The 50 million factor

It's official.  We, Latinos, have passed the 50 million mark.  Last week, the U.S. Census officially announced that there are 50.5 million Latinos in the United States.  You might be wondering what does the 50 million mark have to do with you and your career? My short answer:  A lot!  The explosive growth of the Latino population in the United States will create an unprecedented demand for products and services that will translate into job and career opportunities.  And you could be part of this trend!

As an example, here are three areas where, in my opinion, jobs will increase due to the 50 million mark:

• Human Resources - The increase in jobs and careers to serve the Latino market will inevitably result in the need to recruit and retain talent that can help organizations reach this group effectively.  A human resources professional who has the savvy to build relationships with Latino students and professional organizations will have upper hand when selecting qualified applicants. 
• Consumer products - Companies have been trying to tap into the Latino consumer market for decades.  The difference this time is that the impact is greater because of the numbers reached.  For instance, the Census tells us that one in four babies born in the U.S. is of Latino descent.  This fact creates opportunites for infant and children products from clothing to toys to educational items.  Other consumer products that are ripe for the Latino market:  food and beverages, clothing, music and mobile devices.
• Marketing and Communications - Speaking of consumer products reminds me of the time when General Motors (GM) tried to sell their Chevrolet Nova to a Spanish speaking audience and failed. It took GM a while to realize that "Nova" was interpreted as "doesn't go" by their targeted audience.  This blunder could have been avoided if the company would have relied on language and culture sensitive employees to manage their marketing campaign.

As you evaluate your job and career options in these areas, think of them not only as a prospective job candidate but also as a consumer who has first hand information and experience.  Language skills is only one of the pieces.  Understanding and articulating the cultural values of Latinos as they relate to how they perceive different products and services is the key to a successful career serving the Latino population.  Who better than you to do this work?!

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Career strategies during spring break

I know, I know.  There are many things you are thinking of doing during spring break.  Resting.  Sleeping.  Working.  Spending time thinking about your career is probably not on the list.  With that in mind, let’s explore a few ways to fine tune your career goals while keeping a festive, fun mood during spring break.  Shall we?

• Do a status check.  What has been working so far?  Are you happy with your grades? Are you all set with your internship? Job prospects?  What is not working?  What is overwhelming you?  What is the one thing you would like to accomplish by the end of the semester that is not happening right now?
• Include “career/job time” in your schedule. Review your current school schedule and purposely set time aside to focus on any job/career related activities.  Play around with different days and times.  For example, if you have no classes scheduled on a particular day, you could make that day a job/career day.  Or you could schedule one to two hour chunks of time on different days.
• Decide what to do during job/career time.  Make a list of all the pending career-related items you want to accomplish by the end of the semester.  Prioritize them and assign them an estimated time of completion.  These will be the tasks to do during your career/job scheduled time.

Spring break is a great time to brainstorm on ways to make changes while having a much needed down time from studying.  Have a happy and fun break….wherever you are!

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