Ah, 2004. U.S. unemployment was a mere 6% and the average home price reached $264,540. 2004 was a time when many people lived well and earned more. Well today, many industries are either down and out, or out altogether, and many cities throughout the U.S. still have high unemployment rates. Silicon Valley is an exception.
Communications is a broad field that includes public relations, advertising, journalism, marketing, corporate training, and business management. A bachelor’s degree in communications can lead to a career as a broadcaster, journalist, publicist, editor, advertising manager, technical writer, marketing analyst, producer, or communications director. A master’s in communications can prepare you for a career in management and for director positions.
To obtain a communications studies degree, you should enroll in a bachelor’s degree program at an accredited college. Accredited colleges have the most comprehensive communications programs and most employers prefer to hire applicants with a degree from an accredited college. Keep in mind that the accrediting agency must be recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
The following are just a few of the nations top accrediting agencies:
-The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
-The Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)
-The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)
-The Distance Education and Training Council (DETC)
-National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD)
-Accrediting Commission for Community and Pre-collegiate Arts Schools
The following accrediting agencies offer regional accreditation:
-Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
-New England Association of Schools and Colleges
-North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
-Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
-Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
-Western Association of Schools and Colleges
The Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) accredits a large number of online colleges and online degree programs, so if you are planning to earn your communications degree online, make sure it is accredited by the DETC or other Department of Education recognized agency. Click here to search the U.S. Department of Education database of accredited postsecondary institutions and programs.
After earning your communications studies degree, you can expect to earn anywhere from $25,434 per year on the low end, up to $105,960 per year on the high end, depending on the position. Yearly salaries for communications jobs are as follows:
-Broadcaster – $37,710 (median)
-Journalist – $25,434-36,419 (entry level)
-Publicist – $27,917-$39,992 (entry level)
-Editor – $49,990 (median)
-Advertising Manager – $105,960 (median)
-Technical Writer – $60,140-$71,640 (median)
-Marketing Analyst – $55,570-$77,170 (median)
-Producer – $40,037-$71,109 (median)
To find top communications programs, try Princetonreview.com, Petersons.com, or U.S. News & World Report College Rankings.
More than 57.2 million job seekers visit job placement sites each month, according to a Forbes report about the best ways to find a job. The three most popular sites include CareerBuilder.com, Yahoo! HotJobs, and Monster.com. Although these sites have been around for more than a decade, a number of other sites have cropped up, stealing the market share from the top three.
Other job placement sites such as Simply Hired, Indeed, Snagajob.com, and Beyond.com gather postings from other job sites and reorganize them to make them easier to surf.
“Many corporate companies post job openings on their own corporate Web sites, so aggregators knock out the necessity to go around from site to site targeting specific companies,” says Chuck Schilling, research director at Nielsen.
Certainly the rotten economy is driving demand for more job sites. But there’s a heavy psychological component at work here, too. Newer sites carry “the shiny-and-new syndrome,” says Lorne Epstein, recruiting expert and author of You’re Hired! Interview Skills to Get the Job, so even if another site does the same thing, there is a hope that a newer site will do it better.
Job seekers also use government job sites to search for employment. The two top government websites are USAJOBS.gov and GovernmentJobs.com. These sites attract 2.8 million and 1 million visitors a month, respectively.
If you have been following the “Those Optimize Guys” podcast, you know that we have been working on a multipart exploration on defining who your business is. Last week, we discussed Defining your core values, or those things that are non negotiable to the core of your business.
This week, we discuss the next step, defining your key performance indicators, or those things that you have to do absolutely right in order for your business to succeed.
In the process, we will also be working with our own business ventures, The Goldberry Roasting Company, and Coding For Hire. We urge you to work with us through this process! If you would like to participate, make sure you contact us, and we’ll get you on board.
One of the biggest mistakes I hear online business making is down talking the importance of targeted advertising. The targeted advertising program most familiar to most is Google AdWords. When most people look at AdWords, their first reaction is that it’s expensive.
Yes, it is pricey at first glance, but before you decide to pass on this opportunity, you should take a moment to look a little deeper.
I covered this last week in a full article. If you are interested in pursuing this, take a look here.
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