2012 Predictions

Posted on February 1, 2012 by StenoTech

NBC News:  Kat Cohen

January 1, 2012

“Take advantage of people around you.  Join organizations.  Prove you have a great work ethic; collaborate” – Ms. Cohen repeats these tips, as employment analysts oft remind us. 

The first news for the year 2012: education, employment, finances/debt.   Wasn’t that the refrain for 2011?   Kat Cohen reminds the viewers, “If you get a Bachelor’s Degree, you will make a million dollars in your lifetime.”  Woopty-doo!   She thinks a million dollars is a lot?  It’s not!   It only sounds like a big number.   How much does Kat make?   Can she live in NYC for 20 years, making 50K per year?  No!  Why not?   It’s a million dollars!

It’s the type of profession one chooses which dictates one’s earning potential.   It’s the type of career one embarks upon which foretells the type of lifestyle one will likely enjoy.   It’s the amount of years working at that profession, at the end of the day,  that will tell what one was able to earn, over or under the par. 

Kat has some facts, statistics, and some tips for us NBC viewers: 

“College costs are soaring while jobs are few.”   Also, students embarking upon graduate degrees “take on an average of 125K of loan debt.”   Without a master’s and, better yet, a doctorate, you cannot compete against the large percentage vying for the coveted higher salaried positions.   

More parents are out of work, hitting hard times, unable to handle college funds, or any funds at all, for their children.   Parents are continuing to face their own employment trials and tribulations:  layoffs, trimmed hours/furlough days, cutbacks in benefits and pensions.   Many, unfortunately, experience the throes of foreclosure.  This is a crisis in and of itself.   

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the “hot spots” for careers for 2012 include opportunity as well as the highest salaries.  The average salary is up; for “the Class of 2011:  41K.”  One could hardly find that boastful.  And they mean the college graduating class!   What happened to the 50K?   That sounds pretty good to us now, doesn’t it?   The person who averages 41K, do they have a second job?

Ms. Cohen reports what the educational analysts are predicting for 2012, the do’s and don’ts, this year’s surefire methods for segue from college classroom to the office.  She says future students should be wise and “advised to truly consider where you are going to school.”  She tells us to ask these questions: 

                “Is there help with job placement?

                “Is there an internship provision?

                “Will you receive ‘real’ work experience?

                “Will you have real world people come to speak with students about their field?

“You will need the right resume’.

“You will need the right cover letter.

“You will need to know the correct etiquette for an interview.

“You will need to hit the career expos.

“You need to network with fellow alumni.”

A lot of questions to ask when you are just “considering where you are going to school.”

NBC provides us an example of students graduating from prestigious institutions such as MIT and Cal Tech who will “have starting salaries on average of $69,700.”  Do you know what they will spend for those 5 years at school, not including room and board?  It could reach 400K.  Undergrad!!  That would be the same average for a Division I university.   Figure out the interest rate, the payback period.   Every graduating student is not getting a job, does not get the starting salary, does not get the job he/she intended to get or was educated or trained for. 

The outlook for today’s college student is a no man’s land, a virtual minefield awaiting him/her amidst the steep increase in costs and the payback dilemma.   The motivation in one’s experience with higher education must shift toward payoff, as we are admonished.   Kat forewarns us in her feature story, reciting sobering predictions for 2012; it was no better in 2011 or 2010.   These continual news pieces have all of us reflecting upon current and future decisions — really, what it costs to get “there,” what happens when you arrive “there,” perpetual necessity to compete with others after you get “there” …exhausting!  

Let’s Google zero percent unemployment.  Yup.  Court reporters!  Yahoo Finance, hmmm?  The Internet search shows they agree with NBC and their “Surprising six-figure jobs.”  Now weigh in on cost of the education to attend court reporting school:  9-10K a year versus double/triple/quadruple that amount.  Get me to a stenography school!

In the fields of court reporting, closed captioning, realtime writing, we address employment statistics with enthusiasm and excitement.   We proclaim:  Want to expend less money on your educational journey?   Want a higher starting salary?   Want to get started upon graduation?   As young adults, and their parents, embark upon or re-enter the educational community, their eyes should be open to ALL the possibilities.  Careers in realtime reporting and captioning should not be the “Best Kept Secret” anymore.  Let everyone in on it.   2012 will prove to be the turning point for all students.  The NBC pundits put this question to you:  “Where are you going to school?”    Respond  “StenoTech Career Institute” and see the world from the front row!

NBC News
CNBC
National Assn. of Colleges and Employers
Yahoo Finance

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Seeking Immediate Employment for Court Reporters; Points to Ponder

Posted on January 26, 2012 by StenoTech

Let’s look at the wording in Classified Ads for court reporters from across the nation.   It appears the “powers that be” are trying very hard to impress applicants toward one opportunity over the next.   It is very clear throughout the verbiage of the various classifieds in periodicals across the spectrum — news channels, Hollywood, Federal Courts, Capitol Hill, Broadway, and so on – that court reporters are anxiously awaited.

You see, the recruiters address the quality of jobs, an open arms’ appeal, e.g., “Court reporters needed. Will train beginners”; “Wonderful Judge!”; “Wonderful firm!”; “Government Contracts.”   Rest assured, there is also quantity of various openings:  “Searching for Court Reporters”; “Openings for Court Reporters”;   “Reporters Needed”; “Rewarding Positions.”   And ESPN is around the clock!

Let’s look at ads for reporters in Florida, for example.   Funny, the Sunshine State hardly narrows down any position; your choice is any locale, from Tampa/St. Pete down to the Keys.   “Seeking reporters throughout Central and South Florida.”   That sums it up!   They address work hours as well:   “You may work part or full time.  We meet your schedule.”   Talk about flexibility!   To the point:  “Please apply”; and the desperate, “Please, send resume”!   This one classifieds’ statement is near and dear to my heart:  “Quick turnaround on pay.  You get paid before we do.  You don’t have to wait!”  [Maybe “I” will be moving to Florida…]

By the end of reading these classified ads for reporters, I feel like a prima donna, a diva of New Jersey.  Was I always this special?   The bar is set, after becoming certified.  “We are seeking . . .” [Insert names for reporters:  stenographers, webcasters, broadcast captioners, closed captioners, CART providers, freelancers, official reporters, judicial reporters, and students who have graduated from an accredited school.]   You are sought!   New York, Pennsylvania, the Dakotas, or Maine to Alaska, you are sought!

The Census Bureau again released sobering information:  Americans are experiencing a continued high rate of unemployment; these are the lengthiest highs ever.   There is constant false hope — a vacillation of information into the fifth year of record-breaking and history-making recession rates.

I read Job Openings daily and I continue to ask myself, Why do we have a shortage of court reporters?    Why is this not made well known?   Many folks on unemployment are returning to further education; some are just giving up.  People need to be redirected toward career training that won’t break the wallet, that won’t take years of study, that won’t lead to a dead-end career with no projected job growth.  People need to know that at the end of their training, they will be employable in a viable career field; that there will be immediate openings where people are seeking YOU, RIGHT NOW, waiting on resumes in this field of realtime writing, court reporting, broadcast captioning.  It is here for the taking!  Why not go for it?

Trends are watched by major news authorities and our Government agencies, from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to the Internet’s top career dot-com sites.   A savvy consumer needs to do the necessary homework.  Court reporting and broadcast captioning are hot jobs that we should direct people toward, without doubt.   In this bottom line:  Reporting school students are trained with a skill set for a career which is focused, pays extremely well, has a variety of venues, and immediate openings!

We see every day, in the United States and abroad, reporters’ “immediate opportunities available” through national publications, newspapers, online sites, international agencies, and the like.   Reporting careers will continue to experience the largest percentage of future growth than all occupations and for many years to come.  The National Bureau of Economic Research declares this recession will “be slow and painful [with] no quick bounce back.”  The statisticians have spoken loud and clear.   Join the ranks of the informed.   Just like the reporting classifieds exclaim:  “Start Today!”

CNNMoney.com
Yahoo Finance
Yahoo.Education.net
National Bureau of Economic Research
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

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Reporting Schools Today

Posted on December 10, 2011 by StenoTech

Court reporting schools today must meet the demands of new and burgeoning technologies that present themselves each and every day in the 21st Century. The demand is very high for certified real-time writers. Whether one’s interest is broadcast captioning, internet captioning, webcasting, taking meeting minutes of a Fortune 500 company, or deposition/court reporting, great schools must be on top of every educational benefit to afford their students. It is the accredited schools that teach the real-time theory, securing the very best in future court reporters and captioners.

The word “court” in the moniker shouldn’t fool you. Schools today must prepare future reporters with all the talents necessary to adapt to the many venues that require competent professionals. The evolution of this skill has behooved students in the new marketplace to acquire all essential real-time tools before going out into the business world. Today’s prospective students have done their homework before making their admissions appointment. They know before they place that phone call where and how to make their dreams come true!

An accredited institution needs to combine the correct academics necessary to give proficiency to students for the craft. Moreover, the advanced technologies taught in these accredited institutions provide the field with superior candidates. Within the walls of the classroom, certified reporting instructors, credentialed IT professionals, academics given by multi-degreed teachers, the real-time steno theory . . . the future is much brighter and made clearer to embrace all the possibilities.

Keep this in mind during your pursuits to find the school which has everything you are looking for, with your future in mind. We remind you: This is a field where you are not only necessary, but you are awaited!

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The Modern Age of Court Reporting

Posted on December 10, 2011 by StenoTech

Let us focus a moment on court reporters and the use of advanced technology, how this wends its way into laws and schools and continues to find court reporting listed in the ranks of “Top Ten” careers. The “new” computer age is about making things smaller/compact, universal, app-friendly, more apps, user-friendly. This begins in the school atmosphere and carries through to the workplace. Our world has been creating new opportunities with ever-evolving methods of communication, which begets a greater need, which necessitates professionals to fill those needs – a cycle, which has been continuous for the last several decades. This is what is propelling, even further, the modern-age court reporter.

To be competitive in our global community, skilled professionals need diverse, yet focused, career training; preparation with confidence is a valuable commodity. Today’s court reporting students need hands-on instruction with IT professionals, as well as interaction with mentoring instructors, conjoining all the new amenities afforded in state-of-the-art computer labs. New technology advancements in the school arena enhance the many methods used to instill accuracy and endurance as students learn to write “realtime” on computerized steno machines. Students will amplify this foundation into all working venues: remote realtime reporting from home, working with the deaf/hearing-impaired, access and iPad portability, working interstate per diem or internationally. The possibilities without limits, they have grown exponentially with the modern age.

Whether you are looking for financial success and stability or looking to make a change of career to a safer market, you will experience the new age reporting with verve. If you possess dedication and discipline, you will be the prime candidate schools are looking for: a student with passion and determination to change your life, command respect, embrace new technologies, and on your way to a rewarding profession that can be counted upon to take you anywhere and everywhere you want to go. Across the USA, reporting careers are now even more coveted because they are fulfilling a need created by the enactment of new laws. How exciting is it to know that there is a shortage of court reporters and there is zero percent unemployment!

The most renowned news source in the world, U.S. News & World Report,lists five designated categories for occupations. Our field, the skill set for court reporters, is in the “Top Ten” of its category, where it has been and will continue to be into the millennium. This trend is constant through the evolutionary stages of the information highway. Reporting careers continue to soar. This is an in-demand, high-paying, indispensable profession. To quote the Media Assets Center for ESPN: “if it wasn’t for court reporters” they “would not be in FCC compliance,” and would not “be able to fully function” their domestic and international networks.”1 The outlook remains outstanding; and future employment growth is stated as “much faster than the average for all occupations” 2!

1- ESPN.com.
2- National Employment Matrix

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