Entrepreneurship is a great option for women of all ages. Count Me In, a nonprofit for women's economic independence, wants to reach out to the younger female generation. The new program, Make Our Daughters a Million, hopes to inspire high-school and college females who may want to start their own companies.

Nell Merlino, founder of Count Me In, started the Make Mine a Million $ Business program to encourage one million women to start companies of $1 million or more by the year 2010. These women entrepreneurs want to teach their daughters about this business opportunity.

"Women would ask if they could bring their daughters to the Make Mine a Million events," says Merlino.

Lindsey Pollak, author of "Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World," will be running the new program that targets younger females. Pollak followed in her mother's footsteps and created her own business at age 12. She wants to give other girls the chance to start at any age.

"When women learn about entrepreneurship, almost every women business owner said that they wished they could have started earlier," says Pollak. "It is never too early too start."

Make Our Daughters a Million will work in partnership with other women's groups. Pollak says the goal is to bring Make Our Daughters a Million to every Make Mine a Million event across the country. This will give girls the opportunity to see real women entrepreneurs and to learn more about the process.

Women in the Make Mine a Million program can bring daughters, cousins, friends and other girls to the events; you don't have to be a daughter of an entrepreneur to attend, according to Pollak. Girls will find out what it means to be a business owner by receiving resources: community, confidence and capital. Make Mine a Million acts as a community to women business owners; the program provides confidence through inspiration to reach goals as well as money discussions that help increase capital understanding.

"I hope to make girls more aware of entrepreneurship as an option," says Merlino. "Also, I hope it makes parents and adults more serious when it comes to girls' goals."

For more information, visit www.makemineamillion.org.

PROFILE WATCH

Job-seekers should pay attention to what they put on their social networking profiles — your future job may depend on it. Twenty-two percent of hiring managers, according to a survey by CareerBuilder.com that questioned at least 3,100 employers, say they use social networking sites in order to investigate job applicants. And some managers (9 percent) plan to explore social network profiles in the future.

Of those managers who evaluate job candidates through social networking sites, 34 percent of respondents say they discovered information that removed applicants from the running. Forty-one percent of managers found an applicant posted information regarding drug use or drinking. Other unsuitable online material included: inappropriate photos or information, untruthful qualifications, discriminatory comments, an unprofessional screen name, criminal behavior and personal information about previous employers.

On the other hand, 24 percent of hiring managers who looked on social sites discovered facts that helped hire the candidate. The majority of these respondents found that the job-seeker's background supported the position's qualifications. Other helpful profile content included: impressive communication skills, a display of professionalism, positive recommendations posted by other users, a range of interests and creativity.

"Hiring managers are using the Internet to get a more well-rounded view of job candidates in terms of their skills, accomplishments and overall fit within a company," says Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources. "As a result, more job-seekers are taking action to make their social networking profiles employer-friendly."

Haefner provides suggestions to maintain a professional online profile:

— Get rid of pictures, information or links that may give the wrong impression to a future employer. Clean up your profile before you start your job search.

— Update your profile on a regular basis.

— Use the "block comments" feature if you are receiving inappropriate comments.

— Be smart when adding friends or joining groups.

— Think about putting your profile on private. This way, only your friends can view your page.

For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

To find out more about Amy Winter and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.