to give yourself more credit for completing — and link it to a career path.
Job Hunting? Dig Up Those Old SAT Scores
Do your SAT scores really matter anymore after you pass through the gate of college admissions? Apparently so, in some cases of employment, says this article in the Wall Street Journal. Competitive consulting firms and top investment banks alike both want to know the SATs scores of candidates applying for jobs. Maybe Ke$ha should rethink her career choice: she told Time magazine that she scored a 1500 on her SATs. Will the new SAT affect employers’ views on the exam? Only time will tell.
Rotational Programs: Prevalence, Effects on Retention
Rotational programs remain a popular way for employers to bring new talent to their organizations. New research, conducted by the National Association of Colleges & Employers, demonstrates the value of these kinds of roles in terms of employee retention. At the 5-year benchmark, employers who offer rotational programs retain an average of 6% more employees than those who do not. I think these types of opportunities are great for Millennials, who never want to feel “stuck” in one job for too long.
Bentley University PreparedU: Bridging The Preparedness Gap
Okay, so this is not an article, but it is an information-packed slide on SlideShare from Bentley University’s PreparedU Project. They surveyed business executives, higher education professionals, college students and parents to gauge the next generation’s preparedness for the world of work. Some findings I found interesting: 66% of business leaders say hard and soft skills are equally important in the workplace and 74% of all respondents said education prepares students not just for jobs, but for entire careers.
The 4 Secrets of Engaging Millennials with Online Video
It’s not news that Millennials are a generation who love video. Think YouTube, Vine and Instagram videos. They’re also a generation used to getting video how they want it and when they want it. Think “on demand” cable, Netflix and Chromecast. What are the best ways to capture this audience with this media? Rob Norledge, digital media expert, shares his 4 secrets with you in this piece. My favorite: make your video easily consumable and engage viewers quickly. Research cited in the article suggests that 1 in 5 viewers click away from videos in 10 seconds or less.
What other content caught your eye this week? Please share in the comments!
Image credit: word cloud from wordle.net
