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Maria Contreras-Sweet might just be an upstart. After all, President Barack Obama's choice to lead the Small Business Administration has plenty of experience at starting and growing businesses, reports Kent Hoover of the the Business Journals' Washington Bureau.

Hoover reports that Contreras-Sweet, a Mexican immigrant, is the co-founder of Los Angeles-based community bank ProAmérica Bank as well as of the private equity fund Fortius Holdings. Finally, she has built a personal business... READ MORE

There's no backing out. You walk into the room, sign in and take your badge. You quickly scan for people you might know and find no one. The host is leaning into a group of people, deeply engaged in conversation. The function is half an hour old and the room is already a heaving mass of anecdotes, big bellies and 30-second job descriptions.

Bored in advance, you only just manage to stifle a yawn. Your gaze shifts down to your feet, in the hope of seeing a hole in the floor that might just open up wide enough to swallow you whole.

No such luck.

Yes, it's another networking function, and no place for the faint-hearted. How do you work this room if you're not a 'people person'? READ MORE

Whether you run a small storefront business or a large corporation, or are looking for a job or a career change, the power of networking can unlock startling opportunities and bring new business or unexpected professional options. Learning from two successful Latinas who have built their careers through their networking skills could give you easy ideas to follow and help you find your own networking style.

Are you a people person?
As in every aspect of their business or career, Latinas have options to develop their networking skills according to their personality. Do you feel comfortable talking to people? READ MORE

Higher education has always been the responsibility of students and colleges, but lately businesses have started paying special attention to the numbers of graduates – or lack thereof – in the United States.

Recently, the issue in California was highlighted with Campaign for College Opportunity’s “The State of Latinos in Higher Education” study. In a nutshell, the report reveals not only that Latinos are lagging behind other ethnicities when it comes to graduating from college, but that the state of California is headed towards a dire economic situation if changes aren’t implemented. READ MORE

Is 2014 going to be the year you finally land your dream job? With budgets evaluated and annual goals set, many employers are ready to welcome a crop of new team members to start the year off right. If you want to get a jump on the competition and wow the hiring managers at your next job interview, follow these six resume and interviewing tips from career experts:

Have a stand-out resume
All job seekers know that impressive qualifications on their resumes will help them stand out to a hiring manager. But a plain Word document listing your key accomplishments may no longer be enough to catch an employer's eye. READ MORE

Latinos in America are generally optimistic about the future, despite still facing challenges such as discrimination and concerns over job security and personal finances, according to a report released Tuesday.

NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health polled nearly 1,500 Latino Americans on topics including education, finances, religion, health and jobs. More than half, or 52 percent, stated no preference on being called “Latino” or “Hispanic.”

About 44 percent of Latinos live in predominantly Hispanic communities, the report found. Latinos reported facing several challenges in their communities, with 16 percent experiencing crime and violence, and 10 percent reporting economic issues. READ MORE

A line forms every morning at the counter inside of La Oaxaquena Bakery where the fresh baked conchas, chilindrina and empanadas smell way too good to pass up.

Ramiro Vasquez opened the bakery in the heart of the busy SW 29 business corridor about five years ago and the majority of his regulars are Hispanics.

“I think Oklahoma is one of the cities that has big potential for Hispanics,” said Vasquez, 42. “It's a city that is growing right now.” READ MORE

For many companies, the Hispanic market means a significant opportunity to expand their business. However, others think it would mean more work on their end, so why bother — but they don’t realize how much profit they’re leaving on the table.

As your business market evolves, your company will start maturing and you’ll begin to encounter the growth limit of your original market. To help your business survive and gain a considerable edge on your competition, it is vital to implement a smart growth strategy to develop new markets before yours flattens out.

The Hispanic market is an excellent, and often untapped, solution to this equation. READ MORE

Now that it’s a publicly traded company, Twitter is looking to target its black and Hispanic users to generate advertising revenue.

Twitter has been relatively mum about its demographics, especially since users aren’t required to fill out their race or ethnicity in their profile. But compared to the internet as a whole, Twitter boasts more user diversity and interactivity, with 20% more ethnic minority users. It has nearly twice as many black users than Facebook, according to a recent Pew study on social media demographics.

But there’s lots of money to be made as social media use continues to grow. Advertisers currently spend only 3 percent of their $75 billion budgets on black consumers, according to a Nielsen report. However... READ MORE

There is a big financial opportunity out there. You just need to know a few facts to tap into it more efficiently.
According to the latest Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. report survey, 48.7 percent of Latino households were “unbanked” or “under-banked.” This means those families have never had an interaction with a financial institution or they have poor access to mainstream financial services normally offered by retail banks.
Since Hispanics are the fastest-growing consumer market in the U.S., that’s a huge chunk of business many banks are missing out on. READ MORE

Let's start off with a scary statistic.

A 2009 report published by the Pew Hispanic Center shows that the median net worth of Latinos in this country was just over $6,000. That means half of us have more than that in ‘wealth’ and half of us have less. That’s not a lot of safety net, cushion or ability to leave a legacy for us as a Latino community.

But in order to begin understanding how to accumulate wealth – it's imperative to understand what wealth is.

A good place to start understanding what wealth is with what wealth isn't. Namely, it isn't about how much money you make; wealth is about how much money you keep. READ MORE

When was the last time you updated your résumé? If it was less than a year ago, you're in the minority: According to recent research by recruitment firm HiringSolved, just a quarter of Americans refresh their résumé more than once a year, and nearly 40 percent say they never update it. That's because they probably don't need to.

"Gone are the days of feverishly updating your résumé and applying to job after job," said Shon Burton, CEO of HiringSolved. "Today's top candidates are much more... READ MORE

For over a decade, Hispanics have been the largest minority in the U.S. This group will represent the largest component of the workforce in California as early as next year. By 2050, Hispanics will represent over half of the nation’s workforce.

Obviously, this cohort is likely to be an important source of talent for major corporations over the years ahead. Not only will they represent a significant proportion of the incoming workforce, but my research shows that they are particularly likely to be drawn to larger, well-established firms with recognized brands. READ MORE

Maria Contreras-Sweet long has championed the cause of empowerment for women, describing herself as the product of a strong mother and grandmother.

She has also tried to be an example of what she stands for – breaking barriers, founding organizations and business enterprises aimed at helping women and Latinos realize their dreams.

Now Contreras-Sweet has reached a new and important milestone.

President Barack Obama nominated her on Wednesday to head the Small Business Administration.

If the Senate confirms her for the post, Contreras-Sweet, who was born in Mexico and came to the United States at the age of five, would be the second Hispanic and the eighth woman in Obama’s second-term cabinet. READ MORE

The new year is all about reinvention, and what better way to remake oneself than with a new job? The best way to successfully find a new job is to know what jobs are most in demand, and where the competition for those gigs is least intense. Jacob Bollinger, a Senior Data Scientist with Bright.com took the trouble of sifting through more than 70 million job postings, as well as information on job applicants found on sites like Bright.com, to create a picture of the job market in 2014. Here are the five most in-demand jobs, grouped by the Labor Department’s “Standard Occupational Classification.” READ MORE

Experts foresee the job market being more competitive than ever in 2014. With 10.9 million Americans unemployed, it is important to take a fresh look at your job search strategy. Now is the perfect time to develop an effective plan for success.

How can you set yourself apart from the competition and position yourself for finding the best next step in your career?

Here are seven tips to help you refresh and refocus your job search in 2014:

1. Don't be a copycat candidate. Job searches are a very personal experience and one-size-fits-all strategies will not help you stand out among the competition. Even though a certain interview tactic or style was successful for one candidate doesn't mean it is the best strategy for you. Take into consideration your personal experiences, preferences and career goals and use them to position yourself as a unique candidate. READ MORE

OK, you’ve been looking for a new job for a while, doing what all career specialists say you should: networking. You attend events, hand out business cards, and try to make as many connections as you can that might lead to a job.

But it’s not working. Few interviews. No job offers. And sometimes not even an acknowledgment of follow-up e-mails after a networking event.

Career and human resource specialists say they meet a lot of frustrated job seekers who spin their wheels while networking. The problem, these specialists say, is not networking itself, but rather flawed approaches, attitudes, and expectations behind unsuccessful networking strategies. READ MORE

Instead of making and breaking your new year's resolution, approach the new year with a new method of making improvements to your life and career. Only 8 percent of Americans actually achieve their new year's goals, according to a recent study by University of Scranton.

Here are some ideas to help you establish habits that will stick, and maintain focus for the best year ever.

Revel in the glory. Maybe last year was great. If you had a stellar year and met all your quotas, or most of them, document it. Add your achievement to your LinkedIn profile right now, before you forget. Capture it with a photo or screen shot of the award and upload it under your most recent job. Be sure to thank people who helped make it possible. Thanking others is a great way to demonstrate your gratitude. If you want to continue on this same successful path, focus on what you excelled at doing. What skills or talent got you there? Do more of that. This sounds simplistic, but sometimes we get so caught up in "fixing" ourselves and taking on the next new challenge that we overlook the good stuff. Part of managing your career is actually documenting it and letting people know. READ MORE

Nearly half the Latinos who graduated from California’s top high schools went to community college, unlike Asian-Americans and non-Hispanic whites and blacks, who had majorities attend four-year higher-ed institutions, the Southern California Public Radio reported.

The radio station noted that 46 percent of Latinos who graduated from top-ranked high schools enrolled in community college, compared with 19 percent of Asian-Americans, 23 percent of blacks and 27 percent of whites.

Community colleges offer Associate Degrees, which usually are awarded after a two-year program. Many students begin their college careers at them, since they are dramatically less expensive than four-year schools, and then transfer to one of them in order to receive a Bachelor’s. READ MORE

When I first moved to Houston in 1981, it was pretty much a good ol' boy town. But about a year later, Kathy Whitmire was elected mayor — and the city has never been the same since. Now, in 2012, Houston again has a female mayor and a deep bench of women leaders in almost every area of city life. Even though few Houston women are ranked among the city's highest paid executives, there are female decision makers at every level of government, business and education.

That point was brought home to me when I was asked to help pick 10 Women on the Move for 2011. Texas Executive Women has saluted Houston's female leaders since 1985 with an annual list, but this is the first year they asked a man to be a judge. READ MORE