Career education options for working adults.Written by Max Stein
Ask yourself this question: “Do I like what I do for a living?” If you answered “no”, what are you doing about it? Maybe you have a “good” job, but it’s not very rewarding to you personally. Maybe you have job with good pay, but bad hours or worse – a job with good hours, but bad pay. Perhaps you’ve just done your job for too many years, or are excited to work in some of new careers that just weren’t available when you finished school.Whatever reason is for you wanting to switch careers, there are some practical considerations to take into account. How long will it take? How will I find time to do it? How much will it cost? This article will answer these questions and point you towards a more fulfilling career. How long will it take to train for a new career? The answer to this depends on what you want to train for. But, majority of well paying careers that are currently seeking workers, take two years or less to train for. For example, becoming a machinist takes about 10 months. Training to become an X-ray technician can be done in a year. There are other training options that can get you a new job in only six months! Your experience can also count. For example, if you work with computers on your job now, you won’t have to take word processing and spreadsheet classes if you want to be a medical coder. If you tinker with computers in your spare time while you’re working a retail management position, you’ll be ahead of class when you train to become a help desk technician. Also, if you like working on projects around your house more than your job in an office, you’ll be more likely to obtain employment as an HVAC tech or electrician. How will I find time to go to school? If you decide you want to train for a new career, there are many educational options. Traditional universities and colleges are one option, but tend not to offer a lot of flexibility in their class times. Community colleges are a better option since they have flexible classes, but due to limited resources, some of most in demand training programs like nursing and dental hygiene have several year waiting lists in many markets across U.S.
| | The Advantages of Attending a Career College.Written by Max Stein
There are many educational choices for this year’s crop of graduating seniors. Traditional colleges, both four-year colleges and community colleges, are becoming less and less of a “fit” for students. Long times to graduate, waiting lists for popular programs, or outdated curriculum for modern careers are all compelling reasons to seek other sources of education. Indeed, only 30% of students who enter a four year college actually graduate. Of those who do graduate, large portions don’t even find work in their chosen field. On other hand, career colleges offer specific training for some of “hottest” jobs available like nursing, dental hygiene and a wide range of technical and computer jobs. Let’s look at three perceived disadvantages a career college has over traditional schools. Prestige With such a current emphasis on college attendance and competitive lengths some high school students are willing take to get into top schools, some recent graduates may consider choosing to attend a career college as settling. This is not necessarily case. Why are you going to college? Usually answer is to get an education, learn a profession and be able to provide for you future. A career college does all these things, in less time than traditional schools. Most career college graduates actually make a higher starting wage as well, depending on their degree. When you look at choice pragmatically, one may ask question, “Why don’t more high school graduates choose a career college?” One thing to make sure of before you enter any school, is whether or not it is accredited by national governing body, especially if your profession requires licensing…like nursing or dental hygiene. Expense When you compare tuition prices with a community college or junior college with that of a career college, you may wonder how you can justify wide discrepancy. Once you consider limited availability of spaces in top in demand programs, it becomes easier to justify cost. For instance, nursing schools, dental hygiene schools and other “hot” careers have long wait times to even gain entry. While these wait times often shorten up, it still may be years before you get into program. Meanwhile, career colleges have much shorter wait times, or no wait times at all. If you consider lost earnings of a dental hygienist during three year wait period, it becomes much easier to justify higher tuition. Indeed it would cost more over long run to attend community college!
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