There has been a lot of news recently about "for profit" colleges...not much of it is good news. That's not to say that they are all bad or no one should consider going back to school if they've lost their job. It does bring up an important consideration though...assuming you can develop new skills by going back to school whether it's a traditional college or a for profit trade school...will it help you land a new job?
First, college never was the golden ticket that it was made out to be...especially if you are not crystal clear on what you want to do for a living. If you want to be a petroleum engineer like my second oldest son, then you absolutely need college. The flip side is how many people do you know with a college degree who currently work in a completely different field? A whole bunch.
These examples involve 22 year old just entering the workplace. What about a 43 year old father of 4? Does he really have the luxury of taking 6 to 24 months to get retrained? Obviously if he isn't working then he's got the time but that's also 6 to 24 months spent not looking for a job...that isn't guaranteed to be there when he is done retraining.
If you decide to change careers and get retrained then protect yourself by asking some questions first...even if the government is paying for it. Ask to talk with people who have already gone through the program. Find out how tough it is to parlay these new skills into a job. Speak with people who went thru the program a year ago; Six months ago. Are they happy with their decision?
Talk to people in the industry you are considering entering. Is business good? Are companies hiring new employees? What is a normal entry level wage? Get a free account at Linkedin and post questions to industry group members. You need to do the homework because you are making the biggest bet of your life! A decision that will affect you and your family for years to come.
Even if you are not paying for the training (and many people actually do pay for retraining themselves or go into debt to take the classes) you are still postponing your job search for a significant amount of time. Will it be worth it? Important considerations...after all it is YOUR future.
Happy Selling!
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