A Career in High Gear Hugging the curves of a winding country road, the James Bond roadster seems to float on air. A fork ahead. Which road to take? The driver chooses the one leading further away from the office. Will the boss mind this Tuesday afternoon excursion? Not at all. The Road to BMW People are always asking Jason, "How did you get a job test-driving $128,000 cars?" Hard work, determination, and a bit of good timing is the answer. Ten years ago the automotive technology trade school Jason attended had just started a relationship with BMW. Wanting to impress, the school sent BMW the... view article details

Q: At work, two departments have two separate requirements. One requires a four-year bachelor's degree with a lower starting salary than the other, which requires only a two-year associate's degree. Is this appropriate?A: I know of no legal precedent requiring employers to pay someone with a bachelor's degree more than someone with an associate's degree. If your company has a compensation strategy that pays its employees based on competence and skill sets, it is possible that someone with an associate's degree would get paid more than an employee with a bachelor's degree.I can't say whether it... view article details

What's Your Career Personality Type? We all know good, qualified people who just couldn’t succeed at a certain company. Why not? Many times it's because they just weren’t the right cultural fit.This fit -- which has less to do with your qualifications and skills and more to do with your personality type -- is vital to employers and hiring managers. You can have all the skills in the world, but if you're not going to mesh with the team or the company, they won't do you much good. These types, also known as archetypes, have been around since the beginning of storytelling. Everyone from ... view article details

Job descriptionComputer Programmers are responsible for creating code that essentially tells a computer how to operate. They write, test, and maintain these coded instructions, also referred to as programs. The work of programmers has been expanded in today's world, due to the innovative and advanced technologies that now exist. Programmers are now heavily involved in all aspects of technical problem solving for companies. Common computer languages that programmers use include COBOL, C++, BASIC, Java, and HTML. Most programmers know several computer languages because they tend to be similar, m... view article details

Find Out Which Jobs Will Be In Demand By 2024 Which are the fastest growing careers? Everyone wants a little job security. But in these turbulent times filled with massive changes, how can any of us know if our careers are on solid ground? Luckily, the Bureau of Labor Statistics crunched some numbers and came out with employment projections to the year 2024. So, which are the most in demand jobs? The aging population of Baby Boomers put more than a few health care careers on this list, but check out other popular options amongst the fastest growing careers of the future. 11. Food Prep and Serv... view article details

Higher education may be getting more expensive, but a college degree is necessary to compete for jobs in many industries. College should be healthy mix of passion and pragmatism, and it’s important to pursue the things you love while recognizing the fields that give you the best chance of finding a job upon graduation. According to research by CareerCast.com, here are the majors with the best career prospects. We also provided the median salaries of various jobs in each industry based on Salary.com data. 1) Accounting They say numbers don’t lie, but did you know they can also get you a job? T... view article details

As a high school graduates decide what field of study to pursue, they may wonder what the job outlook will be after obtaining their degree. According to a report published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, new graduates looking for a high paying job in a growing field should set their sights on Information Services and Finance. It is anticipated that these jobs in these fields will have the largest growth – actual increase in number of jobs – over the next several years. The top 5 jobs on the list that require a Bachelor's degree and their anticipated percentage in growth are:RankTitle% chang... view article details

Q.I was recently interviewed for a position of senior network analyst in Chicago. My current position is network administrator (MCSE W2K). The position I was offered was network analyst, reporting to a senior network analyst. They offered $69,000. Initially I had said I wanted $70,000, but I countered their offer with $73,000. The hiring manager rejected my counter. Basically they told me, 'Thanks, but no thanks' and took the original offer off the table. Did I make a mistake, and if so, what should I have done to correct it?A. Let me make sure I understand this correctly. You interviewed for ... view article details

From CNN Money and the compensation experts at Salary.com6. Market research analyst Why it's great If you want to know what the next big thing is, this is your field. Before launching a product or service, companies turn to market research analysts who collect and evaluate data about consumer wants, needs and buying habits. You get to work on a huge variety of projects: In a single day you might run a taste test on a new vodka flavor, evaluate a re-branding campaign for a hot dog and analyze political polling data. What's cool Testing products before they hit the market. You talk to lots of pe... view article details

Compensation SurveysPaying people fairly is good for business. Underpay, and employees will eventually look for a better offer. Overpay, and the payroll budget and profitability will suffer. That's why companies use market data to research the value of their jobs. But what is 'market data' anyway?To determine the prevailing rate for a job, companies can 'benchmark' jobs against compensation surveys that are detailed and specific to the companies' industries and regions. A good compensation survey uses standard, proven methods of data gathering and statistical analysis to determine how much com... view article details