The Value of a college education.

Every year millions of students graduate from high school. The decisions they make will affect the rest of their lives. Some will choose to go to college; some will want to get full-time jobs; others will decide to obtain technical job training. In every case, economic reasoning will help students make better choices.

Everybody decides to consider the costs and trade-offs connected with a decision to go to college. And the main question in this situation is like: Is a college education worth the expense in terms of immediate and future personal growth and economic well-being?

The opportunity costs of going to college involve a loss of income and a loss of practical job experience while attending college. Lets consider two mans: The Education Level of the first one is less than 12 years and his Projected Lifetime Earnings is $850.000; The Education Level of the second one is 5 years college and his Projected Lifetime Earnings is $1.500.000. We see a big difference between them.

The trade-offs involved in going to college include using time and money now to gain greater advantages in the future. But somebody thinks that if you could invest $ 30.000 now, for instance, forego a college education, and with your investment returns still have the same lifetime earning power as acollege. It’s of course can be true but where do you get $30.000 if you don’t have education? Besides nobody will give you a job if you haven’t got education and knowledge. And I am sure that my further education is worth the time and money involved.

Comparing prices.

Learning to make informed decisions about buying food will result in economic skills that last a lifetime. In my talk I would like to single out the steps in decision-making.

To understand how buying decisions are made I would advise you to make a shopping list of 10 basic food items, then go to several shops and find out the range of unit cost for each item. To begin with you should consider the first step “What kind?”. The variety of a certain commodity in a supermarket is often confusing, there are dozens of different brands. The next step under discussion should be “How much?”. After deciding what kind of commodity to buy, consumers generally consider the price. I would like to point out that another consideration figuring into what we buy is the quality of the product, thus I suggest that the next step can be: “How good?”. Sometimes evaluating the quality of a product can be difficult for the customer. For instance, most food products list natural as well as artificial ingredients. Some provide nutritional information.

Being a wise consumer is never easy. A wide variety of prices, brands, sizes and advertising gimmicks influence you when you enter a store. Firstly I would advise you to decide what kind of product you need. The occasion or purpose can determine the kind of product you will buy. If you know that your friend, who loves apple juice, is coming to visit you, you might want to get some for her. Eventually there are many things that influence what you buy. I would like to attract your attention to the point that some stores indicate the unit price for the items on the shelves. Please take into consideration that although quality or kind of a product contributes to the price, generally the larger the quantity, the less per unit cost. Buying in quantity can often help us spend less.

At the same time there is one more very important factor influencing buyer’s decision – advertising. You can trust brands that have been around for a long time but maybe you want to try a newcomer. Also the consumer’s decision is a matter of personal taste. In the end, the decision what to buy and at what price and quality level is a personal one.

Still, let’s assume that we are smart consumers and know how to use advertising for our purposes. My personal opinion is that ads are usually one-sided and emphasize only the good qualities of a product. You probably know how ads try to attract consumers by appealing to their emotions. For example, a chocolate ad shows people tasting a delicious bar of milk chocolate with an immense pleasure, diet bread ad shows thin people playing at the beach, and so on and so forth.

In conclusion I’d like to stress that many factors influence buying decisions, and choices are not simple for consumers. It’s absolutely true that smart buyers must obtain product information and then compare and evaluate that information.

 

Finding a job.

When you start looking for a job for the first time you wonder where you should start looking for job opportunities, what your first steps should be. You wonder if you need a resume and for what you are qualified.

At first, I would like to explain to you that the market place does not hire just anyone. In fact teenage employment is traditionally twice as high as overall unemployment rate. Where you look for work and the techniques you use in applying can be the difference between getting the job and remaining unemployed. I think that to begin with one should use all possible sources when job-hunting. I assume that one of the simplest but often overlooked sources is word-of-mouth. You should let your friends and relatives know you are looking for a job and ask them whether they know of any job openings. Another advice is to go to adult education center. There are full-time and part-time courses and one can even do correspondent courses, working for a qualification at home. Another successful way of looking for a job is to go to the supermarket near your home. You can ask the manager whether any jobs are available now or in the near future, fill out applications for jobs, leave your name, address and telephone number so that they can contact you if any jobs become available.

Besides, I have heard that newspaper ads are a good source of job openings, as well as school councillors and teen job services. Often schools have bulletin boards where job openings are posted. Also public bulletin boards in stores list job openings. I think it might be a good idea to use private job agencies. But in this case you should be very cautious. Unlike public job agencies, the private firms charge a fee, sometimes a percentage of your salary. Anyway, whichever source you use you shouldn’t be shy about seeking the job.

The second step in job-hunting is to fill out an application. After you find a job opening, you will have to show your potential employer why you are the right person for the job. In a sense, you are now selling a product – yourself. You want the employer to purchase your abilities than those of someone else. Often an employment application requires that you give names of friends or acquaintances as references and your prospective employer may contact these people to find out about your work habits and skills. Then you put one more step into your plan – “Write a Resume”. I am sure that it is very useful to have someone else to read your resume. In my opinion these three steps are the most important ones in job-hunting.

I would also like to point out that usually the employer asks you to fill out an application. You should take into consideration that this step can be crucial. The potential employer must select candidates to interview, often using the application as a guide. I’m also sure that the applicant should read the application form through before beginning to write. Make sure you understand what information is being requested, write neatly and provide complete information. I would also like to attract your attention to the following: employers looking for permanent, full-time workers often require a resume – an outline of my educational and employment background – in addition to an application. Some employers may want a resume for part-time employment. I would also emphasize that writing a resume while you are still student provides practice at a skill you will need again in the future.

There is one more step that can affect an employer’s decision – that is an interview. I advise the beginner in job-hunting to fins out something about the firm before going to the interview. I would also advise you to be on time, dress neatly, comb your hair, be polite, answer questions thoughtfully, speak clearly, and when you leave, thank the interviewer for talking to you. Remember: most people hire people they like, rather than the most competent person. Mind the proverb: “When you are smiling the whole world smiles with you”.