BUSINESS

Interns have a better shot at landing a permanent job

Business graduates have a great chance of getting a job offer from their summer internship, according to business school placement data.

Banks and consulting firms are well known to hire from summer internship roles. Companies in other fields are increasingly turning to summer MBA talent when they're ready to make permanent hires. Some lock in candidates almost a year ahead of their graduation date.

With employers scouting the business schools, students are under pressure to snag the coveted internships as soon as they enroll.

According to the Graduate Management Admission Council, about 69 percent of summer interns who apply for full time positions receive offers. Interns in consulting, finance and accounting have even higher conversion rates.

More firms recruit from their own ranks

A growing body of research shows that promoting from within, even for jobs like the CEO, can deliver more benefits than hiring outside talent.

A study by the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School found that external hires were paid more than internal employees in equivalent roles, but fared worse in performance reviews during their first two years on the job.

More companies are hiring from within and investing in websites that increase intra-office movement, says The Wall Street Journal. Cisco Systems has a program called Talent Connection that identifies qualified employees who aren't really looking for a new job. About half of Cisco's 65,000 employees have created profiles on the website.

Talent Connection has saved the company several million dollars in search firm costs. At the same time, workers' satisfaction with career development has risen by almost 20 percentage points.

Study: workers in small companies are happier

Reported in The Wall Street Journal, a study of 11,000 employees in more than 90 countries showed that people who work in companies with fewer than 100 employees are 25 percent more likely to be happy than people working at firms with more than 1,000 employees. Factors contributing to happiness included: direct customer service, supervising others, skilled trades.

Best seller challenges thinking about the future

You know that kid who is fantastic with a joy stick and video game? Maybe he is just practicing skills for his future as a surgeon.

Surgery could be done with a joystick. It could be done from a control room thousands of miles away. And the kid who plays video games might grow up to be the surgeon behind the camera.

Things are changing. And fast. Author Randy Gage has some ideas about how things will change and how prosperity will be built in the future.

Risky is the New Safe: The Rules Have Changed is a book designed to give business people (or any person) some warnings and some hot tips about the future.

Gage says fast changes in technology and economic upheaval are changing the game. Gage serves up the usual doom and gloom about the future so common in books today. The Euro and precious metals will collapse along with ocean front real estate. Social programs will expand trapping vast numbers of people in ignorance and poverty. All this, he predicts, will cause economic collapse.

But he is also optimistic, predicting that the rules will change and have changed. Does your kid really need an MBA? In the near future Gage predicts the average student will just pick a study niche: Game development or operating surgical equipment.

In Gage's future, seeing the world differently is the key to wealth in a world of economic woes. A high school dropout, the self made Gage has been dubbed "The Millionaire Messiah".

Vacation statistics

It's common knowledge that taking a vacation is good for mental and physical health. Still, a survey by INC. Magazine says many people don't take them or take fewer than they could. Here's why:

1. They don't want to spend money.

2. They say, "My work is my life."

3. They have scheduling problems.

4. They would rather get paid for unused vacation days.

5. They think taking more time off would be viewed negatively at work.

While some people take few to no vacation days, Americans workers are not the nose-to-the-grindstone group some think they are. The average days per employee that go unused annually is just two.

The number of vacation days given in various countries varies from a low of five in Japan to a high of 30 in Brazil. Here in the U.S. the average number of days is 12; in Mexico, 14; in India, 20; in the United Kingdom 25; and in Germany, 28.

The benefits of greater rear leg room

More car makers are adding rear leg room to sedans to please Boomers who see big back seats as a place to impress friends on the way to dinner or events. Most midsize and larger luxury cars are sold to well heeled buyers over age 50.

Cadillac, BMW, and Lincoln are among the luxury brands who say they are paying more attention to the rear seat and adding leg room.

Are back seats with more leg room a good idea? Have you ever been embarrassed by having a back seat where passengers were crowded?

© 2013 TLC Magazine Online, Inc.