Are you stuck in a job that seems to offer little or no opportunities for advancement? If this sounds like your situation, know that you can still pivot and chase after the job that you’ve always dreamed of. Such a career shift may require further education. No matter if you simply love acquiring knowledge or aim for a higher salaried job, ongoing education can be undertaken at any point in your career.
Indeed, continuing education can unlock doors that seemed shut before, or lead to superior employment opportunities. Continuing education is typically associated with tertiary level courses or other occupational training achieved by mature individuals or professionals who are already part of the workforce.
This is supported by studies showing that the majority of participants in continuing education programs are usually mature students or employed professionals.
Rising Numbers
Economic circumstances often act as a major force pushing the demand for continuing education, with many individuals opting for such programs during economic downturns. Similarly, during these periods of economic instability many employees strive to enhance their skills to either maintain their current positions or explore new job prospects.
There are numerous compelling reasons why you might want to think about pursuing further education. From the allure of increased earnings to personal growth, here are just a few reasons why you might contemplate returning to the educational field.
Increase Your Chance at Promotions and Better Wages
Individuals who are employed and secure graduate degrees enhance their prospect for promotions and become eligible for increased salaries. In order to qualify for specific roles, such as managerial or administrative positions, specialized training is often a prerequisite.
As per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the prospects for those with a master’s degree are rather favourable. While advanced degrees may not necessarily impact salaries in all professions, a master’s degree does enhance income potential in numerous fields of work. For example, logisticians with an undergraduate degree earn $54,000 per year whereas those with a master’s degree earn $82,000 annually. In a similar vein, marketing and sales managers with an undergraduate degree earn $80,000 annually while their counterparts with a master’s degree fetch $110,000 per year. These two instances serve as examples of how an advanced degree can result in superior wages.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics identifies fields such as STEM, business, education, and healthcare as sectors where a master’s degree often leads to higher salaries. Nevertheless, there are a plethora of other occupations where a master’s degree can be beneficial. Librarians, fitness professionals, and public relations specialists are a few examples where individuals with a master’s degree earn more than those equipped with a bachelor’s degree.
Your decision to pursue a master’s degree should primarily be based on an evaluation of its potential benefits to your career. You should seek counsel from individuals experienced in your area of work and research into whether a master’s degree will actually prove beneficial. If it doesn’t appear advantageous, consider exploring other routes to enhance your career prospects. Keep in mind that a master’s degree necessitates a substantial commitment of time and finances, so ensure that such an investment will yield a return before signing up for any courses..
Improve Your Job Marketability
Further education can at times confer a master’s degree, and at other times lead to a professional certification. Each brings its own set of benefits. A graduate certificate demands a lesser commitment, with both time and cost being significantly lower compared to a complete degree. However, a certificate still denotes dedication to further education, equipping you better for your career. Master’s degrees might be more suitable in certain areas.
Whether you opt for a master’s degree or certificate, acquiring additional education can boost your marketability in the job arena. To start, in certain sectors a master’s degree is at times a minimum essential for certain roles. The boost in job marketability stems from the additional educational qualifications that make you eligible for jobs that might have otherwise been out of your reach. Various careers such as college professors, adult educators, counsellors, consultants, and professional administrators are some of the ones that require applicants to have a master’s degree.
Moreover, possessing a master’s degree generally increases your chances of being hired, even for jobs where only a bachelor’s degree is required. Research suggests that a master’s education correlates with enhanced employability. This additional education equips you with competitiveness within the hiring process, increasing the likelihood of you being selected over peers who only own a bachelor’s degree.
However, it’s crucial to remember that a master’s degree doesn’t automatically lead to a job. As pointed out by Rebecca Ratcliffe, there are careers where additional education doesn’t give an advantage. Importantly, you need to ensure that your master’s degree is highly relevant to the job you’re applying for. Applying for a role with a master’s degree that only has partial relevance might not serve any real advantage. In fact, hiring managers might view you similarly to candidates holding only a bachelor’s degree.
One way to enhance your competitiveness in the job market, even if your master’s degree doesn’t directly confer an obvious advantage, is by clearly communicating to prospective employers how the skills you’ve acquired will benefit your performance in the undertaken role. Skills like critical and lateral thinking are valuable in a variety of roles, and research skills might make you a worthwhile addition to certain career fields.
The key is to articulate the value of these skills both in your resume and during job interviews. By doing so, you will likely increase the chances that hiring managers will choose you over fellow applicants.
Increase Your Ability to Make a Career Transition
Pursuing continuing education serves as an effective route to acquire new skills or knowledge required for a career shift. While it’s not always necessary to gain additional education when contemplating a career change, in particular instances this extra education could prove to be extremely beneficial. If you’re considering altering your career path, the initial step would be to research whether further education would be of help.
The first action in your career transition should involve significant research on the new role you’re hoping to apply for. It is crucial to gauge the current job market scenario and assess your competition for landing a job in this field. If the sector is highly competitive, then acquiring further education might become particularly significant. In such a case, this extra education could mean the difference between landing the job or missing out. If further education appears propitious, identify which specific skills would aid your transition.
With a clear understanding of the required skills for your new job, the next step would be to assess just how much extra education you would need. At times, a swift investment into a master’s certificate could enable you to make this transition, saving you significant time and money otherwise required for a full-fledged master’s degree. If a certificate suffices, you could possibly make your transition into a new career at a faster pace. Importantly, understand which skills can be garnered from real-time work experience versus the ones best learnt through an academic course. This will assist you in determining the courses that you will need to undertake.
Remember that a career transition is akin to starting your professional life from scratch. Hence, it’s imperative to thoroughly understand the path you’re choosing. By comprehending the competitiveness in your chosen field and the specific skills that could give you an edge, you’ll be strategically positioned to determine what additional education will enable you to most effectively succeed once you’ve initiated your transition.
Embark on a Journey of Personal Development
Opting for additional education isn’t always about furthering your career. Continuing education serves as an excellent platform to learn about topics of personal interest. The courses undertaken don’t necessarily have to be job-oriented.
Enrolling for courses at community schools instead of universities, for example, presents a more affordable way to gain education without the hefty expenses generally associated with university tuition. If your career fulfills you but you have an inherent inclination towards studying history, enrolling in relevant courses could nurture your inner historian. Similarly, if your interest in science has been piqued of late, taking science courses could allow more exploration of the scientific process. Educational possibilities are limitless, with a variety of courses offered each year to cater to a broader audience.
Even when you’re attending a class purely out of personal interest, you might encounter learning areas that could aid your work routine. Skills such as critical thinking, time management, and problem-solving are often honed during academic pursuits. Additional education is valuable not only for exploring personal interests but also for enhancing skills that can be implemented in daily life.
While selecting courses based on subject affinity, it’s still beneficial to do a bit of research to determine which ones you’ll enjoy the most and how they complement each other. Instead of choosing a mix of related courses, it could be more enriching to follow a series of courses within a single field that build upon each other. For instance, if you’re intrigued by history, you could concentrate your studies on 20th-century America. This approach allows you to gain in-depth knowledge in a specific area of your interest, rather than having a broad but shallow understanding of a wider field.
Improve your Image and How You Conduct Yourself
On occasion, further education can serve to enhance your image amongst your closest circles. Acquiring more education doesn’t just equip you with new skills and information to share with those you interact with, but it also aids in improving your standing in both familial and social spheres.
Additional education yields more advantages than merely the skills and knowledge gained. Undertaking further education or completing a higher level program can boost self-image and positively impact various facets of a person’s life.
In general, obtaining more education is an effective way of boosting your self-confidence and faith in your abilities. An amplified belief in your knowledge and skills can substantially bolster your self-confidence. This confidence reflects in the way you interact with people you know and can enhance their perceptions of you.
Although it’s not frequently discussed, continuing education significantly benefits your self-esteem and confidence around others. You emerge as a more informed individual capable of contributing meaningfully in diverse settings. Your newly acquired knowledge and skills will make you more noticeable in a crowd, fostering confidence in your own abilities.
Conclusion
Whether it’s out of a love for learning or a desire to qualify for specific jobs, people enroll in college for varied reasons. However, the predicament for many is the inability to re-enroll in college while maintaining full-time employment. For such individuals, online continuing education programs serve as a viable solution, offering the opportunity to further their education while sustaining their professional commitments.
Resuming education is not tethered to age, and many older adults and professionals are leveraging the benefits of returning to college or earning additional qualifications. Regardless of whether your intent to return to school is driven by personal growth or enhancing your career prospects, it’s paramount to meticulously plan your additional education and introspect why you’re taking this route. In this way, you’ll increase the likelihood of satisfaction upon the completion of your further education.