Hot cocoa with minimellows. Thinking on it has consumed nearly every moment of my waking experience.

 miamizsun wrote: 
My friend used to take perspectives to a Chinese restaurant to see how well they ate with chop sticks.

 Beanie wrote: 
Ha. Love it.

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
Do what jeff does and make them buy you a chicken fried steak or spaghetti lunch. You can tell a lot about how they eat their spag. Plus you're less likely to be sad on a full stomach.

 miamizsun wrote: 

 
The few times I've been involved with hiring someone, I could tell from the cover letter everything I needed to know. And I don't even have to read it! Because really, if you can't make your cover letter look professional, what are you going to do with stuff you don't care about?
 
Finalists, I look to see if the formatting on the resume is consistent and clear. That's really hard so it's like a final exam.

Sometimes I do read them though, and then I am sad.

 islander wrote: 
For me, I like to have lunch or dinner with each and every applicant, of course they have to buy.

I can tell a lot by watching someone watch me eat free food.

 Lazy8 wrote:

For me it depends a lot on where you are in the process. If I just received 100 sets of applicant info, I'll never see the cover letter. On round 3 or 4 where I'm actually looking at the people more closely and actually debating the merits of John vs. Julie (ie. they have names at this point), then a cover letter may help if it gives insight into their personality that the resume doesn't convey. If it's fluff & bluster it's more likely to hurt though. If it's more than a couple of short paragraphs, it will definitely work against them.

 

 kysmet wrote: 
But that's where a cover letter can help ... you can highlight those things, that might be difficult to fit into a resume. Things that might get lost in a resume, that's just a dry recitation of work duties.

 Antigone wrote:

Eh. Even when I read them (which is pretty rare) I don't believe them. If it's important enough to tell me about find a way to it put it in your resume.

 Antigone wrote: 
Ugh.  I'm totally stuck because I'm looking for a career change and my current job has nothing to do with what I'm applying for.  I don't have accomplishments, projects, awards, etc. to highlight and everything I've done that's related to the position has been on the side, not through jobs I've had.  

 kysmet wrote: 
And they are actually more important!

I think cover letters are more difficult to write than résumés.

See the girl with the red dress on
She can do the Birdland all night long
Yeah yeah, what'd I say, all right

Well, tell me what'd I say, yeah
Tell me what'd I say right now
Tell me what'd I say
Tell me what'd I say right now
Tell me what'd I say
Tell me what'd I say yeah

 kysmet wrote:
 

This is very complicated...  Bill Clinton passed a bill in the early 1990's that made it impossible for borrowers to eliminate their student loans through bankruptcy— in other words, people who could not pay for the loan became serfs for life...  this is what is happening in the USA right now—  the pie has been shrinking for a long time now, and the rich are getting their bigger slice...  average people are becoming peons and serfs through debt for life with interest rates that are the cream for the rich...

a concrete example is the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, which passed in 2005, when the Republicans, who represent the rich, held the White House, both houses of Congress, and the Supreme Court...  at the same time in power, they passed three tax cuts in which the lion's share went to the rich...

just look back at the tax rate for the rich under President Eisenhower...  this is all way beyond party lines—  this is the rich controlling the government through campaign contributions and lobbyists...  right now, we are in the thick of an elimination of the middle class in the USA... be careful not to become a debt peon paying interest to the rich for the rest of your life...

take a look at this, too—

Obama Student Loan Reform Bill Government Loans

Learn how the Obama Student Loan Reform Bill coincides with a college loan repayment program and how it affects student loans repayments for college grads...

The United States government is borrowing the money at an interest rate of 2.8 percent. The money will then be lent to students at a rate of 6.8 percent. The 4 percent profit that the government makes will be applied toward further funding of students loans as well as funding portions of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.

I am just trying to give you power though knowledge—  I am not telling you what to do...  just go into everything to do with money these days with your eyes wide open...  is the student loan debt worse than finding a job right now at a lower pay scale than you would have when you graduate?  It is different for each of us individually, but I do think tuition is too high now, just like real estate was, and I think student loans are being packaged into complex derivatives, just like NINJA loans were, and I think the bubble will collapse like real estate did...

but I am no prophet, so I might be wrong...  (I am tempted to make a pun on profit...)

all I can say for certain is just enjoy yourself the best you can whatever you decide to do...  good luck with everything, and don't hesitate to talk to these great folks here in Radio Paradise...  lots of good perspectives...

forgive me for babbling here...

 rosedraws wrote: 
Good advice, but remember that the goal of the financial aid office at the school is to ensure you stay in school and your tuition is paid. They are not looking out for your best financial interests. Take their advice, but don't take it as gospel. Check other options, and be sure that the schooling you are getting has value in the workplace (or it's something you want and can afford without a job to justify it). 

And like Rose said: the vast majority of student loans are set up in a way that they can not be discharged by bankruptcy. Even death won't get you out of them, they will pass on to your estate.  Those people want their money back, and they have the .gov behind them. 

 rosedraws wrote: 
Good suggestions. Financial aid advisors at the school that should know all about loans and Federal grants. The should also have a book of private companies that give grants to students who fit their criteria. I would also suggest maybe looking into the school's work/study program. I had a friend in college who worked in the school library .
Student loans do help but they also get a lot of people in debt and can eat you alive after graduation. 

 kysmet wrote:

Private loans are the loans that do not come from a Federally-funded loan source (ie, better rates)

Sallie Mae is the biggie.  And they are a company whose sole purpose is to make profit for it's investors.  They have extreme policies about repayment, the interest is unbelievable, you can not get out of a student loan via bankruptcy... it's rough ground. 

There are not a lot of options right now... just work it with the Financial Aid office at the school... find a good person there to talk to.  FL has a Student Loan/College Fund department somewhere which will also help you get ideas for how to get as many grants and scholarships as you can.

 

 romeotuma wrote:
Is a private loan one that would be done directly through the school?

thinking about going back to school....again.

 Alexandra wrote: