ALT-1 How to get Ahead in your Career by going Back to School
Education is very important in career advancement. The amount of knowledge and experience that you have could determine your career success. The deeper knowledge and experience you have, the better the opportunities that will come your way. Investing in knowledge is one of the best ways for you to improve your chances in succeeding in your career. Avoid committing the same mistake that most people make by getting complacent after earning a degree and landing a job. A survey done by Virginia Management Consultancy states that 83% of the people stop learning as soon as they earn at least a bachelor's degree and 91.5% stop learning after getting a work experience of at least 5 years. Learning is a continuous process and the people who commit to learning are normally the people who succeed. It might explain why nearly only 5% succeed in the corporate world.
Going back to school is by far the most common and efficient way in upgrading your knowledge and skills. It will provide you detailed information or new knowledge as far as your career path is concerned. Do you want to climb to a higher level in your career? Are you planning for a career change? Do you want to find more options to find a career that suits you the most? Get to school and you'll get everything that you need. Here are some things to consider in going back to school to get ahead in your career.
1) Masters degree. You might belong to the general group of corporate people with bachelors degree. Having a bachelors degree is the most common norms in the corporate world. However, if you want to have an edge and eye career advancement, having a masters degree will help you a lot. A masters degree will manifest your competence and knowledge on a particular field. Companies prefer specialists and a bachelors degree can't provide the in depth knowledge and skills a specialist need, a masters degree can. Masters degrees are tailor made for people who are working or busy thus they don't require much time. Masters degrees classes are normally held on weekends and just for a few hours.
2) Certifications. Certifications are manifestations of skill competence. Companies in the IT and technology sector prefer certified personnel because of their experience and knowledge on a specific technology. Certifications are very important to engineers and technicians. Certified personnel are well compensated and are considered as among the best. Other than the IT field, several sectors also offer certification programs such as language, mathematics, and analysis prowess. You can consider earning a certification either to boost your career or simply to learn a very valuable and practical skill.
3) Management courses. Becoming a manager is one of the most common goals and dreams of employees. Managers are well compensated, they have a lot of say in the company, they manage the company or a particular group, and they are being looked up. However, becoming a manager is never easy. It requires competence in skills, good people relations skills, sound judgment, and firm decision making. All the basic things that aspiring managers should learn are all in management courses. Schools normally have 4-year bachelors degree management courses but some offer short term courses made for working individuals. It may cost a few but it is all going to be worth it.
4) Course for a new career path. A change in career can also be considered as a career advancement. There are some cases where you want to shift careers for numerous reasons such as a better pay and opportunity or going for something that you love. Learning the basics of your new career must be the very first thing that you should do in order to successfully change careers. You can never jump into something that you don't know much of. There are several short term courses, vocational courses to be exact, that several institutions and firms offer.
There is no truth that school is losing its essence. In fact, schools make people competent and deserving for jobs and open doors for better opportunities. If you badly want to progress in your career, consider going back to school and learn the things that you need to learn. There is no substitute for competence in the corporate world.
