Free Financial Bootcamp

Since 2009, LearnVest has been providing sharp and seriously useful money advice for women. Now, the site has launched a series of email bootcamps to get readers ramped up financially. The investing unit costs $7.99, but the Cut Your Costs and Personal Finance Basics …

Eight (of the 1 million) Reasons Not to Go to Law School in a Recession

Just when you’ve gotten used to spending your days curled up in a pink Snuggie watching game shows, UPS knocks at your door to deliver your future.

It comes from the law school you’ve been deferring for two years in hopes that you’ll find a scholarship, strike oil, or win big on Deal or No Deal. Inside is a leather bound notebook and a brochure showing how much fun you’d be having at said high-priced law school. There are pictures of attractive (but not too attractive) twenty-somethings playing soccer on the lawn and holding Tarts for Torts bake sales.

You almost buy it. Then you remember that the only thing worse than being broke and unemployed is being a broke, unemployed and $200,000 in debt.

Here are eight reasons it’s unwise to hide out in law school during the recession.

1. Paying $150,000 to defer unemployment will not get you a job

Since it’s nearly impossible to take economics courses without destroying your GPA, law students tend to bypass courses that help them understand the obvious: the supply of lawyers is greater than demand. Hence, you may not find a job after law school…

How to Land a Law Job

Like most professional fields, law has taken a big hit in the recession. Law firms, once considered safe havens, have laid of employees in droves. And, of course, new jobs are hard to come by — especially for law students.

That means once a student (or recent grad) lands an interview, she has to be ready to nail it. Looking for interviewing advice last year, I found many websites and blogs had the same old rules — show up early, dress impeccably, ask good questions. We go beyond the standard protocol, with tips will push your interviewing skills to the next level and will help you land the job.

Talk about Your Non-Legal Experience

Just because you are interviewing for a legal job does not mean that you can or should only talk about your legal experience. Discuss your non-legal experience that relates to the work you will do at the firm. Since I worked as an executive recruiter before law school, I would talk about the parallels between recruiting and practicing law.

Screwed: 6,380 in Romania

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.

Today’s Total: 6,808

CFR Marfa, Romania’s national rail company, plans to lay off 6,380 workers in April…Washington, D.C.’s Metro system is considering cutting 150 jobs…Pfizer is letting go 116 people in New York…Clark County, Nevada, pushed out 67 employees, mostly building inspectors…53 people will be let go from San Francisco’s transit agency…Louisiana’s college system will let go 42 workers to save money…

Recession Briefing: Job Doesn’t Equal Happy

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

Hit by the recession, many families are moving their children from private to public schools. The shift is already bringing subtle changes to the culture of many public schools as some families seek the personal attention they received from private schools. (USA Today)

As the sour economy leaves people less and less able to pay their debts, the abuses by debt collectors have become so flagrant and numerous that authorities have moved to shut down several agencies where the most heartless and bullying telephone calls originated. At least 20 people have been sued or arrested on criminal charges. (Associated Press)…

Recession Briefing 11.20: Tuition Up a Ton

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

Strapped for cash after deep state budget cuts, The University of California’s Board of Regents has approved a plan to raise undergraduate fees — the equivalent of tuition — 32 percent next fall. (New York Times)

Some states have hunger problems that far outpace their poverty rates, an indication that it isn’t just the fragile economy that’s to blame. (The Daily Beast)

Last winter as the American economy seized up, the Flea Theater commissioned six rising playwrights to write 10-minute plays for a series titled The Great Recession. The show debuts tonight in New York. (Los Angeles Times, The Flea)…

Cost-Cutting at College—Separating the Good from the Bad

Tuition costs are rising and financial aid funds are scarce, but that doesn’t mean you should sit back and watch your college dreams go up in smoke.

Since the recession began last year, thousands of tips and tricks have been published listing ways to make college more affordable. From small shifts (like buying used textbooks rather than new) to big changes (like moving off campus to save on housing), there’s no doubt that the thousands of published ideas could save students money. But whether many—or any—of these ideas are actually feasible for the average student is another story entirely…

Recession Briefing 10.21: Downturn Sends College Prices Up

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

The recession helped push up the cost of college this year, with students facing bigger bills because of reduced state spending on higher education and diminished campus endowments. Four-year public colleges in the U.S. raised annual tuition and fees by an average 6.5%, to $7,020 this fall. (Los Angeles Times)

The financial panics of last September and October will always be part of the story of this recession. But recent research questions the claim that the financial panics themselves contributed to their contemporaneous and severe employment downturns. (New York Times/Economix)

A British survey has found that more people are visiting museums during the recession. (Art Daily)

Recession Briefing 10.20: Hawaii Schools Out for Recession

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

School’s out for recession: Teacher furloughs in Hawaii will shut down the school system for 17 Fridays beginning this week. (Honolulu Advertiser)

Companies across the economy are holding off on hiring even as the profit outlook improves, amid economic uncertainty and their own success at raising productivity in rough waters. (Wall Street Journal)

Among the recession’s more unlikely victims have been infertile Western couples wanting children and prepared to travel abroad to use Indian surrogate mothers as a cheaper alternative to fertility clinics back home. (Agence France Presse)…

Recession Briefing 10.9: Rappers Not Recession-Proof!

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

The recession is even affecting rappers like Slim Thug, their hangers-on, and those that make their bling. “I haven’t sold a single diamond-encrusted glock in about two years.” (Daily Show)

As Harvard cuts back as a result of the recession, students no longer have hot breakfasts in their dorms and varsity athletes are no longer guarantees free sweat suits. (New York Times)

Airline delays at South Florida airports have eased during the recession because fewer people are traveling and fewer planes are flying. (Miami Herald)…