Career College Association
The Workplace of the Future [Career College Association]
by Hope Katz Gibbs
Career College Association
January 2008
In the decades to come, more people are likely to take their careers into their own hands and use career colleges to help them get where they want to go, forecasts futurist Andy Hines of the D.C.-based research and consulting firm Social Technologies.
The reason: the type of person entering the workforce is changing.
“People joining the workforce today, what we call Generation Y, are clever about doing what it takes to land the kind of job they want,” he says. “Yes, money is important to them for they are a practical lot and need to pay the bills. But I equally important to them is the need to find interesting work that is fulfilling and beneficial to the world.”
In fact, Hines recently completed a study for MTV entitled: “The Future of Youth Happiness: What Makes 12-24-year-olds Happy?” Along with researchers from MTV, Hines’ team of futurists talked to dozens of youths about what makes them happy today, and what they believe will do so in the future.
“It was interesting to see that for the first time in decades, if not in history, being happy is incredibly important to a generation of people,” says Hines, who points to findings that show 91 percent of youths polled said they would take control of their happiness (81 percent have career / work goals, and 64 percent plan to go on to college).
They also saw few obstacles in their pursuit of happiness that they will not be able to overcome. Another shift: When it comes to money, GenY sees their salary more as a means rather than an end.
“Relative wealth and status are important, but not absolute,” Hines notes. “Although 69 percent of the youths we polled said they want to be rich, 51 percent say it is not at all likely that they will actually be rich.”
This finding is a real change in generational behavior, he suggests.
“The generations before them believed working hard to achieve money and status was the ultimate goal,” Hines explains. “But the generation growing up in America today has a new set of priorities.”
As a result, he believes, the workforce of the future will
behave differently than the workforce today. [View Entire Article for more.]
Career College helps new generation steer careers [Career College Association]
by Hope Katz Gibbs
The Link / Career College Association
Winter 2008, page 35
Photos by Steve Barrett
ART HAS ALWAYS BEEN A PASSION for Kevynn Joseph (pictured right with his teacher, medical illustrator Marie Dauenheimer). Although he received an associate’s degree from the Art Institute of Atlanta in 1990, he chose to enlist in the Navy after graduation. For a decade, he worked as a shipman and deck seaman, doodling aboard to entertain the other sailors and freelancing a bit when he was on leave, he knew that if he wanted to work as a commercial artist he needed to go back to school.
So last year, the 37-year-old enrolled in the animation program at the Art Institute of Washington (AIW) in Arlington, VA.
“I could always draw, and enjoyed the excitement and freedom of freelancing, but I decided that another degree in art would set me on the career path that I dreamed of,” he says. “Rather than being all about art theory and conceptualization, my teachers at AIW offer a very practical approach to learning the craft of animation. I appreciate that, and know it will help me get a good job when I graduate next year.”
His design and life drawing teacher, Marie Dauenheimer (also pictured right), says she has no doubt. “Kevynn is a natural when it comes to drawing and design, and really shines as one of the best students in my class,” Dauenheimer explains. “It’s partly his natural talent for art, but because he is older,
he knows what he wants and is willing to do whatever it takes
to achieve his goal.”
Dauenheimer says the combination of talent and maturity will benefit Kevynn in the future. “Students know they can come to AIW and study animation, graphic design, game art and design, even fashion retail and merchandising, but what really interests them in schools like this is the fact that the staff is determined to help them get a good job after graduation. That is a key point, and I think it’s also the reason our enrollment numbers keep going up.”
[View Entire Article for more.]