Financial Aid
Jean Chatzky
Everyone knows the significance of January. It marks a time when many of us wipe the slate clean and make all sorts of promises, both to ourselves and to others. It's the day we quit our bad habits, decide to get our finances in order, and vow to ask our boss for that pay raise we deserve.
But if your child is planning to enter college in the fall of 2007, or if you are entering college yourself, another alarm should now be ringing in your mind: It's time to submit your application for financial aid, a form called the FAFSA and found online at:
www.fafsa.ed.gov
While January 1 isn't the last day to submit by any means (individual school deadlines vary, but the Web application can be completed until July 2, 2007), the earlier you complete the FAFSA, the more likely you are to get a jump on the pot of money that's available, explains Martha Holler, spokeswoman for Sallie Mae, the nation's largest student lender. And with funds at a record high — $152 billion and counting — you definitely don't want to miss out.
Admittedly, starting the process can be a little daunting. The form itself can be confusing, and there's a good bit of fine print. Plus, all the financial questions can make it seem like you're doing your taxes. But college isn't getting any cheaper, and failing to even try for aid could cost you to the tune of several thousand dollars a year. Really. According to the American Council on Education, for the year 2003-2004, an estimated 1.5 million people who did not file a FAFSA likely would've been eligible for a Pell Grant, which can provide students up to $4,050 a year that doesn't have to be repaid.
So sit down at your computer and get started. It'll be about an hour before your application is on its way to being reviewed by the federal government, your state, and the colleges you specify. With any luck, it won't be long after that before your kid receives a nice, hefty aid package in the mail.
Here's how to get started:
Understand how your finances are assessed. For the purpose of financial aid, you are trying to lower your expected family contribution. That means that this is not the time to boast about your fat retirement account or fancy new house — in fact, legally, both of these assets can, and should, be left off the form.
If you've been saving for college, be clear on how that money will be treated. Money in the student's name is assessed more heavily than that in the parent's. Students are expected to contribute 20 percent of their assets, while parents only weigh in at 5.5 percent. (Note to parents still saving for college: That means if you have an account dedicated to money for college, like a 529, keep it in your name to maximize your child's financial aid.)
Do your prep work. Taking the time to get yourself a little organized will save you a lot of hassle. Pull together all yearend statements detailing your investments, as well as your most recent tax returns. Even the most ambitious among us doesn't have his 2006 return completed in January, so it's okay to fall back on last year's numbers.
Look over the application carefully. "Before you fill out the form, understand why they ask each question, and how different combinations of answers to seemingly unimportant questions might have major consequences," says Kal Chany, founder and president of Campus Consultants and author of "Paying for College Without Going Broke," now in its 7th edition. For example, you'll be asked if you're eligible to file a 1040A in place of the longer 1040 form during tax time. If you can answer in the affirmative, Chany says, it could give you an edge.
Read the fine print, and don't skip ahead. Granted, this is starting to sound like the SATs, but people actually miss out on aid because they don't follow the directions. Whatever you do, don't skip questions, no matter how irrelevant or unnecessary they may seem. One thing people tend to exclude, says Holler, is how many members of the family are enrolled in college. "Make sure you are counting everyone — parents and children — and get that number right. That number, more than any other item on the form, is going to effect how much money you get to pay for college."
Don't limit yourself. Much like SATs, the FAFSA allows you to list up to six colleges that will receive your information. But these days, students are often applying to twice that, so don't stress out that your schools will be left out. After you submit your application with the first six schools, it will be processed and you'll receive a student aid report. You can then revisit your FAFSA online and add up to six additional schools.
Contact your child's choice colleges. If you're just looking for a Stafford Loan, which is a low-interest student loan, then the only form you need to submit is the FAFSA. But why wouldn't you want to gun for the grants and scholarships out there, which unlike loans, don't have to be paid back? To get in the running for all of these, you need to contact the colleges your child is interested in attending and fill out the forms specific to each school. They'll require much of the same information as the FAFSA, so the process, though tedious, doesn't require extra research or preparation.
Finally, take note of the fact that this isn't a one-time deal. You'll have to repeat the process each year your child is enrolled. The good news? It gets easier with practice.
Military to Civilian-Making the Transition
Figuring out how to translate your military skills to a civilian job is perhaps the biggest obstacle for people looking for a job who are leaving the Armed Forces. You have the experience, but you just don't know how to communicate it without using military jargon.
"Chances are that most civilians reviewing your resume will not be familiar with 'military' language, abbreviations and acronyms," write Wendy S. Enelow and Louise M. Kursmark in "Expert Resumes for Military-to-Civilian Transitions" (Jist). "It is critical that you translate your military language into civilian language that everyone in the civilian workforce can understand."
Step One: Identify What to Market
Write down all your specific accomplishments and accolades from your military service. This also should include skills, qualifications, accomplishments, experiences, education, credentials, volunteer work and membership in professional or civic associations.
Step Two: Match Your Skills
"One translates his or her military skills by using a military occupational classification (MOC) to identify similar civilian jobs in the civilian workforce," Vann says. "For example, if a military officer was a budget analyst or cost analyst in the military they can easily translate these duties to a financial analyst in the civilian workforce." Janet Farley, author of "The Military-to-Civilian Career Transition Guide," suggests going to O*NET OnLine Web Site, which is "a great tool that can help you capture the civilian essence of your ever-so-military job."
First, go to online.onetcenter.org/crosswalk. Just enter your DOT or MOC code and you'll receive equivalent job titles and descriptions that will fit with the skills of your military position.
Step Three: Use Your "New" Skills
Now that you've figured out what civilian lingo relates to your experience, you can turn that language into keywords to search for jobs online and incorporate into your resume. Keywords are specific words or phrases that job seekers use to find jobs suitable for them by searching online, just like doing a search engine query. Use them in your resume, and you're more likely to be picked up by an applicant tracking system (ATS) and on an employer's or recruiter's must-call list.
Bottom line: Understanding how your military duties translate to civilian jobs is essential to your post-military job search. "Transitioning from military to civilian employment is a snap as long as the former military understands job expectation is completely different in the private sector," Vann advises.
For more assistance, contact a Transition Assistance Program (TAP) or look at these websites.
Air Force Academy
Address: 10 MSS/DPF
4700 A/B, Ponderosa Dr.
US Air Force Academy, CO 80840
Commercial Phone: 719-333-3444/3445
DSN Phone: 333-3444/3445
Commercial Fax: 719-333-3595
DSN Fax: 333-3595
Peterson AFB
Address: 21 MSS/DPF
640 Mitchell St.
Peterson AFB, CO 80914-1573
Commercial Phone: 719-556-6141
DSN Phone: 834-6141
Commercial Fax: 719-556-4829
DSN Fax: 834-4829
Ft. Carson
Address: CDR, 4th Inf Div & Ft Carson
Army Career Alumni Program (JAC)
Fort Carson, CO 80913
Phone: 719-526-1002
Fax: 719-526-2500
Schriever AFB
Address: FSC Director
50 MSS/DPF
65 Hahn Ave, Rm 107
Schriever AFB, CO 80912
Commercial Phone: 719-567-3920
DSN Phone: 560-3920
Commercial Fax: 719-567-3920
DSN Fax: 834-7378
Websites
http://dodtransportal.dod.mil
http://stop.org/military
http://www.vetjobs.com
http://www.operationheroforhire.com
http://www.clearancejobs.com
http://www.taonline.com
http://destinygroup.com
http://military.com
What is the Transition Assistance Program?
The Transition Assistance Program (TAP) was established to offer job search assistance and related services to separating service members during their period of transition into civilian life. The TAP is a partnership among the Departments of Labor, Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs to provide employment and training information to armed forces members and their eligible spouses within one year of their separation or two years of their retirement from the military.
Why do we need the TAP?
Although experience shows that veterans generally enjoy a favorable employment rate in the nation’s job market, many veterans initially find it difficult to compete successfully in the civilian labor market. The Transition Assistance Program addresses many barriers to success and alleviates many employment-related difficulties. What does the TAP offer to service members?
The Transition Assistance Program consists of comprehensive three-day workshops at selected military installations worldwide. Professionally-trained facilitators from the State Employment Services, military family support services, Department of Labor contractors, or VETS staff present the workshops.
Workshop attendees learn about job searches, career decision-making, current occupational and labor market conditions, resume and cover letter preparation, and interviewing techniques. Participants are also provided with an evaluation of their employability relative to the job market and receive information on the most current veterans’ benefits.
Components of the TAP Workshop
• Personal Appraisal
• Career Exploration
• Strategies For An Effective Job Search
• Interviews
• Reviewing Job Offers
• Support and Assistance
Transition Assistance for Veterans with Disabilities
Service members leaving the military with a service-connected disability are offered the Disabled Transition Assistance Program (DTAP) from the Veterans Affairs representatives. DTAP includes the normal three-day TAP workshop plus additional hours of individual instruction to help determine job readiness and address the special needs of veterans with disabilities.
Program Results
TAP Program participants receive valuable training and information that gives them an edge over other applicants. TAP helps service members and their spouses make the initial transition from military service to the civilian workplace with less difficulty and at less overall cost to the government. An independent national evaluation of the program estimated that service members who had participated in TAP, on average, found their first post-military job three weeks sooner than those who did not participate in TAP.
Since 1990, the Transition Assistance Program has provided job search assistance to over one million separating and retiring military members and their spouses.
“You gave us the essential information we need to go on with our job searches and be successful.”
-- TAP Workshop Participant
Re-Entering the Workforce
Anne Florenzano, of Eden Prairie, Minn., is looking for a career change. Now that her sons are teenagers, she is not needed in the same way as when they were little, so this stay-at-home mom says she's ready to re-enter the workplace.
"I cannot not work," Anne says. "I have too much intellect, too much enthusiasm and energy and creativeness -- too much to sit home."
But Anne, 49, like many full-time homemakers, faces a number of obstacles to joining the paid workforce. She hasn't been in the labor market for a long time, and she didn't have much experience when she left. Despite these challenges, Anne and other homemakers can find success after a long absence from the job market. To find out how, we asked two experts for tips on making the transition a success: Explore your career interests. Anne has been doing informational interviews, informal Q&As with people whose jobs intrigue her. Volunteering and temping are also ways to test out a variety of companies, jobs and office cultures.
Ask yourself key questions. To help focus on which career path to take, there a few useful exercises you can do, according to Richard Bolles, author of What Color is Your Parachute?, the popular career guide revised every year since 1970.
One exercise is to list five skills you'd like to use and five favorite fields. Then, rank your skills by preference and do the same with the fields.
"Essentially the ideal job and the job you actually succeed in finding are going to overlap partly," Richard says.
"You've got to be sure that, where they overlap, those are the skills and those are the interests that you like the most, and if you haven't done the prioritizing, you don't know that," he says.
Another exercise would be to imagine you're starting your own business. Look at all the skills a business takes to run and think about which ones you'd like to do yourself and which ones you'd delegate to others. Richard also suggests thinking about past experiences and asking yourself: "Is there a time in life when I really loved what I was doing? What skills was I using?"
How will you know that you picked the right job? Richard uses this yardstick: Do you get up every morning or almost every morning eager to go to work?
That's when you know you've found your niche. Now you can write your resume and move on to interviews. The job interview. Contacts and even a resume can only get you in the door. It's the interview that's critical to landing the job. And the stakes are much higher at the job interview than in an informational interview.
• Be prepared. To prepare for a job interview, anticipate what questions you'll be asked and write down your answers, says Allison Hemming, president of The Hired Guns, an employment agency in New York City. One way to build confidence is to write down the five most dreaded questions to be asked in an interview and answer them on videotape, she says. It's one way to address topics you're not comfortable with, she says.
• Bring questions to the interview for the hiring manager. Let the hiring manager know, through those questions, why you're a good fit for the job and the company, Allison says.
• Ask for the job. "So many times people don't ask for the job," Allison says. "But it's OK to say, 'I'm the right person for this job, and I'd like this position.'
Be persistent. "They've done studies of job hunters who fail, and an amazing number of them give up after two months," Richard says. "Two months is nothing in a job hunt in this economy. That's starting." Also remember that Temp, Seasonal, Part-time and Performance Based (sales, advertising, etc.) Jobs are all good places to start.
