With college debts at all-time highs and education loan payments about to start coming due, graduation season can be filled not only with a justifiable sense of accomplishment and high hopes but with a clear angst about how to get your first job and begin a meaningful career. Even though the Great Recession is behind us and our nation enjoys low unemployment rates, you still need to be smart about how you enter the full-time workforce.

Here are some insights and tips to keep in mind in this season of possibilities. READ MORE AT U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT

Hispanic women are a force to be reckoned with. This isn’t news, exactly, but rather a statement of the growing power, both culturally and economically, that they wield. As Latinas continue to advance in their careers and increase their buying power, that influence is sure to grow.

So what are the characteristics of this group? What do they look for in a brand? How do they shop? What are their values — and what issues are near and dear to their hearts? READ MORE AT MEDIAPOST

For nearly 10 years, residents in a California farming community have had to drive nearly 40 miles (64 kilometers) to see the latest film, a rare trip for some in a place where a third of the population lives in poverty.

That all changed in May when Moctesuma Esparza, a Latino movie producer, opened his latest Maya Cinemas theater in Delano in his ongoing effort to open theaters in poor, rural areas in the U.S. that lack entertainment options. READ MORE AT THE BOSTON GLOBE

Your resume can open doors for you, or it can keep you from getting hired. Sometimes it's not the big things that cause the person making hiring decisions to pass on you. It might be a relatively small mistake that dooms your candidacy.

The good news is that these mistakes are easy to fix. Just putting in a little attention to detail should let you correct these errors and give yourself a better chance at getting hired. READ MORE AT USA TODAY

It was two years ago that Iris Castaneda was escorted out of a Starbucks in Orlando by security guards after arguing with a barista over soy milk.

Though she immediately felt she’d been the target of obvious discrimination — she recalls being the only Hispanic woman in the store when it happened — Castaneda mostly kept her story to herself. She did file a written report about it, and subsequently received an apology from the store manager where the incident occurred. But she was reluctant to share what happened widely because she was afraid no one would believe her. READ MORE AT BILLYPENN

The Hispanic community continues to drive homeownership growth in the U.S., but a challenging political climate keeps many from making long-term financial commitments, according to the latest HWP Annual report released by the Hispanic Wealth Project and the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. READ MORE AT HOUSINGWIRE

The number of Hispanic persons in America is expected to grow to comprise more than 25 percent of the U.S. population by 2050. That growth is already helping to propel the growth of Hispanic-owned businesses by nearly 15 times the national rate. Wallethub analyzed 23 metrics in the top 182 cities to determine the cities most friendly to Hispanic entrepreneurs. READ MORE AT TIMES FREE PRESS

Can radio stations benefit by reaching out to a segment of the U.S. Hispanic market that is growing in both affluence and influence? Yes, says Gabriela Alcantara-Diaz, founder and president of Miami-based Semilla AD.

The Uruguay-born multicultural marketing veteran specializes in upscale Latinos. READ MORE AT RADIO + TELEVISION BUSINESS REPORT

We’ve all heard the advice that networking is important for our careers. And regardless of your profession, your industry or demographic, the message is loud and clear. If you want to be successful, you need to spend time networking. It’s great advice. But the critical missing piece to this advice is exactly how to network. READ MORE ON FORBES

One of the most important things about acing an interview aside from authenticity? Transparency.

So, if there's a gap in your resume, rest assured it will come up during an interview. Assume recruiters will spot it on your resume and inquire about why there's a gap or what you were doing with your time.

There are several ways to address it in a thoughtful, straightforward manner depending on the actual reason. READ MORE AT U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT

As the Hispanic population in the United States has exploded, so has the number of Hispanics pursuing higher education. Between 2000 and 2015, the college-going rate among Hispanic high school graduates grew from 22 to 37 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Hispanic undergraduate enrollment more than doubled, to 3 million. More than a quarter of young Hispanics — 28 percent — now have at least an associate degree, up from 15 percent in 2000. READ MORE AT THE HECHINGER REPORT

A recent report from Rincón & Associates, a Texas-based consulting firm, says supermarkets must change the way they market to Hispanic consumers in order to reach this growing U.S. demographic. The number of Hispanics born in other countries compared with those born in the U.S. is declining, and is projected to decline steeply in the future, creating a “perfect storm” for grocers to lose valuable sales if they don’t adjust marketing and sales to better meet the needs of Hispanics born here. READ MORE AT FOOD DIVE

Read biographies of feature guests for the STEM Networking Forum "Building a Diversity Wave in STEM" being held Wednesday, May 30 at LinkedIn Chicago.

MODERATOR

Kristen Sonday, Co-founder, COO, Paladin

Kristen Sonday is the co-founder and COO of Paladin, which helps legal teams run more efficient pro bono programs while increasing access to justice. In her role, she works with Fortune 500s, law firms, law schools, and bar associations to staff, manage, and track pro bono work and visualize the organization's impact. Prior to Paladin, Kristen worked on international criminal matters in Mexico and Central America for the U.S. Department of Justice and served on the founding team of a New York City-based tech start-up. As a result of her work to close the justice gap, she has been named a 2017 ABA Woman in Legal Tech to Watch, ABA Journal Legal Rebel, and FastCase50 honoree. Paladin was also a part of the recent Techstars Chicago cohort and participated in the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce/1871 accelerator program.

In 2017, Kristen served as Google for Entrepreneurs' Code2040 Entrepreneur-in-Residence at 1871, representing and promoting Black and Latinx founders. Her work included events and programming to connect entrepreneurs of color across Chicago's tech ecosystem and culminated in a Latinx Startup Weekend to foster early entrepreneurship. In her free time, she volunteers as an advisor to young founders through the Princeton Entrepreneurship Council.

DISCUSSION PANELISTS

Denise Lintz, Director of Core Infrastructure, U.S. Cellular

Denise Lintz is the Director of Core Infrastructure at U.S. Cellular Corporation. She is responsible for a team of 80 people who enable project delivery and reliability for the IS Network & Data Centers, Systems (Platform, Virtualization, and Storage & Backup) and Applications (Database, Middleware, and Environment Delivery), Monitoring, and Infrastructure Operations. She graduated in 1991 from Northern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. She did internships at IBM and Allstate while in college and worked for major corporations including Ace Hardware Corporation, OfficeMax, and Nicor Gas before joining U.S. Cellular in 2012.

Carlos Castro Herrera, Software Engineer, Google

Carlos has a PhD in Computer Science and an MS in Software Engineering from DePaul university. He also has an MBA in Banking and Finance and a BS in Computer Science, both of which he obtained in Costa Rica. He is a former Fulbright scholar.

Academically Carlos has published more than a dozen peer reviewed articles. His main area of interest is the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence to software engineering problems.

Professionally, he is currently working as a senior software engineer at Google Chicago, where he works with the team responsible for Google Takeout - a tool that lets users export a copy of their data for most Google products. In the past he has worked as a Data Scientist at Intel, as an invited professor at the University of Costa Rica, as adjunct faculty at DePaul University and as a software engineer at the Central Bank of Costa Rica.

Teresa Swinton, Sales Director, Microsoft

Teresa is a performance driven, digital marketing veteran with experience delivering integrated branding and direct response solutions. She has worked agency-side (Performics), client-side (CDW) and now publisher side (Microsoft) across the retail, healthcare, tech, and auto verticals. Teresa is a dedicated sales leader that has a proven track record of guiding her teams with confidence to achieve business success. She eagerly approaches new challenges and is skilled at building relationships and developing teams.

Teresa also has a passion for diversity and inclusion and is committed to breaking stereotypes and supporting underrepresented minorities. She has taken the lead in both Microsoft’s Chicago office and the Central region in speaking to the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and our industry. She created momentum where there was none around race-related initiatives and conversations. By taking a direct look at unconscious bias with her team, she has opened the door for safe and open conversations about the differences between us all.

Teresa received her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and her MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. Teresa enjoys traveling, scuba diving and keeping up with her 17-month old son, Joshua.

Carmen Valverde Paniagua, Technology Consultant, Accenture

Carmen is a Technology Consultant in Accenture’s Technology Advisory group. As a part of the Technology Advisory group she works with her team in developing and executing technology strategies as well as determining the right combination of technologies for our clients—from tech that exists today to the emerging tech of tomorrow. In particular Carmen has experience and expertise in New IT solutions like Cloud, Multi-speed (Agile), and Internet of Things (IoT). Within the IoT space Carmen has worked on connected medical as well as connected vehicle solutions using distributed and scale agile models.

Additionally, Carmen is the Market Pillar Lead & Metrics and the Compliance Co-Lead for Accenture's Chicago Hispanic American ERG. She works with current client, potential clients, and local inclusion and diversity organizations in order to better service our clients and create ties within our Hispanic/Latino community. Carmen also serves on the National Hispanic American ERG team as co-lead for Midwest recruiting and works to promote Accenture programs, job opportunities, and identify Hispanic/Latino talent.

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As social movements across the country continue to shape global conversations around equity, the spotlight and opportunity have been thrust onto the business sector to reflect the values society cares about most.

For the first time ever, this generation of the U.S. workforce is demanding a more genuine commitment to diversity and inclusion, one that represents the spectrum of our population and the various social movements happening in and across the communities they serve. READ MORE AT TRIPLE PUNDIT

While Corona is perhaps the most well-known imported beer, due partly to the success of its “Find Your Beach” campaigns, there are a number of other beers marketed with the specific aim of reaching Hispanic consumers. Chief among them are Dos Equis, owned by Heineken, and Modelo Especial, owned by Constellation (which also owns Corona).

Recently, another one was added to the mix: Sol, previously owned by Heineken but now in the hands of MillerCoors, is making a push to be the beer of choice for Mexican American Millennials. Unlike other brands, which have focused on appealing to a wide range of consumers, MillerCoors is “going squarely after second-generation Mexican Americans,” complete with ads shot in Mexico featuring local designers, street dancers and musicians. READ MORE AT MEDIAPOST

If you had to know one thing about Hispanic radio, it is this: There is no such thing.

There are, in fact, at least 20 forms of Latino radio in America, reflecting the 20 countries of origin of this country’s Hispanic population, each different. That explains the vitality of Hispanic radio and its rich diversity. READ MORE AT FORBES

Former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is scheduled to address a conference in Chicago on economic issues facing the nation's Latinos.

The one-day event will be held at Malcolm X College on Thursday that is hosted by the Aspen Institute's Latinos and Society Program. It will bring leaders from the worlds of business and education to discuss how Latino Americans can navigate the changing economy, job creation, small business development and neighborhood gentrification. READ MORE AT US News & World Report

How are those job applications coming along? Are you scouring websites and sending out cold submissions on those irritating forms? If you’re still reading, I guess that what you’ve been getting back from your efforts is … crickets. What’s that about?

Stay with me and we’ll find a better way to get you that next gig. READ MORE AT FORBES

A new study conducted by People en Español shows that young Latinas are experiencing a generational, political and cultural metamorphosis.

According to the study, which surveyed nearly one thousand Hispanic and non-Hispanic women, Latinas are not conforming to traditional customs and gender roles as strictly as they once did. READ MORE AT PEOPLE EN ESPANOL

There are some tried and true strategies job seekers use to discover and land a new job. This year's Job Seeker Nation Study by Jobvite, a recruiting platform, highlights the methods successful job hunters used to secure a new career.

While most workers (61 percent) are satisfied with their current jobs, over 80 percent are open to new job opportunities, according to the survey. READ MORE AT U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT