In today’s rocky economy, many people are quite naturally worried about the security of their jobs. It’s no fun to get a pink slip on a Friday afternoon announcing that you no longer work where you thought you did. More and more large companies, some thought to be invincible, are laying off large numbers of employees. Some retail outlets like Circuit City are closing outright, giants such as Google are laying off large numbers of employees, and others such as Kay-Bee Toys or Wilson’s Leather are massively contracting their operations by closing all, or a large percentage of their retail stores. Even the government, an employment sector once thought of as totally secure, is contracting and laying people off. In such times of economic uncertainty, in addition to staying active with your job search and checking both local and nationwide job listings daily, there’s one other big step you can take to make your employer see how valuable you really are.
One good way to make sure you still have a job is to educate yourself. All things being equal, if an employer has to choose between two equally-salaried and benefited employees, they will usually opt to keep the employee with the greater education. Some employers feel so passionately about their employees continuing their education, that they are willing to reimburse them up to 100% of the upfront cost of their continued learning! Higher education allows employees to learn as much about their chosen industry as possible, and that’s in both the employees and the employers best interest.
It may seem like an impossibility to keep up with a full time job, stay abreast of the demands of friends and family, and attend college, simultaneously. It can be difficult, but it’s not impossible- one only has to look at the large number of people attending law school at night to see that. However, a great alternative has arisen in recent years- the alternative of home school, distance education. Using technology to learn from a distance allows you to get a degree in a shorter time than you ever thought possible, and allows you to learn in the comfort of your home. You’ll be receiving a quality education without the hassles of buying textbooks, finding parking, making yourself presentable and adhering to a predetermined schedule, and at a comparable cost to classes in a traditional educational setting, as well.
Most online classes will have you reading the textbook electronically (usually, it’s included in the cost), preparing writing assignments, and participating in discussion with the rest of the group a couple of times a week. You’ll also want to familiarize yourself with IRC chat or Instant Messenger as a way to stay in touch with classmates during collaborative group assignments. The most obvious advantage to online learning is that you can do it on a schedule that works for you- if you’ve got a thought you want to share with the class at midnight, simply log in and do so! There’s no need to wait until the next class, and possibly forget your point in the meantime. You can get a good online education for about the same price as a traditional classroom education as well, so cost shouldn’t be prohibitively expensive.
It will take quite a bit of internal motivation and a strong, self-driven sense of responsibility, as well as self-discipline to succeed, as well. It’s important to remember that with the freedom of no physical classes to attend comes the responsibility of remembering to finish assignments and participate in discussions- you won’t have the professor or teaching assistant there to hold your hand. If that sounds doable to you, you should strongly consider online education as a way to improve yourself- it’s a no-lose proposition!
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