Food for thought.....

I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family.
--George W. Bush, Greater Nashua, NH, 01/27/2000, appearing in the Chamber of Commerce

One of my former students was kind enough to forward me an article that appeared on the CNBC website. Titled "What College Graduates Can Expect Out Of The Job Market" it provides some insights into the current job market. Here is an extract from it..

"....It goes without saying that employers these days can afford to be choosy.Most start by screening out candidates with less than a 3.0 grade point average.They may also weed out anyone who has not had relevant work experience.“Employers are really looking for internship experience or any kind of work experience,” says Koncz.Leadership skills are also important, including positions in campus clubs, professional organizations and sororities or fraternities.“When we asked employers to rate how they would decide between two equally qualified candidates, the number one response was leadership skills,” says Koncz. “They want to see on your resume that you took charge and can handle responsibility.”But those are just the qualifications that may you through the door.Once you’re in the interview seat, employers who responded to a recent NACE survey said the qualities they prize most are communication skills, a strong work ethic, the ability to work in a team and initiative...."

That's one of the reasons why I am not optimistic that the problems facing us are going to be solved anytime soon. The writing abilities of some of our students leads one to despair...
Recent examples...
The better educated people are in the country the better health care should grow to be and the research for renewable resources may expand as well.
The lender loses money and the person taking the lone will get in trouble and be in debt.
Comparitive advantage is the situation in which one country that has the absolute advantage over the other countries decides to maximize its production by specializing in one particular product that it is absolutely the best at producing with the least amount of resources and trading with another country, for the other products, that may not be better than the country with the absolute advantage but can produce a bigger profit by specializing in what it produces the best.

More importantly, though, it is the sloppy work-ethic and the lack of desire to learn that will hold us back. We have had things too easy for too long....