There are two strategies that Northeast Ohio college students can take to choose a college major that ensures employment:
- Find a profession with largeness and growth and/or
- Find a school that’s the top in its field
Employment in the fashion design and fashion merchandising is not just a glamour job. Self-employment is common. Most jobs are highly competitive and located in New York and California. Job growth is slower than average, according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook.
However, with top local training, students have the best chances of success.
Since 1983, the Shannon Rodgers and Jerry Silverman School of Fashion Design and Merchandising at Kent State University’ has been turning out graduates who go on to lead their professions. Guided by a strong advisory board, students work side-by-side with top industry professionals from JCPenney, Sears and Simplicity Pattern Company, among others. Students consistently win national competitions sponsored by the Council of Fashion Designers of America and Target.
Recently, the fashion school received a $1 million gift from the Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation. that provides “world-class quality leadership” for the next ten years from Elizabeth Rhodes, an exceptional industry visionary leader, according to Rick Kellar, the foundation’s president.
Over thirteen full-time faculty use hands-on and real-life experiences with over 700 students. Study tours to Europe and Asia are offered on a regular basis. Facilities include a studio in New York City, an international school in Florence, Italy and study opportunities in Hong Kong, London and Paris.
The NYC Studio is a new 4500-square-foot space with lecture room, computer lab and world class design studio, located in the heart of New York City's Garment District, where one-third of all clothing manufactured in the USA is designed and produced and home to America's world-renowned fashion talent.
The Kent State location has several CAD (computer-aided design) labs for digital fabric printing. pattern-making and 3-D merchandising. It houses world-renown library and museum.
A Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Design is available on two tracks with different emphasis:
- Conceptual design with illustration
- Problem solving and technical design skills with strong construction skills.
In Fashion Merchandising, a Bachelor of Science in Fashion Merchandising and a five-year MBA are available.
Basic coursework includes color, textiles, sewing and tailoring, pattern making, fashion history, computer-aided design (CAD), and design of different types of clothing such as menswear or footwear.
In addition to general admission requirements, applicants to the fashion design program must submit a skills assessment, including drawing and machine stitching samples, and a letter of intent and ‘statement of honor”. The school offers Academic Discovery days and shadowing for high school students for an in-depth exploration of the program.
Visit http://www.fashionschool.kent.edu/for more information
Median annual earnings for salaried fashion designers were $62,610 in May 2006. Earnings in fashion design can vary widely based on the employer and years of experience. Starting salaries in fashion design tend to be very low until designers are established in the industry. According to the Department of labor, some fashion designers also combine a fashion design degree with a business, marketing, or fashion merchandising degree, especially those who want to run their own business or retail store.
Coming up! Workshops on College Essay (March 28) and Career Planning (May 2)
Register at http://www.whatsyourmajor.net/
Jill Bernaciak
See my Linked In Profile
My mission is to empower youth with: - The knowledge about career possibilities, and the education and training needed to attain them - The creative-thinking and emotional skills that make for good career decisions and which employers prefer; - And the resilience needed to flourish in life.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Are You Efficient and a Strong Leader? Many Northeast Ohio Colleges Can Prepare You to be a High-Paid Administrative Service Manager
One of the only ways that a company can grow in today’s economy is to optimize the efficiency of its operations.
With the right degree and experience, you could be a key player as an “Administrative Services Manager”; which will be a higher-demand, high paid job through 2016 (and probably beyond).
While the job title is about as nondescript of an occupation as you could imagine, it pays an average of $67,000 annually and will have 276,000 people employed by 2016. This is an almost 12 percent increase from 2006.
Relevant majors depend on the work environment and include:
- Business (specifically finance or human resources)
- Engineering
- Architecture
- Construction management
- Facility management
What’s this Job Entail?
You don’t need to be an expert in the functional areas that you’d supervise, but you do need to demonstrate strong leadership and communication skills, which is why lower-level experience is so vital. You must enjoy working with details, and a wide range of people; from managers, supervisors, and professionals, to clerks and blue-collar workers. You must be flexible, decisive and effective with meeting deadlines and managing multiple activities at once.
Administrative services managers coordinate and direct a broad spectrum of services that keep a company running smoothly. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, they can oversee:
- Secretarial and reception services and mail
- Administration and payroll
- Conference planning and travel
- Information and data processing
- Materials scheduling and distribution
- Printing and reproduction
- Records management
- Telecommunications management
- Security, parking
- Energy consumption
- Personal property
- Procurement, supply, recycling, and disposal
Specific duties for these managers vary by their level of responsibility and authority. Some advance to upper level positions, such as vice president of administrative services.
Experience and Courses Required
Managerial and industry-specific experience is the key to attaining this position. You might have to start in a non-managerial position and work up the ladder. Your chances for promotion to this position can be enhanced by earning the Certified Manager (CM) designation offered by the Institute of Certified Professional Managers (ICPM), along with the right experience and education.
The degree required depends on the work environment. In less complex organizations, a high school education and experience could suffice. But other employers, such as in contract administration or facilities management, require a bachelor’s degree. In facilities management, many managers have a background in real estate, construction, or interior design. Courses in office technology, accounting, business mathematics, computer applications, human resources, and business law would be expected, regardless of industry.
Sources: Occupation Outlook Handbook, 2008-09
With the right degree and experience, you could be a key player as an “Administrative Services Manager”; which will be a higher-demand, high paid job through 2016 (and probably beyond).
While the job title is about as nondescript of an occupation as you could imagine, it pays an average of $67,000 annually and will have 276,000 people employed by 2016. This is an almost 12 percent increase from 2006.
Relevant majors depend on the work environment and include:
- Business (specifically finance or human resources)
- Engineering
- Architecture
- Construction management
- Facility management
What’s this Job Entail?
You don’t need to be an expert in the functional areas that you’d supervise, but you do need to demonstrate strong leadership and communication skills, which is why lower-level experience is so vital. You must enjoy working with details, and a wide range of people; from managers, supervisors, and professionals, to clerks and blue-collar workers. You must be flexible, decisive and effective with meeting deadlines and managing multiple activities at once.
Administrative services managers coordinate and direct a broad spectrum of services that keep a company running smoothly. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, they can oversee:
- Secretarial and reception services and mail
- Administration and payroll
- Conference planning and travel
- Information and data processing
- Materials scheduling and distribution
- Printing and reproduction
- Records management
- Telecommunications management
- Security, parking
- Energy consumption
- Personal property
- Procurement, supply, recycling, and disposal
Specific duties for these managers vary by their level of responsibility and authority. Some advance to upper level positions, such as vice president of administrative services.
Experience and Courses Required
Managerial and industry-specific experience is the key to attaining this position. You might have to start in a non-managerial position and work up the ladder. Your chances for promotion to this position can be enhanced by earning the Certified Manager (CM) designation offered by the Institute of Certified Professional Managers (ICPM), along with the right experience and education.
The degree required depends on the work environment. In less complex organizations, a high school education and experience could suffice. But other employers, such as in contract administration or facilities management, require a bachelor’s degree. In facilities management, many managers have a background in real estate, construction, or interior design. Courses in office technology, accounting, business mathematics, computer applications, human resources, and business law would be expected, regardless of industry.
Sources: Occupation Outlook Handbook, 2008-09
Monday, February 09, 2009
Building a Career? Look into Construction Management and Cleveland State University
Economic forecasts aside, the long-run job prospects in Construction Management are much better than average, from the perspective of salary and chance of hire.
The number of construction management jobs will grow 15.7% between 2006 and 2016. The median salary in 2006 was $73,700.
A bachelor’s degree in construction science, construction management, building science, or civil engineering or architecture are preferred and work experience is also expected, whether through an internship, a cooperative education program, or a job in the industry. The traditional path to advancement begins with long-term experience as, for example, carpentry, masonry, plumbing, or electrical installation.
In Northeast Ohio, five colleges have relevant four-year programs that would qualify you, after work experience, for a construction management opportunity:
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland State University
Kent State University
The University of Akron
Youngstown State University
For example, Cleveland State University’s Engineering program has made “large investments have been made in new labs and the renovation of classrooms and office space…” Its co-op program enables students to alternate between classes and work at many (related) “prominent companies”.
According to the Dean’s report in spring 2008, 63% of the faculty graduated from the top 26 engineering schools in the United States, including MIT, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, Purdue, Texas A&M and a variety of others. The Visiting Scholar program has hosted scholars from Carnegie Mellon University and internationally from Myong Ji University and Dankook University in South Korea, Fujian University and Shanghai Polytechnic University in China, Federal University of Sao Carlos in Brazil and JNTU in India.
In the Cleveland marketplace, there are an estimated 970,000 construction management positions, with an average hourly wage of $42.55 and an average annual salary of $88,510.
According to the Occupational Outlook, construction managers “plan, direct, coordinate, or budget…activities concerned with the construction and maintenance of structures, facilities, and systems”. Construction managers help conceptualize the development of a construction project and organize, schedule, and implement related activities with the help of supervisory subordinates. Specialties such as carpentry or plumbing are included in this profession, and job titles include general superintendents, project managers, and constructors.
The biggest employers of construction managers include petroleum and related wholesale, investment pools or funds, and travel accommodations. Most managers are involved with nonresidential, residential, building equipment, foundation, structure and exterior contactors.
Sources: Occupational Outlook Handbook, http://www.csuohio.edu/engineering/
The number of construction management jobs will grow 15.7% between 2006 and 2016. The median salary in 2006 was $73,700.
A bachelor’s degree in construction science, construction management, building science, or civil engineering or architecture are preferred and work experience is also expected, whether through an internship, a cooperative education program, or a job in the industry. The traditional path to advancement begins with long-term experience as, for example, carpentry, masonry, plumbing, or electrical installation.
In Northeast Ohio, five colleges have relevant four-year programs that would qualify you, after work experience, for a construction management opportunity:
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland State University
Kent State University
The University of Akron
Youngstown State University
For example, Cleveland State University’s Engineering program has made “large investments have been made in new labs and the renovation of classrooms and office space…” Its co-op program enables students to alternate between classes and work at many (related) “prominent companies”.
According to the Dean’s report in spring 2008, 63% of the faculty graduated from the top 26 engineering schools in the United States, including MIT, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, Purdue, Texas A&M and a variety of others. The Visiting Scholar program has hosted scholars from Carnegie Mellon University and internationally from Myong Ji University and Dankook University in South Korea, Fujian University and Shanghai Polytechnic University in China, Federal University of Sao Carlos in Brazil and JNTU in India.
In the Cleveland marketplace, there are an estimated 970,000 construction management positions, with an average hourly wage of $42.55 and an average annual salary of $88,510.
According to the Occupational Outlook, construction managers “plan, direct, coordinate, or budget…activities concerned with the construction and maintenance of structures, facilities, and systems”. Construction managers help conceptualize the development of a construction project and organize, schedule, and implement related activities with the help of supervisory subordinates. Specialties such as carpentry or plumbing are included in this profession, and job titles include general superintendents, project managers, and constructors.
The biggest employers of construction managers include petroleum and related wholesale, investment pools or funds, and travel accommodations. Most managers are involved with nonresidential, residential, building equipment, foundation, structure and exterior contactors.
Sources: Occupational Outlook Handbook, http://www.csuohio.edu/engineering/
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