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With college debts at all-time highs and education loan payments about to start coming due, graduation season can be filled not only with a justifiable sense of accomplishment and high hopes but with a clear angst about how to get your first job and begin a meaningful career. Even though the Great Recession is behind us and our nation enjoys low unemployment rates, you still need to be smart about how you enter the full-time workforce.

Here are some insights and tips to keep in mind in this season of possibilities. READ MORE AT U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT

We’ve all heard the advice that networking is important for our careers. And regardless of your profession, your industry or demographic, the message is loud and clear. If you want to be successful, you need to spend time networking. It’s great advice. But the critical missing piece to this advice is exactly how to network. READ MORE ON FORBES

Thinking about finding yourself a new 9-5? It can be hard to figure out what exactly you can do to make your résumé stand out in a crowd of other, similarly polished, one-page masterpieces. Even after you've looked at every template around and re-written your cover letter fifteen times, there are still ways to make the recruiter or hiring manager in HR notice your résumé first — and help them remember it when they're looking at 200 others.

These résumé writing tips from experts can help you polish up what you send out with your application and help you stand out. READ MORE AT BUSTLE

A team of scientists at the Yale-National University of Singapore (NUS) College in Singapore has reported that ‘find your passion’ may not be the best advice for students, especially those in the early stages of their education.

The research is published in Psychological Science. As the world becomes increasingly interdisciplinary, having diverse interests can help people make important connections across professional domains. READ MORE AT ASIAN SCIENTIST

The end of the year might seem like a terrible time to look for a new job. Half the time, it seems like everyone’s on vacation, and the other half the time, they’re dealing with year-end reviews.

December is anything but business as usual, but for that reason, it might actually be the perfect time to job search. Last year, Business Insider reported on an Adecco Survey in which 94 percent of hiring managers urged job seekers to keep looking during the holiday season.

Here’s why... READ MORE AT PAYSCALE

Even as there are signs that the economy is beginning to turn the corner for the better, the Hispanic community is lagging behind.

Hispanics have a higher than the national average unemployment rate and many more are living below the poverty line. Most gut-wrenching, nearly a third of all Latino children are living in poverty. The last eight years have failed to do much to ameliorate this situation despite well-intentioned government policies.

The incoming Trump administration has an opportunity to reverse this trend and work to ensure that Latinos are able to prosper and live out the American Dream. READ MORE AT THE HILL

The workers’ comp industry is in for big changes as older workers continue to stay on the job longer and more Latinos are employed in the workplace. These changes to the U.S. workforce present employers with challenges to safety and retention, according to Rich Ives, Travelers vice president of workers’ compensation claims.

According to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2017 career outlook report, older employees (ages 65 and up) are staying on the job longer and, as a labor group, are expected to grow the fastest of any other age group through 2024. READ MORE AT CLAIMS JOURNAL

Ideally, a job search is something you start on your own terms. You feel ready for a fresh challenge, or a career change or to move from one company to another.

But the harsh reality is that you won’t always start looking because you want to.

Downsizing, layoffs—and, yes, even getting fired—can happen unexpectedly. With all of these, you may have an inkling of what’s to come, but it can still be pretty shocking. READ MORE AT FORBES

Networking… many people see it as a necessary evil in the business world, and for some it can be difficult to master. Networking connects people with one another, sparking new ideas, forging new partnerships, and making an event worth attending. Sounds great, however, the problem with networking is that it can be, well, awkward. If you’ve ever turned up to a gathering as a “newbie” or first timer, you’ll know the feeling of hovering by the doorway, not knowing who to approach or where to begin. READ MORE AT SUNDAY BUSINESS POST

There are some tried and true strategies job seekers use to discover and land a new job. This year's Job Seeker Nation Study by Jobvite, a recruiting platform, highlights the methods successful job hunters used to secure a new career.

While most workers (61 percent) are satisfied with their current jobs, over 80 percent are open to new job opportunities, according to the survey. READ MORE AT U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT

We were told, if we focus on good grades, life will be great. But the ones who got good jobs and life partners were not necessarily school or college toppers. They said, clear this entrance exam and you will be successful, but others became millionaires. We continue to receive terrible advice throughout life. Well-meaning colleagues share bad tips drawn from limited personal perspectives and experiences. Read on for the 10 pieces of bad advice you should ignore..

1. Bad advice: Put your head down and work hard. Rewards will follow. READ MORE AT ECONOMIC TIMES

As the weather gets warmer, the office gets quieter and the world moves at a more relaxed tempo. But that doesn’t mean you have to slow down your career advancement. Here's how to keep up the pace through Labor Day.

Expand your skill set. Take advantage of summer courses offered by community colleges and local universities. Whether you sign up for content marketing, coding or management, come fall you'll have a leg up on your coworkers. READ MORE AT FORBES

The rate of workplace death in the U.S. was unchanged in 2015 from the previous year, but there was an increase in the number of Latinos who died on the job, according to an annual analysis of federal data by the AFL-CIO.

The report found 4,836 workplace fatalities nationwide, a rate of 3.4 people per 100,000. Among Latinos, the rate was nearly 20 percent higher: 4.0 per 100,000 people.

Deaths among Latino workers increased from 804 in 2014 to 903 in 2015. Of those, 605 were foreign-born, which includes those with legal status and those in the country illegally. READ MORE AT KPCC

Some electronic job applications skip the cover letter altogether. That's a negative for applicants, because it removes a chance to make yourself stand out -- to show that you're more than a list of past jobs and accomplishments.

A good cover letter can help you get noticed amid a sea of people with similar qualifications. It's an opportunity to convince an interviewer to take a chance on you, or to show that you're clearly the right person for the job. READ MORE AT USA TODAY

Despite gender equality initiatives and rules forcing companies to disclose their salary data, men are still paid more than women. What’s more, the gap between men’s earnings and women’s earnings is actually widening, not narrowing. In 2017, the average pay for women globally was $12,000, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF), almost half of the $21,000 average pay packet for men. If the WEF is right, it’s going to be nearly 217 years before the gender pay gap closes. For women in the workforce today, that’s clearly too long to wait. READ MORE AT FORBES

It is only natural to be fearful when searching for a job, especially if you are a new graduate. But fear will take you nowhere. As in all aspects of life, fear is not a good element in making a decision.

Even those who need to change jobs are petrified by fear: fear of leaving a comfortable job, fear of starting over and fear of being rejected. Most of these apprehensions are borne out of the overall fear of the unknown.
You must conquer all these worries so you can be fearless in your job seeking. Here are the right tips that will make you strong and courageous in finding the right job that will make you and your pockets happy.

1. Focus on what you can do for the company and not on yourself
One of the best ways of conquering your fear of the unknown is not to be concerned about yourself. When going for a job interview, focus on the needs of the company and how you can fulfill those needs. You will notice that your mind will be more concentrated on the company and not on your fearful emotions. READ MORE AT JOBS AND HIRE

The United States has been — and continues to be — one of the most popular destinations for immigrants from around the world. Immigrants from Latin American countries and other Spanish-speaking people in particular have become one of the nation’s fastest growing demographics. The United States may be a good place to live compared to many other countries, but every new wave of immigrants — along with second and third generation Hispanic Americans — continues to face various levels of discrimination.

In many of the worst states for Hispanic Americans, there are opportunities to get a steady job, earn decent wages, and buy a home in a thriving community. These opportunities, however, are not uniformly accessible across racial and ethnic lines. READ MORE AT 24/7 WALL ST.

Imagine you are presenting to 1,000 people. The lights come up, and as you leave the stage you are confronted with a dozen or so people from the audience.

Hands thrust out, many asking direct questions about your content. Others are more subtle, and just pass you their cards or say they loved your speech.

You’ve likely attended a speech like this, eager to get a word in with the presenter. But it’s easy to forget that people are busy, especially those who are more high profile (and giving speeches to thousands of people) or have been in the business for some time. They’re constantly bombarded with requests to meet or give advice, but occasionally someone cuts through. How?

To help you work a room and achieve more than just a handful of business cards, follow these pointers: READ MORE AT FORTUNE

For a long time the word “networking” scared me. I thought it meant showing up to conferences and shaking hands with strangers. Here’s what I did to get past the scary word and out in the world making new connections.

1. Start with your friends: Start with the connections you are comfortable with. Meet up with a close past coworker for coffee one morning to check in on how things are going. Mention your situation and ask if they have any recommendations. Before you leave, be sure to mention you’d love for them to pass any jobs your way! READ MORE AT HUFFINGTON POST

With a few days left in 2016, perhaps you’ve already started thinking of your New Year’s resolutions?

Here’s the problem with New Year’s Resolutions

The nature of the word “resolution” refers to solving or fixing something. That’s the major downside of New Year’s resolutions; they come from a negative place of feeling “not good enough”, making us wish to fix ourselves in order to be perfect, and that’s not a very motivating place to be.

We don’t need to be fixed, We need to grow. READ MORE AT HUFFINGTON POST