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campus, they must become aware that their goal is not just to make it into college, but find a career and eventually a job that pays the rent. The most popular college major among incoming freshmen is "undecided," and even among those who do have a major selected, 75 percent change their minds (and their majors). To help our future workforce find a direction, college career centers are revamping, trying to guide stu- dents earlier about job fields that have potential for employment after graduation. This can be crucial when 90 percent of the 2015 college graduates said they expect to find work in their field of study, but only 64 percent of 2013 and 2014 grads actually did, according to Accen- ture's annual college graduate survey released in May. More stu- dents (and parents) are doing the cost/benefit analysis before choos- ing majors, and colleges are often forced to justify graduating students who can't get jobs that cover their student loan costs. One of the most surprising survey findings is that 49 percent of recent 2013 and 2014 grads consider themselves underem- ployed. Lynn University, a private college in Boca Raton, Fla., launched a new freshman initiative last year to help students find their paths to employ- ment. "We try to help them by give them lists of occupations they can do with each major and help set up experiences for them," says Barbara Cambia, executive director of Lynn's Hannifan Center for Career Connections. Cambia says she also injects a dose of reality into the process, aligning students' lifestyle priorities with the career path they plan to pursue: "I tell them if you are thinking about the hospitality field and you have an issue with working evenings or weekends, that's not the industry for you." If pay is the priority, career cen- ters now make college graduates aware that the highest-paying majors earn $3.4 million more than those with the lowest-paying majors over the course of their careers, according to a study by the George- town University Center of Educa- tion and the Workforce. Those high- paying majors are engineering, bio- chemistry, computer science, math- ematics, physics, finance, econom- ics and statistics and pharmaceutical science. Those lower-paying majors are in the arts, education and com- munity service. Yet, while young job seekers ranked pay and advancement oppor- tunities as top job priorities, they said factors such as training, mean- ingful work, organizational culture and work/life balance are highly valued, too, according to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management. When it comes to choosing a career that lends itself to those prior- ities, experts steer young people to occupations that align with their interests. Only 32 percent of high school seniors who take the ACT exam select a college major that cor- relates with their interests, according to ACT. These statistics are impor- tant because ACT research also 2 GREATERmilwaukeeJOBS • June 11, 2015 high school grads . . . from page 1 see HIGH SCHOOL GRADS . . . page 7 Liz Reyer is a credentialed coach with more than 20 years of business experience. Her company, Reyer Coaching & Consulting, offers services for organiza- tions of all sizes. Submit questions or comments about this column at www.deliverchange.com/coachscorner or email her at lizdeliverchange.com. How to cope with the little losses when things are mostly fine By Liz Reyer Tribune News Service (TNS) & A Q Q. I've lost several sales lately, and I'm feeling a bit dejected. Big picture, things are OK, so what can I do to keep my spirits up? A. Maintain your perspective as you look for ways to turn around your outcomes. THE INNER GAME For any given opportunity, there are many things outside of one's control. The trick to turning around your current pattern is to determine which elements you could, in fact, influence if you just thought about them in a different way. Use your recent experiences – both positive and negative – to deepen your understanding of your sales process. Look at the reasons you didn't get certain pieces of business. There may be a surface reason, and then other, deeper reasons. For example, a customer may say your price was too high.Yet they may have selected a differ- ent company at a similar price. The real reason could be relat- ed to value, to the service expe- rience they've been promised, or even to their comfort with the people on your sales team. Once you've analyzed the rea- sons for your wins and losses, identify anything you'd do differ- ently.Turning these experiences into a learning laboratory will help you gain a sense of victory rather than failure. Then take a step back from the specific, individual results to look at the big picture of your role. Reflect on all of the posi- tive aspects of your job. Don't let them get lost in short-term disappointments. Finally, look at the overall framework of your life, again, concentrating on the positives so that you build resilience to take on challenges. OUTER GAME You'll get the most benefit from your reflections if you put them to work on future oppor- tunities. Based on your "lessons learned," create a process in which you consider whether any of the past pitfalls you've encountered could resurface. You might even create a check- list so that you remember to employ all of the lessons at your disposal. Be rigorous in planning your sales strategies so that you don't have careless decisions to regret. Also think about broadening your areas of influence.You may, for example, feel that you can't influence pricing or service from your firm. But is that really true? Become an activist to drive changes that will benefit you, your colleagues and the compa- ny as a whole. Your influence may also be limited by personal gaps in skills or approach. In that case, seek out opportunities for self-improvement, including pur- suit of training that your compa- ny may be willing to fund. To remain upbeat, don't let work become your whole life. Make plenty of time for friends, family and fun! If your personal life is stale, it'll carry over to your work attitude. Likewise, focus on personal health and well-being, including attention to nutrition, exercise and a spiritual practice. And celebrate your successes. You'll never hit a point where all of your pitches win, but each win is a success, and losses should not be allowed to over- shadow the wins. THE LAST WORD It's hard to hear "nos," but learning from them and focusing on the "yesses" can help you keep your morale high. A publication of Conley Media Distributed by: Conley Distribution 262-513-2646 ©2004 by Conley Media, LLC Waukesha County Independent and Locally Owned GREATERmilwaukeeJOBS is published weekly by Conley Media – Waukesha County, 801 N. Barstow St., Waukesha, WI 53186. Contents of this publication may not be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the publisher. GREATERmilwaukeeJOBS assumes no liability for any error in copy or content. It is the advertiser's responsibility to be aware of the laws pertaining to employment advertising. Subscriptions are available for $34 (non-refundable) for a 6-month subscription. Call 262-306-5008 for information. Call Center Director: Cindy Shaske 262-306-5016 cshaske@conleynet.com Account Executive: Julie Sears 262-306-5008 jsears@conleynet.com Story Coordinator: Dan Muckelbauer 262-513-2626 dmuck@conleynet.com Production: Patricia Scheel 262-513-2690 GREATERmilwaukeeJOBS Volume 17 • Number 39 June 11, 2015 To place an ad: Call us at 262-306-5008 or fax us at 262-542-6082 deadline: Noon on Wednesdays WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers advertised the most open jobs in April than at any time in the 15 years that the government has tracked the data, a sign that this year's steady hiring will likely continue. The Labor Department said Tuesday that the number of open jobs at the end of April jumped 5.2 percent to 5.4 mil- lion. The figure suggests that employers anticipate stronger customer demand in the months ahead. The job market has remained healthy even as the economy fal- tered at the start of 2015. The steady hiring shows that busi- nesses see the economic slump as having resulted mainly from temporary factors such as a harsh winter. On Friday, the government said employers added a robust 280,000 jobs in May after a healthy gain in April. Average hourly wages also ticked up. Tuesday's figures show ''the bigger than expected gain in employment in May was no fluke,'' said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist for Capital Economics. ''Labor market con- ditions are strengthening and wage growth will accelerate fur- ther.'' The unemployment rate rose to 5.5 percent last month, from 5.4 percent. But even that was partly good news: the improving job market and wage gains see JOB OPENINGS . . . page 6 Number of US job openings jumped to a 15-year high in April By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER AP Economics Writer

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