yesterday for job seekers and those already in the workforce.

And she revealed the college was considering a "coop'' degree programme as part of its strategy for the 21st Century.

Students would be required to work in hotels or businesses as part of their education, Mrs. Sheridan Talbot explained.

They would receive college credit for their employment as well as gain work experience and "resume substance'', she said.

Research showed jobs for the unskilled were "disappearing in great numbers'' and would "never to return''.

Job security was also becoming a thing of the past, she claimed. "Even jobs considered stable are now at risk,'' she said.

Mrs. Talbot, speaking to Hamilton Rotarians at their weekly luncheon, further pointed out that one fifth of all Fortune 500 companies had folded in the past five years.

And by 1995, one tenth of the workforce in the US Postal Service was expected to be eliminated.

Now was the time to not only start planning a realistic career, she said, but to prepare for at least one job change to keep up with ever-changing technology.

"Career choice is no longer a simple once in a lifetime decision made early in adult life,'' she said.

Job research indicated most workers would have to be retrained five to six times in the course of their working years. "Bermuda is no exception,'' she said.

"The only job security is to develop the ability to get a better job.'' Matching a person's interests with a career was useful, but might not always be realistic, she said.

Bermudians planning to enter the workforce should see what jobs are available in the fields they are interested in, and then gain the skills needed to perform them.

She believed that if students made more effort in career planning, there would be less unhappy employees.

"Effective career planning can be the difference between energetic, fulfilled employees and disgruntled ones who live only for pay days and weekends,'' she said.

Mrs. Talbot urged all the businessmen at the luncheon to participate in career days, job retraining, day release and summer internship programmes. And possibly in the future, coop programmes offered through the college.