Careers and Continuing Education

Posted by David R. Wetzel Aug 2, 2008

Are you thinking about changing your career and believe you may need to take continuing education courses to prepare for the new career? More than likely new courses or classes are needed.

However, research is required to find out if this is the case and what courses or certification(s) are required. When searching for required courses or certifications, ensure they lead to meeting current requirements.

I have heard of people who enrolled in online courses or taken courses which met requirements employers were looking for in the past, not today. So be sure to take the most up to date courses.

New Career Research Sources

• Career Guide to Industries provides training and education needed for careers
• Vocational Information Center provides a list of job skills employers require for hundreds of jobs

Personal Experience and Recommendations

I have changed careers in the past and these are steps I used to determine if a specific career path is one to follow:

• First – I sit down and decide what I want to do, not what others think I should do. Seems simple, however many people do not follow their interests and eventually change.

• Second – I use the above links to see what skills are needed, what courses I will need to take, and if there are any required certifications. Then I list the job skills I have and if any will transfer.

• Third – I look at the forecast for the next ten years for expected job growth in the career. I am looking for good growth potential.

These are the three most important steps I follow. My research always leads to additional questions, which must be answered to my satisfaction before proceeding. I recommend you follow begin the same way.