Ever since she was a little girl, Jeanne Sarmiento wanted to be a lawyer. As she grew older, however, her life took some unexpected turns.After what she calls 'a series of poor choices' as a young adult, this mother changed her life and became inspired by her children to go to school. Even as a single parent of an infant, Sarmiento was determined to get her degree, and she added credits slowly but surely over the years. Eventually, she graduated with an associate's degree. She is now going back to school for an additional degree and cannot wait to hear her kids yell, 'You did it Mom! You did i... view article details

It might not be fair, but the way you look plays a part in how much you’re paid. Looks Do Matter Discriminating against people based on their physical appearance is wrong -- both morally, and in many cases, legally speaking. The way you look usually has no bearing on how you’ll perform in your job, and in a perfect world everyone would be judged solely on his/her merits. But the harsh reality is this isn't a perfect world, and discrimination -- whether intentional or inadvertent -- still plays a role in the workplace. And while it should never be condoned, job seekers and employees need to be ... view article details

Never mind the federal omnibus spending bill—tough economic times call for personal stimulus plans. The recent downturn has caused many to seek online business degrees in order to achieve their education goals, fulfill new career objectives and increase earning potential. Nothing raises that earnings potential bar more than an MBA degree (even when earned through a part-time program). According to Salary.com’s Salary Wizard, the median salary for a portfolio manager is $107,614, while a marketing director’s is $140,768. While the cost of an MBA can range from $80,000 to $130,000 for a two-year... view article details

Understand your pay scale better What is a Pay Scale? A pay scale is a system that determines how much an employee in a certain profession is paid as a wage or salary, based on one or more factors such as the employee's level within the employer's organization, the length of time that the employee has been employed, and the difficulty of the specific work performed. A pay scale shows the range of salary an employee should expect at progressing stages in their career. Pay scales help employees to have an appropriate estimation of their future wage level. The... view article details

Do you have high aspirations to teach as a professor at college? Professors perform a number of duties including producing scholarly articles, conducting research, and teaching courses to college or university-level students. Moreover, a good professor also loves interacting with people, has excellent verbal and communication skills, and is organized enough to create an engaging course curriculum and syllabus. Even though many professorial roles have the same underlying requirements, not all of these positions are paid the same. Many professorial salaries vary by subject matter (department) a... view article details

All of our guests on Salary Talk are winners. But this group of Carnegie Mellon University graduate students truly fits the bill, as they were named one of the grand prize winners of Challenge.gov's Equal Pay App Challenge.David Guarino and Rachel Koch are part of a team of developers who created www.closethewagegap.com, in response to the U.S. Department of Labor's call to action in January. The challenge was developed in conjunction with President Obama's Equal Pay Task Force, with the purpose of highlighting the discrepancy in pay between men and women. Although the Department of Labor has ... view article details

The foundation laid now often sets the tone for what the future will hold. This philosophy possesses very significant meaning in education. Selecting a place of higher learning definitely helps chart the course for future career opportunities and success. It may not be that any of the schools are necessarily wrong—it’s really about uncovering that one school that is right for you. A few things to consider: Ask the online-accredited colleges to send brochures and information packets about their programs. Seeing the quality and depth of information sent will help determine the type of education... view article details

Perhaps you’ve heard rumblings about the existence of a season called “women’s winter.” The scenario goes something like this: summer is in full swing and suddenly your office turns into the Arctic Tundra. John arrives to work on a particularly balmy July morning and hears the soft hum of Beth’s personal space heater. A shawl is wrapped snuggly around her shoulders. The men seem unfazed by the air conditioner's sudden resurgence into the workplace, treating it like an old coworker that suddenly returned after a winter sabbatical. The women, on the other hand, tend to be less welcoming towards ... view article details

The California budget crisis has been a headline fixture for a while, but now that higher education students and faculty are beginning to feel the heat of the latest budget cuts, education has jumped to the front of the news. Because of the cuts in the higher education system, many are acting out through protests to show their anger, while others are wondering what their next option could be. The New York Times reports that in the past two years, California has made over $30 billion in budget cuts, one of the largest cuts has been higher education. The California state schools have seen $2.8 ... view article details

Greetings Jack,I interviewed with a university office today; for a Licensing Associate position in Technology Transfer.This requires MBA, skills in business, science, and heavy communication with cold calling, together with database management, etc. I have all of these and more (PhD and MBA), and my experience in science is 10+ years and in business is 2+ years.Someone who I know and works with the director of that office, told me that the base salary was to be $55,000, but that the director was also planning to raise it to $75,000. The interview went well. They are planning to fill the positi... view article details