Unless you have been living in a cave for the last 18 months, you know that our country is in a major recession. What that means for you, whether you are 16 or 66, is that your job is less secure — and a new job is going to be harder to come by. For teenagers looking for a summer job, the pressure is especially intense. There are fewer jobs than normal, and each one is being fought over by a far greater number of applicants. There is some good news in this whole mess: There are a growing number of programs, many of which are funded by the federal government, to aid 14 to 24 year olds ...

We all have a desire for meaningfulness in our work. We may even long for our work to nurture us and provide us with avenues for growth. Nestled among the Redwoods on the northern Californian coast in Sonoma County sits the developing Buddhist retreat center, Ratna Ling. Here a dedicated group have come together to create a community offering a life style which combines work with personal and spiritual growth. Tibetan Lama Tarthang Tulku over 35 years ago founded group of organizations in the San Francisco Bay area for the purpose of giving Westerners a doorway to the Tibetan Buddhist teach...

Salon.com ran a great piece this week with advice for teenagers looking for a summer job. The article acknowledges that Yes, it is tougher than ever before to find a summer job if you are a high school or college student. You are suddenly competing with recent college grads and the growing ranks of unemployed workers, whose experience will likely trump your enthusiasm. That doesn’t mean, however, that you throw in the towel and resign yourself to watching soap operas all summer-long. The bottom line: You need to get creative and think like an entrepreneur. If you want an internship wi...

CNN Money is reporting that graduate students are finding that summer jobs and internships, once a main stream to full-time employment, have all but dried up. According to the article, on-campus recruiting is down more than 10% this winter. Whereas summer job and internship offers are typically made in the fall, employers are now holding back due to economic concerns. “[Employers] don’t know what’s happening six months from now,” said Pamela Bierman Mittman, the assistant dean of career services at New York University’s Stern School of Business, “this year t...

My apologies for not getting these up on Wednesday, but after the Thanksgiving holiday, our system wasn’t quite updated with current listings.  Today, I am ready to bring you three great opportunities, all of which were uploaded to the JobMonkey free job database yesterday — so these gigs are fresh and ready for you to pick!  (Sorry for the fruit harvesting metaphors, don’t know what got into me Today I have not one, but two great student internships — the first with Nike (how cool!) and the second with AT&T.  If you are in college or a recent grad, take a l...

Every Monday at the JobMonkey blog, we focus on a different career path and the educational background you need to get started.  Whether you are still in high school and thinking about your future, or you are a professional in a different field looking to try something new, the information here should help you get started on your journey. If there is a career that you are particularly interested in learning more about, please let me a note in the comments section so I can feature it in the coming weeks. There are many different career paths for someone wishing to work in the veterinary fie...

Every Tuesday, we discuss tips and hints for making the most of your job search. We welcome input from our readers and want to hear about your most challenging job hunting issues.  To get a crash course on Career Planning 101, check out JobMonkey’s section on Job Hunting Tools. Whether you are facing a career change or looking for your first job, one of the biggest challenges is writing a resume that truly markets your skills to a potential employer.  If you don’t have a lot of on-the-job experience, or if you want to pursue a career in a new field, then this task becomes even more d...

Gracious, this has been a busy week.  If you are in the market for a new government job, then you might want to get your resume into President Elect Obama’s new Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel.  If working in the White House isn’t in the cards for you, however, read on: I’ve got three great opportunities for you that were culled from JobMonkey’s free job database. And if none of these gigs are right for you, you can conduct your own extensive search on the database.  It is updated daily and has dozens of new jobs every week. #1. Ski & Ride School Inside Foreman...

What’s that they say about Disney World?  That it’s the place where dreams come true? Well, for some of you die-hard Disney fanatics (I’m looking at you, so don’t bother hiding your Snow White costume from me!), a job at Disney might be the ultimate dream come true. Disney is located in five countries, with two to four parks at each location. There are plenty of places to work, but could you land one of the coveted jobs? Aside from the run-of-the-mill-theme-park jobs (like food and beverage, custodial, guest relations, maintenance, and merchandise), Disney also ...

Did you know that you can search for jobs right on the JobMonkey site? It’s easy: Just go to the field you are interested in and scroll toward the bottom for the link to the job board. I’ll make it even easier for you every Wednesday, by bringing you three of the hottest jobs in JobMonkey’s very large pool of positions. Art Director for AOL Music This new music industry job is for a high-powered, experienced art director who can help the industry’s leading music site continue its success and branch out in new directions as well. The duties of the Art Director inclu...