Words of Encouragement for All College Moms

College moms face unique challenges when going back to school. I wanted to share some encouragement that might help in reaching your academic goals. I always believe that "tough times don't last always, but tough people do." Here is a short video ...

College moms face unique challenges when going back to school. I wanted to share some encouragement that might help in reaching your academic goals. I always believe that “tough times don’t last always, but tough people do.”

Here is a short video of encouragement for all the hardworking college moms.

Going back to school and need support?

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February 5, 2020

How this woman makes $140K a year with JUST a 2 year Degree

How THIS woman makes $140K A Year WITH a 2 year Degree

You thought going back to school would be a step toward a bigger paycheck, but you found out that the idea wasn’t all it was hyped up to be? You’ve got mountains of student debt and...

How THIS woman makes $140K A Year WITH a 2 year Degree

You thought going back to school would be a step toward a bigger paycheck, but you found out that the idea wasn’t all it was hyped up to be? You’ve got mountains of student debt and degree after degree and you haven’t even cracked 6 figures yet?

As costs of a college education rise and salaries seem to stagnate, many women are realizing that going to school longer for the traditional 4-year degree doesn’t necessarily help them bring in the big bucks. In some cases, it only helps them get into more debt.

LendEdu analyzed a College Pulse survey of 7,000 college students from nearly 1,000 colleges and universities and found that students, on average, expect to earn $60,000 in their first job out of college.

But a recent survey from LendEdu shows actual salaries are closer to $50,000.

Yet, there is hope for those who are looking to follow a less traditional route.

Read the interview below to learn how Neece Lewis, age 32, was able to turn a 2-year degree in Industrial Systems Technology into a $140K a year job in Nuclear Power.

Back to School Divas: Nuclear Power is such a non-traditional field for women. What made you decide to go in that direction?
Neece Lewis: Lol! I get that question more than you know but truth be told…I wanted to try something different. I found no interest in the conventional jobs that were for women.

I loved math but didn’t want to be behind a desk. I loved figuring out things and how they work but absolutely hated the idea of sitting behind a screen all day. So, I actually started off as a mechanic and all of these men thought I was a joke with my nails and hair but I was good… damn good…

Later I had the opportunity to work in the nuclear field. In this field, they usually promote within and I passed every test I sat down to take. So, now I’m here as a Nuclear System Operator and I absolutely love it…

What program did you attend?
I went to a local community college named Wallace Community College (WCC)…I majored in Industrial Systems Technology.
But nuclear power can be so broad that anything in science, technology, engineering, or maintenance can get you a foot through the door.

How old were you when you started the program?
I was 26 when I returned to school (32 now). I graduated when I was 32.

I was the same age when I graduated! What is the best way to get into the field of Nuclear Power?
Experience or a certification/degree that relates to technology, engineering, maintenance, or engineering. They need more women as they are currently trying to make this field more diverse. So, being a woman gets you a leg up.

How is work-life balance?
Ehhh… I personally love it. I do work shift work which I know a lot of people don’t like but my regular work schedule consists of me working only 14-16 days a month (either days or nights…12 hr shifts)…but they give us ample amount of vacation days where I can reduce that if I’d like to and we have extra help on shift if you should have to leave for any emergencies…

Do you have children also?
Yes. Two (a daughter-7, a son-10)

Awwww, how old were they when you started the program?
Lol!! My daughter was 2 and my son was 5.

Oh, wow! Was it hard to manage them and the Industrial Systems Technology program as well?
Yes! I can’t lie. I was a single parent and had no help from their bio fathers. The program work, itself, was pretty easy and it consisted of a lot of hands-on work. Juggling that, working, and my kids is what made it hard. I also received a scholarship that would pay me 11$/hr at 20 hours a week but it wasn’t enough to care for my children so I ended up having to work 2 jobs and go to school.

There are a lot of companies that are invested in these types of programs at community colleges because this field is needed. They paid for all my tuition and school supplies/tools…and when I graduated, they gave me a full-time job with beginning pay at 26$/hr! So it was worth it in the end.

It sounds like it! Do you know if any of those companies specifically?
I don’t…it usually depends on the school so, the admissions department would be a great place to ask for all that info

Anything else you want to add that you think other women might need to know?
There are a lot of unconventional jobs that we can be awesome at. Women are needed! We tend to have a gift of attention to detail! We are more than teachers, social workers, and nurses. We are engineers, we are doctors…we are important. These other industries need us.

Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. I’m sure this will help many of our readers!
Thank you ❤️

Follow Back to School Divas via Facebook or click here to join the Back to School Divas FB Group to get advice on all of your degree questions in real-time!

Do you have a high earning degree? Tell us about it in the comments!

group of young people around a laptop smiling and talking about work

March 27, 2019March 26, 2019

How to Apply for Internships in Grad School

Grad school internships should never be an afterthought. This is how you’ll often get your “foot in the door”, after all. Knowing how to go about applying for your ideal internships will help to ensure that you l...

Finding the Right Internship Opportunities

Before applying for an internship, you first need to learn how to find good internship opportunities. There are many streams that can help you achieve this.

Ask Your Teacher or Professor

Your teacher or professor will know about the available opportunities in your field because many times, companies will directly contact colleges about available internship opportunities.

Google Search on Intern-Specific Sites

There are plenty of sites online that are specifically dedicated to announcing internship opportunities in different fields. Sites such as LinkedIn, Wayup and YouTern can help you get started in finding the right type of internship for you.

General Google Search

A general Google search for internships in your field will help you identify what the opportunities are and where they are. Putting in your nearest town or city is also ideal when doing this.

Now that you’re clear on how to find an internship, let’s have a look at the steps it will take to apply for one.

Steps to Apply for an Internship

Identify the Internship

This first point has to do with your specific field. I’d also encourage you to be open-minded here. For instance, if you studied journalism and would like to be a magazine editor one day, if there’s an internship available for the Beauty Section of Elle magazine, there is certainly no problem in applying for one.

Although the “Beauty” section may not be something you’d ideally want to do, it is still helping you to get your “foot in the door”. Applying for this internship will also help you to broaden your mind as to what the other opportunities may be in your field that you may not have considered before.

Prepare Your Resume

If you’ve been in school your whole life or haven’t really had the opportunity to work in your field of study, don’t stress. This is an internship, after all.

All your prospective boss wants to know is what your background and interests are. To make sure that your resume is as professional as it can be, make sure that you do the following:

Include your school courses and extracurricular activities
Mention any volunteer work you’ve done in your past
Of course, if you have prior work experience, include that too
Try to be as concise and as internship-related as possible
Don’t forget to include contactable references

(Want a professional resume review by Lorraine, Founder of BacktoSchoolDivas.com? Book her now! You’ll receive a one-on-one call with Lorraine to review your goals and your experience. Your $25 review fee will be put toward any revisions you order.)

Write your Cover Letter

A resume is concise and briefly points out all the school and work experience you have had. A cover letter, on the other hand, is more personal. It highlights why you are the ideal candidate for this internship.

Try not to replicate the information from your resume here. Instead, highlight what drew you to that specific internship, what skills you have, and how that has prepared you for the internship.

Prepare for the Interview

Once you’ve applied for the internship/s (make sure that you apply to many. You want to cast the net as wide as possible) and get a call for an interview, you’ll need to prepare yourself for that big day.

Prep yourself by getting a professional outfit, practicing generic questions (such as: Tell us about yourself. Why should we choose you? What are your strengths and weaknesses?) and also make sure that you arrive early for the interview to avoid any chances of bad traffic getting in your way.

An internship will help you to take a step in the right direction of your career aspirations. Following these tips will help to ensure that you identify the right internship for you, and you know exactly how the process will unfold.

Keep track of your graduate school internship process and so much more with the official Back to School Divas planner download! You’ll get free templates for weekly planning, goal setting, meal planning, grocery lists, and so much more.

confident woman at an interview in a modern office

March 21, 2019March 20, 2019

Top Resume Tips From a Professional Resume Writer

Looking for a new job? You already know the importance of a strong resume. But what makes a resume “strong” in the first place? Today’s job hunters face new cha...

Looking for a new job? You already know the importance of a strong resume. But what makes a resume “strong” in the first place?

Today’s job hunters face new challenges. Online job boards and digital recruitment services make it easy to apply to several jobs at once. Just attach your resume and you’re done! Right?

Have your resume reviewed by Back to School Divas Founder Lorraine! Book a one-on-one review for $25 and she’ll put that money toward the cost of any revisions you purchase.

Resume Tips for College Students

Once you hit “Send”, your application goes out into the world wide web darkness. Your main source of light is your resume. But it’s not a simple as having the right experience reflected. You have to consider:

SEO keyword matches
Easy-to-download file formats
Headers, headlines and file names

These digital components can make or break your visibility in a candidate pool online.

So, how can you improve your resume and give yourself a better opportunity to land an interview?

We asked a professional Resume Writer for advice.

Briana is a Resume Writer with 3 years experience crafting resumes for the web. “In the last six months,” she says, “I have worked on six resumes, and four out of six have gotten the job.”

What did she have to say about crafting standout resumes? Read on to find out.

What makes a good resume?

“Be precise, and as informative in “short, sweet and to the point” form as you can. Applying words directly related to the job posting you are applying for, and include competencies that show you understand your work and are eager to learn more.”

What’s the best formatting or outline for a good resume?

“Bullet points. Much easier to read and understand the full story behind your experience and skill level.”

What are the most important things to include for each job you’ve been at?

“Recognition for doing your job efficiently, keywords from that job that match the one you’re now applying for and length of time spent at each job/where you worked.”

Describe your process for turning an “ok” resume into a “great” one, in as much detail as you can.

The first step to making an “ok” resume into a “BOMB” resume is vocabulary. For example, if someone says “3 years in retail” on their resume the simple fix for this to make it sound better (and have it relate to almost any job you apply for) is “3 years of experience in customer satisfaction in a retail environment utilizing first in-first out order”.

This tells the recruiter that you not only have 3 years of experience, BUT you approached each customer as if they were the only item on your agenda for that day (first in-first out order). Tweaking your wording and using the bullet point method will help the interviewer understand that you have experience, great communication skills and are well-articulated.

Keep this advice in mind as you update your resume and give yourself a head start on the online job hunt!

Want to really step up your resume game?

Have your resume reviewed by Back to School Divas Founder Lorraine!

For $25 you can have your resume reviewed in an open, one-on-one meeting with Lorraine. She’ll even put that money toward any revisions you purchase!

Ready to get started? Book a one-on-one now!

October 20, 2018November 2, 2018

New Mom Tried “The 10-3-2-1-0 Formula” For A Week And This is What Happened

Author and Business Consultant Bedros Keuilian created a system to help you sleep better, wake up earlier, get more done,...

New Mom Tried “The 10-3-2-1-0 Formula” For A Week And This is What Happened

Author and Business Consultant Bedros Keuilian created a system to help you sleep better, wake up earlier, get more done, and feel great doing it. It’s called the 10-3-2-1-0 formula!

We all want to “wake up early and get stuff done!” But with busy schedules, classes, kids, and showering, all you want to do is squeeze every last minute out of your sleep. Hello, snooze button! This method promises better sleep and improved focus.

What Is The 10-3-2-1-0 Formula?

The 10-3-2-1-0 formula breaks down like this:

10 hours before bed – No more caffeine.
3 hours before bed – No more food or alcohol.
2 hours before bed – No more work.
1 hour before bed – No more screen time (turn off all phones, TVs and computers).
0 – The number of times you will hit the snooze button in the morning.

Keuilian uses science to back up his claims. Caffeine takes longer than you might expect to leave your system (about 10 hours.) That residual caffeine lives in your system and can make it hard to unwind. Eating large meals, spicy foods, and drinking alcohol can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep all night—even though having a glass of wine in the evening may seem to make it easy. Plus, working, thinking about work, and staring at screens can keep your brain active when it’s time to turn the lights out.

This method is designed to help power down your brain so you can wake up refreshed.

Sounds interesting, right? We wanted to put this formula to the test, so we enlisted a real mom to try it out for 7 days. Would it live up to the hype?

A New Mom’s Experience with 10-3-2-1-0

New Mom Briana Scott is a Wife, Full-Time Employee, Part-Time Online Student, and Mama to 1-year-old baby girl. With so many roles and responsibilities, she was excited to try a simple method designed to help her feel better and get more done!

Briana tried the 10-3-2-1-0 formula for 7 days and reported back on her experience.

What was the first day like?

Rough! It was definitely an adjustment. Usually with the caffeine side of things, I drink a Grande size drink from Starbucks around 7 AM! To go without it, on most days, was difficult and made it hard to stay awake for homework after work. Because I have a couple classes and a full-time job to prepare for every night, I never got to bed at a decent time throughout this experiment.

How was the last day in comparison (easier, harder, did you want to quit?)

It was easier than the first day for sure, but it was something I had to keep remembering to do. So, it was almost like adding to the list of things in my day to be aware of. It was a great experiment, though, and would do it again when I’m off track.

What were some challenges you faced in doing the method each day?

Staying on top of it. There was a day or two that I forgot what I was doing with this. Again, that’s only because I had a few other things going on.

Did you notice any benefits in your work, school, or personal life?

I did! Whoop, whoop! The nights that I made myself follow the sleep part of this routine, I woke up the next day on time, refreshed and alert! I loved this result!

Does this method fit your lifestyle? Would you keep it up?

It does and it doesn’t! It holds me accountable for making sure I get the rest/relaxation I need as a parent, student, wife and full-time employee. If I can stick to something like this, I would be well-balanced all the time.

Will you try the 10-3-2-1-0 formula? Have your discovered a “secret recipe” for better sleep? Let us know in the comments!

group of working women looking at computer screen and smiling during a meeting

October 20, 2018October 29, 2018

Will Your Full-Time Job Pay For You To Go Back To School?

You have big dreams for your career. You want the corner office, the flexible hours, and definitely the pay increase. You’ve been working hard but y...

Will Your Full-Time Job Pay For You To Go Back To School?

You have big dreams for your career. You want the corner office, the flexible hours, and definitely the pay increase. You’ve been working hard but you know there’s one way to really give your career the boost it needs – going back to school.

Going back to school for working moms is possible. Sure, you’ll have to juggle work, school, taking care of the family, and that foreign concept called “having a social life”, but you don’t mind because you know it’ll all be worth it. And the best part? You may not even need to pay a cent.

There are many institutions in place that are dedicated to helping women and mothers further their studies. Some of them are grants and scholarships for moms. Some of them may even be right under your nose.

Your Job May Pay for Your College Degree

This one totally makes sense because educated and skilled employees are very valuable to a company. So how do you go about getting your tuition and other fees paid for? Well, you have to have a plan in place,of course.

When to Ask

Timing is everything. It wouldn’t make sense to ask the company to fund your schooling if you’re experiencing a bit of a slow financial period. It would also not make further sense if you are busy drowning in paperwork and have missed a few deadlines recently. Basically, you want to ask when you and your boss are both in a good space. Patience is a bit difficult sometimes but trust us on this one.

How to Ask

Speaking to HR about the company’s policy on training or education is the perfect place to start as you have to know what’s possible. Many businesses are willing to fund short courses, training or sometimes even full on degrees, as this means that their employee will come back to apply these newfound expertise into the company.

After HR has told you that it’s possible to go back to school, it is now time to convince management to pay up.

The best approach here is to highlight the benefits to the company of you going back to school. Mention the skills you’ll develop and the knowledge you will bring back to your work, after taking the particular course that you’re aiming for.

What to Expect

You may get a “yes”, “no” or “maybe”. You may even get back a “we’ll think about it”. As frustrating as it may be, you have to remember that they are not obliged to take you to school. If you get a positive response – Great! All the bBest! We’re rooting for you!

If not, don’t despair as there are alternative ways to make sure that you get the education you want.

Grants and Scholarships for Moms

There are plenty of grants and scholarships that can help you go back to school. Some are designed for womenand others for mothers, specifically. Opting for this route makes financial sense as you are not required to pay them back. It is worth mentioning though that you’re unlikely to get full funding through one grant or scholarship so applying to as many as possible should be the way to go about it!.

Can you think of other ways that working moms can get funding to go back to school? Share your thoughts in the comments section as we’d love to hear some of your ideas.And for even more money-saving tips, sign up for our newsletter!