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

You’re probably in a fantasy football league. If your league is really competitive, you’ve probably spent a lot of time researching the best players for your team by buying magazines, studying depth charts, analyzing position rankings, or soliciting advice from experts on Twitter.If all this is true, you’ve probably heard of Dave Richard.As the Senior Fantasy Writer for CBSSports.com, Dave has a job most sports fans and stat-obsessed fantasy football geeks envy---he gets paid to watch professional football and then discuss it. Dave is paid to pick out the best players in the NFL and estimate h... view article details

Skip the Overused Buzzwords A resume is your calling card. Your first impression. Your bait to reel in the big fish. Unfortunately, instead of live bait, far too many job seekers are fishing for new jobs with nothing more than a lifeless, rotting worm.Do you know how many resumes hiring managers read when there’s a job opening? It’s routinely in the hundreds, and sometimes can rise even higher. So when you’re sorting through that many resumes (and only spending six or seven seconds on each one, I might add), things get pretty repetitious. The same buzzwords pop up over and over and ov... view article details

How to Counter A Job Offer To Get A Higher Pay In the world of salary negotiation, there’s an important word that comes up quite often: Leverage. By definition, it means using a situation or advantage to obtain a desired result, in our case, negotiating a higher salary. When you’re looking to gain leverage, it often comes as a result of having other options. Someone who already has a steady income in a job has more options than someone who has been out of work for 6 months with bills piling up If you have in-demand skills, such as a mobile software development, you’re going to have mor... view article details

Q:  My title is Senior Web Editor at a growing Internet company in New Jersey. With a nearly exact match in responsibilities as indicated for this position in your Salary Wizard, my total compensation falls short of the median by $25,000. I have presented this information to my bosses who assured me they cannot match the Salary Wizard figures and told me I can go elsewhere if I need more money. But my question is, where are these places that are paying $75,000 for my skills? Nobody who I have spoken to in the industry is being paid that well. Are these the companies that are now out of busines... view article details

Switching fields may seem taboo, but it's quite doable, especially now when labor markets are tight. Almost half of the 164 employers who responded to our MONEY/Salary.com survey say they regularly target mid-career changers when recruiting. One reason: Switchers are dedicated to their move, with 32 percent saying they'll spend 'as long as it takes' to get the necessary certification and schooling.What are they looking for? Pay and advancement, sure, but also fulfillment and a sense that they can control their career paths.Steve Mullins, 44, already has a good job: He's a telecommunications en... view article details

How Older Workers Can Better Overcome Obstacles to Getting Hired Older Workers Have a Tougher Time Getting a Job While the U.S. job market continues to make slow but steady gains, finding a job in the current economy is still challenging. All job seekers today face significantly more obstacles than they did a decade ago, but those over the age of 50 have a few extra hurdles to clear. According to a recent survey done by ExecuNet, a member organization for senior-level executives, a Vice President over the age of 50 takes 20% longer to get hired than a 41- to 45-year-old at the same level. W... view article details

Michelle Babineau of Boston, Mass. has been laid off three times in seven months. The dot-com veteran has been through it all: the conference with a terse manager and human resources representative; the company-wide announcement led by a weeping CEO; and the 'let-go' meeting at an offsite location. Her third job lasted five days. 'The CEO quit on the day I started,' Babineau said.Can they do that? Unfortunately, they can - and do. There are a few protections for employees, however. Understanding the implication of laws your employer has had to consider helps you to position yourself as well as... view article details

Our first round-up of 13 Must-Read Business Books That Could Change Your Life sparked such an onslaught of suggestions, it was clear we only scratched the surface. So armed with a list of book titles, we decided to follow-up with a list of business books suggested by you, our readers.These books---some old, some new---run the gamut from business-building strategies to helping those who haven’t discovered their passion explore their options and goals.Check out these books that have helped change readers’ lives.Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting out of the Boxby Arbinger InstituteIf you disl... view article details

These Resume Blunders Should be Avoided No Matter Where You're Applying Avoid the Following Resume Goofs at All Costs Companies don't hire resumes, they hire people. But your resume is often what gets you in the door, so if you can't get the interview it's nearly impossible to win someone over. The strength of each resume is dependent on many factors, including the type of job to which you're applying. Hiring managers at Google will probably appreciate a well-crafted online video resume, whereas if your goal is to land a job as a CPA you might want to stick with something a little more trad... view article details