For 2015 Grads, Small Employers May Offer the Best Job Prospects

For 2015 Grads, Small Employers May Offer the Best Job ProspectsFor 2015 Grads, Small Employers May Offer the Best Job ProspectsVarious reports are suggesting that the small employer market may be the best place for the class of 2015 to look for jobs. An April 6 USA Today article reported increased hiring by employers of 50 employees or less. The article cited increased homebuilding, improved availability of financing and lower energy prices as contributing factors.In fact, ADPs March jobs report showed that employers of 500 employees or less accounted for over 90 percent of the new jobs created in the month. This continued a strong hiring push by small- and mid-sized employers, as this group has accounted for about 75 percent of new jobs since the beginning of 2014.For the upcoming class of 2015, this is great news. The badeanstalt news is that fruchtwein of these employers dont interview on campus and colleges have been ineffective in connecting new grads to this market.As CEO of a firm that specializes in placing new college grads in entry-level positions, I know well the challenges faced by job seekers in penetrating this market. For one thing, about 70 percent of the new grads who interview with us say that they dont know where their education and skills can be applied in the workforce in other words, they dont know much about whos hiring and which jobs are a fit.One thing is clear the biggest question in the entry-level job market this year will be whether small employers looking to hire new grads will be able to find enough qualified candidates to fill these positions. This underscores the fact that the entry-level job market is highly inefficient in that many hiring companies and new grad job seekers have difficulty finding each other.With about 80 percent of graduating seniors expected to leave campus without a job in May, its clear that developing a strategy to penetrate the small employer market should be a component of every new grad job search. Her e are some things for new grads to keep in mind as they start looking for jobsSmall Employers Rely on Referrals Since most small and medium employers dont dedicate a lot of resources to recruiting, one of their most important recruiting strategies is to encourage referrals from employees, clients, vendors, consultants and other partners. Alumni connections are often extremely important in these referrals.Focus on NetworkingWith most smaller employers relying on referrals, the best way to get the attention of potential employers is to develop and use networking contacts. Most new grads have much better networks than they think. Important sources include alumni, professors, coaches, and administrators. In addition, job seekers shouldnt forget all those business people they have interacted with in volunteer activities, church groups and prior jobs, not to mention the parents of friends who know them well.Sell Your Transferrable Skills A lack of work experience is not an obstacle. Howev er, grads must find another way to establish value with a potential employer. This is best accomplished by identifying transferrable skills the so-called soft skills like critical thinking, time management, leadership, effective communication, etc. Then, job seekers should identify real life examples in which these skills were used successfully. Prior and current jobs, activities and classroom projects are all great sources.Be Thorough in Preparing for Interviews As grads get interview opportunities, they must research the companies and industries thoroughly. They may learn of new products being introduced, significant growth plans, new capital being raised through a venture capital investment or other events. If job seekers can talk about these events during the interview, they can show how well theyve prepared and demonstrate an interest in the company. Also, grads shouldnt forget to prepare good questions to learn more about the company, as well as what skills are valued most in the organization and that particular position.For many new grads, small and medium employers could represent a great source for that first job after college. GradStaff research shows that 87 percent of entry-level job seekers state a preference to work for an employer of 1,000 employees or less. In addition, almost half of these state a preference for employers of 100 employees or less, which shows that many graduating seniors understand the benefits of working for a smaller employer.Small and medium employers are hiring, and whether its necessary to replace retiring baby boomers or to enhance the technology skills of their workforce, these employers are very interested in hiring new college graduates. By using the tips discussed in this article, recent and soon-to-be grads will significantly increase their chances for job search success.

A 3D Look at Bones

A 3D Look at Bones A 3D Look at Bones A 3D Look at BonesProf. Kenji Shimada didnt exactly have a large amount of medical knowledge when acquaintances at a hospital encouraged him to help create a way to see bones three-dimensionally. X-rays give you a two-dimensional look and doctors should be commended on how consistent in assessment they are able to be based on that, says Shimada, a professor of engineering in the mechanical engineering departement at Carnegie Mellon University. Still, I believe being able to see it three-dimensionally is mora consistent.Shimada was a part of a group working on a software algorithm to try and make 3D a reality. It really started with realizing how orthopedics may be the closest of all medical areas to mechanical engineering because it looks at the things like the structural component of the body and stresses. We were shown a procedure that essentially involved cutting bones and they take X-rays frequently to make sure everything is moving in the ri ght direction. We thought we could create software that could read the frontal and side images and if you give a computer an algorithm with a template then the computer would figure out what the patients bone should look like.Shimada compares the process to what the likes of companies such as Boeing experience. When you look at the 3D modeling for airplanes and cars that mechanical engineering has done, theres a lot that fits with medical, he says. Im surprised more people dont think of it that way.Prof. Kenji Shimada. Image Carnegie Mellon UniversityUsing implants as an example, Shimada says you want to make sure loading access is properly aligned so when you have a complete 3D bone CAD model you can simulate the operations. People can specify hip implants that can potentially be a more exact fit when youre talking about the existing bone structure and think of how that can potentially affect the chances for success, he says.Shimada said one of the most difficult parts of the proje ct for him was the learning process. You find yourself constantly reading up on the medical side, he says. Youre starting from scratch and jumping into new topics. But that can also be exciting.Shimada says mechanical engineerings emphasis of the past probably held back more 3D medical creations from coming from the field. My generationIm over 50when we learned mechanical engineering we didnt talk too much about the human body, he says. I think the younger generations are thankfully getting a broader sense. You see 3D printers for things like artificial customized hip joints and we now have more related courses within mechanical engineering.Shimada says another medical project he has high hopes for based on the positive results of this 3D project is simulation through computation for abdominal aneurysms. In engineering, we simulate first the behavior before we start cutting into it, so I think one big way we can contribute to medical from mechanical engineering is the computation of simulation, he says. Its looking at structural, fluid, heat transfer, and more. Like working with the bending of a wing and the air around it, we can assess aspects such as blood flow.Eric Butterman is an independent writer.Learn more about the cross-disciplinary nature of 3D technology at theAM3DConference and Expo. For Further Discussion When you look at the 3D modeling for airplanes and cars that mechanical engineering has done, theres a lot that fits with medical. Im surprised more people dont think of it that way.Prof. Kenji Shimada, Carnegie Mellon University

Visualizing the most innovative companies in 2018

Visualizing the most innovative companies in 2018Visualizing the most innovative companies in 2018Move fast and break things. Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough. So said Mark Zuckerberg, back when Facebook was still growing rapidly and not engulfed in so many public problems. Zuckerberg meant that neuerung is messy, and as it turns out, expensive.PwCs 2018 Global Innovation Study analyzed the top 1,000 companies spending the most on research and development (RD). We broke out the rankings by industry for the top 50, letting you easily see the leaders in each category both in overall terms ($B) and RD intensity (% of total revenue). This approach creates a dynamic view into several different industries and companies, revealing the ones leaning hard into innovation and disruption.Click to enlargeFirst, a couple caveats. Companies had to publicly disclose their expenditures to be included in the ranking. PwC excluded any subsidiaries with financials included i n a parent company. For example, Googles expenditures roll up to its parent company, Alphabet. Taken altogether, the rankings comprise an astonishing 40% of all the worlds RD spending for 2018, which includes government RD.Top 10 Companies that Spend the Most on RDAmazon.com (United States) $22.62BAlphabet Inc. (United States) $16.23BVolkswagen (Germany) $15.78BSamsung Electronics (South Korea) $15.31BIntel (United States) $13.10BMicrosoft (United States) $12.29BApple (United States) $11.58BRoche Holding AG (Switzerland) $10.80BJohnson Johnson (United States) $10.55BMerck Co. (United States) $10.20BAmazon is by far and away the leader of the pack with over $22.6B in total expenses. To be fair, we classified Amazon as a retailer, although it should properly be understood as a conglomerate. Much of its RD budget no doubt goes to things like natural language processing (Alexa), web hosting services and logistics. Even still, Amazon easily surpasses the outlay of Alphabet, which is fa mous for its moonshot innovation projects.Our visualization also hints at underlying corporate strategies. Take technology hardware and equipment as an example. Samsung ($15.3B) and Apple ($11.6B) are both investing heavily in RD, but both companies are so successful that these huge figures only represent 5 to 10% of their overall revenue. They have enormous balance sheets. Nokia ($5.9B) is spending substantially less overall on RD but not when expressed as a percentage of its total revenue (21%). Clearly Nokia is betting the farm, so to speak, on its ability to innovate and stay in business.Yet another way to look at our visual is to compare different industries against each other. Software and services companies clearly spend substantial percentages of their revenue on RD, with only IBM allocating less than 10%. Thats similar to the pharmaceuticals industry, where every single company on our visual is well over 10%. In fact, if we ranked the top companies by their RD intensity, 4 out of the top 5 would be in pharmaceuticals. Theres an obvious and strong linkage between discovering new drugs and staying competitive.Compare these industries with auto manufactures, capital goods companies, diversified financials and consumer durables. Not a single company in our visual from these categories allocates more than 10% of its revenue. Granted, their RD budgets are still enormous by any reasonable standard, but only because most of these companies are gigantic multinationals.Are these companies safe from disruption? Or should they be spending billions more on RD? Wed only point out thatGEstock is trading below $8 a share.Searsis in a fight for its life. And big companiestend to declinewith old age.This article was originally published on HowMuch.