It’s a minute between news blocks and Ryan Baker is on set at the NBC5 Chicago studio joking with veteran journalists, Warner Saunders and Allison Rosati. “Five, four, three, two, one,” calls out the floor director. Saunders tosses to sports. Baker’s eyes light up and his rich baritone voice booms across the airwaves. Baker is clearly on his A game. But there’s no room for a B game when you’re the station’s head sports guy working in the country’s number two news market. Frankly, you are replaceable. Baker gets this. It’s a reality that was emphasized by his mentors: the late, legendary national sports journalist Ralph Wiley, and veteran Chicago sports journalist Jim Rose. Paying it forward, ...

Networking can happen almost anyplace, from the classroom to that uncomfortable professional association meeting your roommate convinced you to attend. Through networking, “you can find your mentor—people who can give you direction,” says Len Strazewski, acting director of the graduate program in journalism at Columbia College Chicago. But this can only happen if you are prepared to make a good impression and take advantage of casual contacts. “The key to networking is to engage strangers in conversation and establish a common ground or sense of mutual purpose,” says networking expert George C. Fraser, author of Click: Ten Secrets for Building Extraordinary Relationships. Fraser recommends building a personal rapport first. “The more common ground you have with someone, the higher the trust level,” ...

What does it take to make an ordinary resume extraordinary?  As you prepare to enter the workforce, keep these resume essentials in mind. State your objective. Failing to include a job objective (a description of the work you are looking for) is the most common mistake people make, according to resume expert Yana Parker, author of Damn Good Resume Guide and Ready to Go Resumes. Know how to craft a resume for your field. Different careers require different formats. Check out www.collegegrad.com for more than 200 free resume templates. Use key phrases. Resumes that boast communication skills, teamwork, problem solving, and leadership attract attention, according to Jay Block, executive career coach in West Palm Beach, Fla. List your achievements. Include ...

So you received a degree, graduated and landed a terrific job. Now what? A Michigan Avenue shopping spree may sound appealing, but where will that leave you in 30 years? Investing is a better option, and iShares are a great place to start. iShares are a good bet for recent grads seeking to make money on their new earnings. That means you have to put down your iPod long enough to actually make an investment plan. What they are iShares are low-cost index funds that you can buy and sell like stock. That means they allow you to purchase stock in numerous companies at once. “It is easier to buy an iShare with 20 Chinese companies that are already found for you; you ...

For a dorm dweller, the idea of having credit to take out a home or car loan may seem five jobs, four apartments and six relationships away. “Credit is an issue [students] haven’t dealt with because they haven’t had much experience in the working world,” says Frank May, senior loan officer at Green Valley Mortgage in Bloomingdale. But, he cautions, “They don’t want to be doing things now to hurt their credit because they will be paying a higher rate for a car or home loan years down the road.” What is credit? Credit is simply everything you owe. Students can have credit in the form of monthly rent, car payments and credit cards. The more reliably ...

Perhaps you don’t just want any job—you want the job. You want to be your own boss and run your own theater company, start your own fashion line or head up a publishing company. It’s not impossible, but it does take some extra work and knowledge. So, you want to ... … start your own fashion line? Since Mark Heister was seven years old, he has had an obsession for the sewing machine. (He once offered to do his sister’s home economics homework in exchange for help with his math.) Since 1975, Heister has headed up his own line of imported luxury silks, European specialty fabrics and versatile separates. In 1984, he was named Designer of the Year at the annual Gold Coast ...