Welding is used to create many things, from cars, trucks, and motorcycles to rail cars, ships, aircraft, rockets, and space stations. Welding is huge in the construction industry, too. Skyscrapers, bridges, and highways would be impossible to build without welding, as would oil and natural-gas pipelines, offshore oil platforms, wind turbines, and…

Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of light through an optical fiber that is roughly the diameter of a human hair. The light forms an electromagnetic carrier wave that is modulated to carry information. Each optical fiber is capable of carrying an enormous amount of…

Renewable energy systems are beginning to appear everywhere. Solar modules are creating "blue roofs" that convert the energy from the sun into household electricity. Solar thermal systems on roofs can generate hot water. Wind turbines catch breezes to provide even more electricity. Recommendations for saving energy, specifying systems for…

This paper sets up a scenario about Rebecca, a jobseeker, who is a fictitious composite, a "typical" candidate who wants a position at a college/university. A job description is provided. She interviews for the advertised position, and while doing so, she also interviews the university, school/department, and working environment to see if there is…

Institutional ethnography seeks to uncover how things happen--how institutional discourse compels and shapes practice(s) and how norms of practice speak to, for, and over individuals. The Faculty and Staff Standpoints project is shaped by this methodology, as it explores writing center staff and faculty relationships to their work. (Contains 10…

This paper focuses on a context where interdisciplinarity intersects with interprofessionality: the work of children's services professionals who address the needs of children identified as vulnerable. It draws on evidence and perspectives from two disciplines--educational studies and health care--to consider the issues and challenges posed by…

Recent college graduates are entering a competitive workforce that demands strong communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. However, many recent surveys and reports describe college graduates as deficient in these skills. For two courses at separate institutions, we each framed a course as a job, playing the role of a supervisor or…

In academia, there are two different worlds, one inhabited by tenure-track and the other by non-tenure-track faculty. In the first, people encourage faculty to become involved in a series of important reforms that increase student success, completion, and learning. In this first world, people envision faculty simultaneously increasing their…

The job market on North American campuses may be heading for the deep freeze, but hundreds of positions are opening up in the Persian Gulf as American universities scramble to set down roots in those petrodollar-rich states. The combination of money and opportunity on offer may seem hard to resist. But academics who trade the rich intellectual…

Describes careers in the transportation industry, especially trucking. Looks at job requirements, outlook for employment, salaries, and working conditions. Includes Web sites of trucking-related organizations. (JOW)

Describes telecommuting, which occurs whenever an employee is paid for work done at an alternate worksite and total commuting time is thereby reduced. Discusses the pros and cons and examines the characteristics that make jobs and people suitable for telecommuting. Includes a self-assessment to determine whether telecommuting is a good option.…

Describes five behind-the-scenes occupations found in almost every type of charitable nonprofit organization: manager, fundraisers, foundation program officers, communications directors, and executive directors. Lists the training, employment, and earnings characteristics of people-to-people, food-related, advocacy, and trade occupations in the…

Though telecommuting has been found to increase employee productivity as much as 20%, not all employers and workers embrace the concept. This article examines the pros and cons of telecommuting by presenting case studies of remote employment and a self-owned business. Provides a bibliography of print and nonprint resources for remote working and a…

This reprint from the "Occupational Outlook Handbook" describes employment opportunities in the areas of education, social services, and clergy. Specific occupations addressed are adult education teachers, archivists and curators, college and university faculty, counselors, education administrators, human services workers, kindergarten and…

Within the Partnership for Rural Improvement (PRI), community consultants operate within three complex sets of relationships: client groups, the organizational structure of PRI, and the local operational base. Community consultants are responsible for developing and facilitating rural development and for providing assistance in community and…