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When Ricardo Dollero graduated from UCLA last May with great grades and a robust resume of extracurriculars, he wasnt expecting a particularly difficult job search. After majoring in anthropology, he looked for jobs at museums or nonprofits, but after months of scouring online job boards and applying for everything he felt qualified for, Dollero still hadnt found a job. Thats when my partner and I decided, lets leave the United States and live an adventure and start our careers in another country where our degrees actually have value, he says. By February, they had secured positions teaching English in a school in Thailand. Its a path recent graduates looking to experience a new culture have chosen for decades. The agency Dollero used, Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), has been around since 1947. In recent years, though, grads from U.S. universities have increasingly been choosing to go abroad to escape the challenging job market at home. Although June data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics paints a rosy picture of the current job market, with 147,000 jobs added and unemployment falling to 4.1%, entry-level jobs are becoming ever more elusive. Starting in September 2018, the percentage of unemployed recent graduates has consistently been higher than the overall unemployment rate. As of March 2025, the percentage differed by nearly 2%, with 5.8% of recent grads unemployed compared to 4.0% of all workers. This means young college-educated workers have spent years facing an especially competitive and difficult job market. And these challenges are only growing as more companies remove entry-level jobs in favor of using AI. In fact, 40% of employers expect to reduce their workforce and automate tasks with AI. With so few opportunities available, many recent graduates struggling in their job search are seeking alternatives to traditional nine-five office jobsincluding opportunities to work abroad. We have indeed observed a notable increase in interest from recent college graduates seeking TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certification and opportunities to teach abroad, says Ian OSullivan, owner of the TEFL Institute. The appeal of gaining global experience, developing transferable skills, and making a meaningful impact has driven more young adults to consider TEFL as a viable and exciting option. The TEFL Institute is one of hundreds of organizations providing certification courses that teach people how to teach English as a foreign language. Many of these courses require no prior teaching experience and many of the companies offering them also guide new teachers through the process of finding a job abroad. The extra support makes these programs ideal for recent graduates, many of whom have never traveled outside their home countries or worked a full-time job before. For Dollero, having an organization help with the process of getting set up in his new home made it easier to jump into his role as a teacherone that he describes as very fulfilling. One very specific thing that has marked my time here in Thailand is the respect that the students have for the teachers, Dollero says. Its just heartwarming that they want you there. These positive experiences differ from teaching in the United States, where teacher shortages prevail not because there is a lack of passionate new teachers but because of low salaries, difficult working conditions, and a lack of support at work, according to a recent analysis from the Learning Policy Institute. A typical contract for teaching English at a school or language center abroad lasts one academic year, typically 9 to 12 months. Many teachers choose to renew their contracts or find a new TEFL job in yet another country. Others choose to use their experience in education to find teaching jobs closer to home. While he isnt yet sure what the rest of his career will bring, or whether he will choose to extend his time in Thailand, Dollero notes that his teaching experience has already helped him grow as a person. He’s learned to effectively manage people, organize his time, and become more adaptable. While the need for technological skills in the labor market is expected to grow the fastest, many soft skills are also expected to rise in importance over the next five years, according to insights from the World Economic Forums 2025 Future of Jobs Report. Creative thinking, resilience, flexibility, agility, and curiosity have all become increasingly important as the workforce adapts after the COVID-19 pandemic and in the wake of innovations like AI. These skills, and many others, are the type one can learn from taking on new experiences, such as navigating a new culture and managing a classroom. Regardless of whether recent graduates choose to remain teachers after their TEFL experience, the soft skills they develop can open doors. Many of our graduates have shared inspiring stories about how TEFL has transformed their professional and personal lives, opening doors to international careers, remote work opportunities, and lifelong friendships, OSullivan says. The experience not only enhances employability but also fosters a global perspective that is highly valued in todays interconnected world. Back at home, many graduates are pessimistic about the job market. Over half (56%) of the class of 2025 reports feeling somewhat or very pessimistic about starting their careers according to a recent report by the job board Handshake. For students having trouble finding a job after college, like he did, Dollero highly recommends a TEFL job. Im 100% for others doing what I did, Dollero says. Just because youre being rejected from hundreds of jobs in the United States doesnt mean its going to be the same thing in another place.
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E-Commerce
Last Friday, a federal judge axed a Biden-era rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that would have prohibited consumer credit reporting agencies from including certain medical debts on consumer credit reports. The CFPB rule amended a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) regulatory exception that allowed creditors to obtain and use information on medical debts. The rule had been finalized shortly before the Biden administration left office and was set to take effect on March 15. However, legal challenges delayed its start date. The rule prohibited creditors from considering medical information when determining credit eligibility and restricted credit reporting agencies from including certain types of medical debt information in consumer credit reports. Medical debt will stay on credit reports On July 11, 2025, U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan of the Eastern District Court in Texas reversed the Biden-era rule. In his opinion, Jordan, a Trump appointee, said that the court found that rule exceeded the CFPB’s authority under the FCRA. The federal lawsuit was filed on January 7, the same day the Biden-era rule had been finalized. In the legal complaint, the Cornerstone Credit Union League and the Consumer Data Industry Association asserted that the rule violated the law and that only Congress had the authority to make such changes. The Trump-era CFPB, along with acting director Russell Vought, joined the lawsuit on April 30, with the agency asking the court to vacate the rule. In response to the ruling, Senate Democrats led by Raphael Warnock of Georgia wrote a letter to Vought asking for an explanation about the reversal. Medical debt collections information is often inaccurate, and studies show that it is not useful in determining a consumers ability to repay other debts,” the senators wrote. Fast Company reached out to CFPB for comment. Court order impacts millions of Americans with medical debt CFPB research found that a medical bill on a credit report isn’t a good indicator of a person’s ability to repay a loan. Research also showed that medical debt on credit reports contributed to mortgage application denials for loans that consumers would have been able to afford. In its January announcement, the CFPB stated that the rule would remove an estimated $49 billion in medical bills from credit reports and affect approximately 15 million Americans. It added that people with medical debt on their credit reports could see an average boost of 20 points on their score. However, now that the rule has been reversed, debt will remain on consumer credit reports, and creditors are still allowed to consider medical debt when making credit decisions.
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E-Commerce
Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey is back with a new app that tracks sun exposure and vitamin D levels. Sun Day uses location-based data to show the current UV index, the days high, and additional details like cloud cover, sunrise, and sunset times. Users can choose their skin type from six options and indicate their clothing, such as “light (shorts & t-shirt)”, then manually toggle when theyre in or out of the sun. Based on this input, the app calculates how long you can safely expose your skin before it begins to burn. That’s an especially helpful feature for those like Dorsey, who mentioned in an X thread that he does not actually use sunscreen. no— jack (@jack) July 13, 2025 The app also tracks a users estimated vitamin D intake while outdoors. After tapping the Track UV exposure button to start a session, the app shows how much vitamin D was absorbed once the session ends. In future updates, additional factors like height, weight, and actual vitamin D blood levels may be included to improve the apps accuracy. This marks the second new app Dorsey has launched in a week. But this one may especially appeal to Gen Z, whose tanning obsession has sparked a trend of tracking UV exposure to optimize time spent basking in the sun. @ella_fitzgerald99 SPF on, just chasing the sun before my shift #UK #sun #tanning #spring #fyp Sun Is Shining – Bob Marley & The Wailers In 2025, the importance of sunscreen isnt lost on most. Google searches for best anti-ageing sunscreen and UV damage prevention have more than doubled over the past two years. Yet on TikTok and Instagram, tanning is back in vogue. Girls flaunt their bikini strap marks, share their tanning routines, and even create sun tattoos (aka skin damage). Some are faking it using blush, bronzer, or spray tans to mimic the sunkissed, or sunburnt, look. Others track the UV index to find the best time to tan. @.addison9600 TANNING SEASON LOADING ~~~ #tanning #uv #uvindex #tan #darktan #tanningoil #tanninglotion #highuv #sunscreen #hot #niceweather #warmair #swimming #ocean #flowers #tropical #graphs #math #graph #funny #viral #makemefamous #microinfluencer #screenrecord #popularvideo #trend #sound #audio #audios #fyp #imjustagirl #addison original sound – gyusboo A new survey from the American Academy of Dermatology found that over a fifth of young adults prioritize getting a tan over protecting their skin. One in four say its worth looking great now, even if it means looking worse later (just five sunburns more than doubles your risk of developing melanoma). For those looking to chase (or avoid) the sun, Sun Day isnt yet available in the App Store. However, a TestFlight beta is open to iOS users, and the code is available on GitHub.
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E-Commerce
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