ProfessionWise – Pursuing Your Career

Building Your Network: Get to Know Your Professors and Trainers

Neil O'Donnell / September 15, 2019

I’ve written and presented at conferences on the importance of professors/trainers for undergraduates and/or apprentices, the latter group pursuing a trade (The Career-Minded Student). Essentially, these educators can help students fine-tune their skills and better understand career options beyond what any textbook or training manuael can provide. Questioning professors or trainers can help a student …

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College Opens – Get to Work Now!

Neil O'Donnell / August 18, 2019

Students will be returning to campuses nationwide during the next few weeks, and the weight of college costs will be most evident as students spend a ton of money on textbooks and other supplies. Problem is, a lot of the textbooks purchase never get used by the student spending $150 per book (understandably, those students …

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College Loan Repayment Assistance: A Potential Salary Perk

Neil O'Donnell / July 28, 2019

Thomas Sullivan’s book, COLLEGE…WITHOUT THE EXCESSIVE DEBT, paints a grim reality. Students on average graduate with between 30K—35K in debt (Sullivan 2019:4). That’s a haunting statistic. His very short book provides a great blueprint for how students can avoid loans (for the most part if not altogether). Students continually using scholarship search engines to find …

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Remain Cool at Work: Comfort Zone Fan

Neil O'Donnell / July 7, 2019

Not everyone has the luxury of working in an air-conditioned office. I’m sorta kinda in that situation. The building I work in has no AC, but my darling wife purchased me a portable AC unit for an anniversary gift. Yet, when I work at home or I go to another person’s office to fix any …

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Summer is here!!! Now be careful!

Neil O'Donnell / July 2, 2019

Sunblock or protective apparel – whatever you choose, don’t go outdoors without protection.

Cutting College Costs

Neil O'Donnell / May 12, 2019

I’ve been involved in the higher education field for over twenty years, 16 years of which I have worked full time as an academic and career counselor for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. I myself was part of the program I now work for and have my own experience being a first-generation college student. My parents …

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Recruiting: Make Time

Neil O'Donnell / April 20, 2019

For those who have ever participated in efforts to hire new staff members, it will comes as no surprise that the recruiting process is often long, exhausting, frustrating, and costly. Matters get worse if at the end of a search, no one among the interviewed is hired. Now, I get that recruiters and members of …

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“You have a month.” Find a way to learn needed skills!

Neil O'Donnell / March 9, 2019

My first position, paid, as a field archaeologist was as a teaching assistant for Dr. Eill Engelbrecht working on a Iroquoian site dating back to the 1500s. The year was 1992. There were 5 teaching assistants, the other 4 were grad students while I was a rising Junior/undergrad. The experience was filled with excitement and …

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Reducing College Debt Before Graduation

Neil O'Donnell / March 3, 2019

Thomas Sullivan’s new book, COLLEGE… WITHOUT THE EXCESSIVE DEBT, gives a rather eye-opening view of college and the debt students on average leave college with, whether or not students completed any degrees. I myself have seen multiple students with over $20,000 in college loan debt fail to complete a degree. So, these students are left …

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Be a “Digital Pioneer”

Neil O'Donnell / February 4, 2019

The older I get, the more I believe that “digital native” is not generational. I don’t even know if being digitally native is truly a thing. Gen-Xers like me were digital pioneers being the young generation that drove the explosion of web-based applications during the 90s. Millennials and Baby Boomers likewise were digital pioneers in …

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