Level Up
ExploreAre you ready for the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
To remain competitive in a changing economy, workers are turning to universities and training programs to level up their skills. The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce has found repeatedly that a growing share of future U.S. professions will require a postsecondary degree. Of course, college degrees and other programs must be designed to meet the changing needs of our businesses, economy, and society.
These guides offer multiple academic and credentialing pathways to prepare for the in-demand careers of the future. They accommodate professionals of varying education levels, experience, and economic backgrounds, paying thought to online education and affordable, flexible alternatives.
Degree Programs
Degrees Without Borders: Online Programs in Intelligence Analysis & Studies
While intelligence analysts can enter this career from many different paths, most complete an intelligence analysis and studies program. Many of these programs are offered in online formats, allowing busy professionals the chance to balance their careers, family, and education without having to relocate or even attend classes at a set time.
Degrees Without Borders: Online Pre-Veterinary Programs
Pre-vet programs can prepare graduates for various roles, including certified veterinary technicians (CVTs), veterinarians, laboratory technicians, fish and wildlife biologists, or zoologists.
Degrees Without Borders: Online Programs in Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence is the new electricity. Data is the new oil. You would be forgiven for thinking these statements were hyperbolic, but they’re not as far off as they might first appear. The applications of AI-powered analytics reach across practically every sector. Over a third of organizations have already deployed AI-based processes, and analysts forecast global spending on AI to more than double in the next three years, to $79 billion.
Skill-Building Guides
Leveling Up: How to Build Cybersecurity Skills
The Information Age has precipitated the explosive development of the cybersecurity industry. As the world conducts more and more of its economic, political, and social life online, the need to efficiently and reliably protect these activities has become an increasingly pressing one. The ubiquitous nature of the online world means people of varied educational and professional backgrounds can advance their careers by learning cybersecurity skills.
Leveling Up: How to Build Math Skills
From discovering the theory of everything, to teaching first graders how to add and subtract, the career possibilities for those who love math are as expansive as the universe. And in the era of tech and remote work, math skills can also be the key to transitioning from nine-to-five work into more time- and location-flexible employment.
Leveling Up: How to Build Artificial Intelligence Skills
Artificial intelligence is not just sci-fi anymore. It is big business—one with billions of dollars in global funding. And despite what dystopian fiction might have you believe, AI is expected to create more jobs than it eliminates. Computers and their algorithms are adept at analyzing vast pools of data and unstructured information, while humans have the necessary intuition, imagination, and pattern recognition to point those algorithms in the right direction.
Work from home
ExploreAre you a current or aspiring telecommuter? Want to work without borders?
The internet has liberated many traditional careers from the confines of the cubicle. Global Workplace Analytics (2021) found that allowing people to work from home provides compelling benefits for both employees and employers. A typical employer can save $11,000 annually if they allow an employee to work remotely two to three days per week. And drawing on research from over 4,000 reports, GWA concluded that having the option to work remotely can improve employee satisfaction, reduce attrition and unscheduled absences, enhance productivity, save employers and employees money, create fresh employment opportunities, strengthen worker autonomy, improve performance measurements, reduce workplace discrimination, decrease traffic, and benefit the environment.
These resources for “open-collar” professionals examine the best places to work remotely; the growing WFH careers; companies with options to telecommute; and how to secure more flexible working arrangements with existing employers.
Wfh Career Guides
An Employer's Guide - What Workers Want in a Job-Seeker’s Market
The Great Resignation, also known as the Great Reshuffle or the Great Quit, is an ongoing workplace trend that has many economists, public policy experts, and management professionals puzzled.
Work From Home in Florida (FL): A Guide to Telecommuting in the Sunshine State
According to LinkedIn, there are over 110,000 current work-from-home job postings in Florida. So the question isn’t whether there are remote work opportunities in Florida, it’s which one to pursue.
Writing and Editing: A Guide to Work From Home Careers
Careers in writing and editing have historically been ones you could do from home, but with the need for social media marketing, proofreading, and copywriting constantly growing in our tech-centric world, the demand for capable self-starters with writing and editing experience is on the rise.
Resources
Beyond Cafes and Libraries: Where to Work Remotely
Those in the virtual or telecommuting industry have the ability to work on the go, which also means being creative with and breaking free from their home office, the overcrowded café, and silent libraries.
Part-Time Work From Home Jobs: What You Need to Know
The reasons for pursuing a part-time WFH job are varied, but generally fall into three categories: gig work, entrepreneurship, and volunteering. No matter which category is right for you, it’s never been easier to get started.
Best International Cities for Telecommuters: How to Work Remotely From Abroad (2022)
Working remotely from abroad is an enlivening and mind-widening experience. It can often be a financially beneficial one, too. But it’s not easy. You will find your biases challenged, your patience tested, and your ego reduced. The first move is the most difficult: how do you pick a foreign city to work from, and how do you prepare yourself?
Become The boss
ExploreAre you a budding entrepreneur?
Business owners are integral to the growth of the U.S. economy, and ventures in some industries are more likely to succeed than others. The Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that healthcare and social assistance establishments have the highest survival rates, while construction companies don’t fare as well. Additionally, the Kauffman Foundation detailed three major trends shaping new business creation: 1) Entrepreneurs are still predominently white and male, demographics that are not reflective of the population; 2) It’s becoming more of an urban phenomenon, transcending traditional hubs such as the Silicon Valley; and 3) High earnings do not necessarily translate into more jobs, as emergent technologies allow companies to scale revenue without hiring more people.
Check out these resources for prospective business owners, including guides on MBA alternatives; how to pitch companies to investors; the hottest American towns for new companies; and degree programs for entrepreneurs.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP GUIDES
Awesome Towns for Entrepreneurs: A Spotlight on Bozeman, MT
Bozeman appeared on the business map in a big way in 2011, when RightNow Technologies, a local company with 1,100 employees, was acquired by Oracle for $1.5 billion. What followed was a new class of Bozeman entrepreneurs, bolstered by a new startup incubator and national recognition.
Awesome Towns for Entrepreneurs: A Spotlight on Athens, GA
With a small-town feel and plenty of heart, “the Classic City” is rooted in history while providing a thrilling place for new businesses to flourish. Ranked sixth in the nation for most jobs added (USA Today), Athens saw an increase of 4,632 jobs in 2017 alone.
Awesome U.S. Cities for Entrepreneurs: Spotlight on Boise, ID
In spite of its fame in tech circles, Idaho still has a national perception among some as nothing but a collection of remote, isolated frontier towns. But recent demographic information, especially Boise’s explosive growth, may tell a different story.
Resources
Women's Access to Venture Capital - What Female Founders Should Know
For founders of a modern startup, securing access to venture capital is an increasingly important step, one with potentially life-changing ramifications. But accessing venture capital is still harder to do as a female or non-binary founder, with conscious and unconscious biases in the VC community acting as potential obstacles.
How to Start a Business From Home (2022)
Data from the US Small Business Association (SBA) suggests that home-based businesses account for more than half of all businesses in the country (if businesses without employees are included). That share is likely to increase further in 2022, with the Covid-19 pandemic accelerating the shift of many workers into the virtual and non-office realms.
Negotiating For a Raise: Tips & Scripts From a Pro
For some, the thought of asking for a raise can produce levels of fear usually reserved for public speaking. Women, minorities, and younger professionals who have just earned their degrees may feel reticent to broach the subject, given the unconscious and conscious biases they are likely to face at the negotiation table.
Be Outdoors
Explore“Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.” (John Muir, Our National Parks)
Are you an outdoors enthusiast seeking liberation from your cubicle walls?
The health benefits of being out in nature are well-documented. New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation summarized the advantages of spending time in forests, which included boosting one’s immune system; lowering blood pressure; decreasing stress; enhancing mood; increasing one’s focus; heightening one’s energy level; improving sleep; and even augmenting creativity.
Explore career and education guides for high-growth careers in nature.
working parents
ExploreAre you a working parent overwhelmed with your career and family responsibilities?
With the rising costs of healthcare, education, and other basic needs, having a dual-income household is mandatory for most modern families. The Pew Research Center found that in 1970, only 31 percent of families with children had both parents working full-time. These days, nearly half of U.S. families are headed by two full-time workers. Fifty-six percent of working parents reported that striking a balance between their professional and family lives was difficult. Furthermore, the United States is the only industrialized nation without paid parental leave for new mothers and fathers, and the cost of child-care for two children exceeds the median rent in all 50 states. As PhD graduate Jen King described being a working parent in her UC Berkeley commencement speech: “It’s not just about leaning in, and leaning in, and leaning in, until you fall on your face...It requires restructuring the entire workplace, to allow for a range of opportunities for participation, for women and men, for birth parents and co-parents.”
Learn about various family-friendly careers; ways to advocate for more flexible work arrangements; and how to overcome the self-doubt, stress, guilt, and fatigue of being a working parent.
National Working Parents Day: Advocacy Guide
Celebrating National Working Parents Day can be an excellent time to recognize parents working hard professionally and at home. There are lots of ways to get involved with this day. A great place to start is simply by reaching out to any working parents you may know and offering them an encouraging text or post on social media acknowledging how hard they work.
Guide to Affordable Summer Camps During COVID-19
For most American children, summer marks a reprieve from books and tests. However, for many working parents, it epitomizes the widespread shortage of affordable childcare. There are a lot of local, private, and donor-funded programs designed to help families send their kids to day schools and summer camps at little to no cost.
Guide to Awesome Careers for Parents
The era of single-earner families is waning. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly two-thirds of married-couple families with children under 18 are dual-income homes, and if numbers over the last decade are any indication, the trend is unlikely to reverse any time soon.
Tips for Working From Home With Kids: A Parents' Guide
Working from home can seem like a dream come true. Standard work attire can include pajamas, there is no more commuting, and lunch and snacks are only as far away as the kitchen. However, this dream can quickly become a nightmare for working parents who have to juggle kids at home.
Five Companies with Cutting-Edge Support for Working Parents
The Department of Labor reports that 63 percent of families have both parents in the workforce. Not surprisingly, striking a balance between work and family life can be hard. However, there are some employers who are making it a priority to support their parent employees.
Online Education Syllabus & Resources for Kids During COVID-19
Through the uncertainty of school closures in the COVID-19 era, many parents like myself are struggling with their new role as teacher. With school closures likely to continue through the summer, parents and teachers worry that children will fall behind academically.
Features
ExploreBustedCubicle.com explores the disruption of traditional work environments through interviews, cross-cultural studies, and in-depth features.
Holiday Gift Guide for Telecommuters & Travelers (2022-2023)
Buying gifts for travelers and telecommuters can feel like a puzzle: how do you pack the most sentiment, the most usefulness, or the most fun into the smallest amount of physical space?
Industry Disrupted: The Impact of Automation on Programming
For some programmers, the inevitability of automation can be worrisome—and perhaps not unjustifiably. Machine learning is rapidly improving to the point where machines outperform humans on routine, repetitive tasks such as coding.
Fair Trade Month - The Ethics of Global Production Systems
One of the main ways that the Fair Trade Federation advocates for fair trade is through its membership program. Businesses that become members have essentially pledged their commitment to fair trade practices in word and deed.
Advocacy
ExploreWant to get involved in causes beyond your cubicle?
These informative pamphlets and petitions can help you shape beneficial policies regarding family leave, worker training, achieving a better work-life balance, engaging communities, and enacting other measures to promote a healthy labor force and society.