The cost of college tuition is skyrocketing, so it’s not surprising that some entrepreneurs are trying to fill the void.

Technology start-ups are cracking into the higher education market and there pitch is an enticing one: A college education for anyone at almost no cost.

Sound to good to be true? The founders of tech start-ups behind this revolutionary idea say they have already had success with their models, but they say there needs to be more momentum if their idea is to succeed.
“The 99% should be protesting college campuses,” says Sebastian Thrun, a Stanford University artificial intelligence professor, who recently co-founded Udacity, a technology start-up dedicated to providing higher education at a very low cost.

Two companies doing this are Udemy and Udacity. The new trend is self-education with all of the tools out there, including free lectures on iTunes and Khan Academy.

Smart employers will start to figure this out as well, and I suspect in the future we’ll see job applicants will put a Self-Education section on their resumes. It shows initiative and prospective employers can always quiz applicants on what they learned for verification.

When you watch this interview with Kathy Ireland, you get a real sense of the determination and persistence that’s required for someone to be a successful entrepreneur. You have to expect failures but then be prepared to learn from them. It’s easier said than done of course, but you have to be prepared for this.

Watch the video, and you can see the character traits that make a successful entrepreneur.

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We often discuss how you can use social media to find a job. But this works both ways of course. Whether you’re an entrepreneur with a small company or a PR executive at a large enterprise, you must be aware of how and why social media can be an effective tool in finding employees. Mashable has a great article about 5 ways that social media is revolutionizing talent acquisition. Read the entire article and you’ll see how social media recruitment is a trend you should be following.

LinkedIn is a critical resource for networking in today’s world. Whether you’re an entrepreneur or freelancer looking for more exposure or someone looking for a new job, it’s important to have a complete LinkedIn profile and to put your best face forward. This is a critical part of your personal branding, and it’s also a great way for prospective employers or prospective customers to find you.

This article has 10 common mistakes and very helpful tips for managing your LinkedIn account.

1. Not Displaying Your Personal Photo
It all really comes down to having social media credibility or not. There are too many fake profiles on LinkedIn, so you want to show that you are real. If you have taken the time to complete your LinkedIn profile, why wouldn’t you display your photo? It just raises too many potential questions. And company logos or photos of pets obviously have no value here

2. LinkedIn Profile Headline is Not Branded Enough
See that space underneath your name? That is your “Professional” or Profile Headline. It will appear in search results next to your name, as well as next to any questions you ask or answer. It is, in essence, your elevator speech in a few words. Are you just putting your title and company name here? Don’t! This is the place where you need to appeal to anyone who finds you in a search result to reach out and look at your profile. Your Profile Headline is the single most important piece of real estate on your LinkedIn Profile, and you need to brand it as such. This really ties into personal branding as a job applicant.

Read the entire article and update your LinkedIn page today. Also, check out more LinkedIn tips from this blog.

If you have plans to earn a business administration degree, you can expect to have your pick of lucrative management positions in just about any industry after graduating. Graduates with a degree in business administration qualify for management positions in private businesses, education, government, retail, technology and more. Just a few of the types of positions open to graduates include:

• -Accountant
• -Administrative Services Manager
• -Banker
• -Business Manager
• -City Manager
• -Controller
• -Financial Examiner
• -Human Resources Manager
• -Management Analyst
• -Marketing Manager
• -Project Manager
• -Public Relations Specialists
• -School Administrator

To meet the demands of these positions, a bachelor’s degree is required. To earn more, however, you should consider earning an MBA. Here are the figures:

• -Around 40% of all professionals in business administration related careers have at least a bachelor’s degree
• -More than 25% have a master’s degree
• -Nearly 5% have a doctoral or first professional degree

Many master’s degree holders obtain positions as CEO’s and other high level positions. Business administration professionals with a bachelor’s degree or higher can expect to earn median wages of around $68,050 per year up to $145,600+. 

To get started on a career in business administration, you should enroll in a business administration degree program at an accredited university. The top focus areas are accounting, project management, global management, small business and entrepreneurship or human resource management.

Many professionals in the field obtain a bachelor’s degree through a traditional business administration program at a college, university, business, or trade school. Others may obtain employment as an assistant or other entry-level position in the field while completing their business administration degree online.

Whichever path you decide to take, just make sure the accreditation is by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Just a few recognized agencies include:

• -The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
• -The Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)
• -Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)
• -Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS)
• -Distance Education Training Council (DETC)
• -Council on Occupational Education (COE)
• -Accrediting Commission for Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT)

 Regional Accrediting Agencies include:

• -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

Accreditation is important, but curriculum is as well. The best programs typically require the same courses, and they offer competitive internship programs as well. The core curriculum at top schools often account for 40% of the degree requirement. Required courses should include:

• -Accounting
• -Analytical Applications
• -Business Computing Skills
• -Business Strategy
• -Corporate Finance
• -Economics
• -Finance
• -Financial Statement Analysis
• -Human Resources
• -Legal & Ethical Environment of Business
• -Management Communication
• -Manufacturing and Production
• -Marketing Management
• -Operations Management
• -Organizational Behavior
• -Principles of Marketing
• -Statistics
• -Strategic Management
• -Technology and Information Systems

Most business administration students continue on to graduate school. The standard course curriculum will prepare you for that. If you’re interested in acceptance into an MBA program, consider earning a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), a Bachelor of Science in Business (BSBA), or a Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS).

If you would like more information about business administration careers, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics at www.bls.gov.