In tough economic times, people's worries naturally turn to keeping 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. It's gotten bad enough that even employers formerly thought of as bulletproof (Google, for example) are laying off large numbers of employees. Some retail outlets like Circuit City are closing their doors outright, and others such as Kay Bee Toys and Wilson's Leather are closing huge portions of their retail operations. Even the government, an employment sector once thought of as totally secure, is contracting and laying people off. Is there any way, in such difficult economic circumstances, to make yourself immune to your employer's cost-cutting considerations? Along with keeping active in your job search and frequently checking online job listings, there is one other huge step you can take, too.
One sure way you can let your employer know how valuable you are, is to educate yourself. Put yourself in your employer's shoes- if you had two employees, both equally qualified, equally experienced, and equally salaried and benefited, wouldn't you want to retain the one with a higher level of education? Employers want workers that constantly strive to better themselves by increasing their knowledge- some employers even provide tuition reimbursement all the way up to 100% of the final cost! 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. Technology has presented us with another alternative- distance education, or home schooling, for higher education. You can earn a degree in much less time than you thought possible, and from the comfort of wherever you keep your computer! Online education provides a quality learning experience while allowing students to avoid the hassles associated with the traditional brick-and-mortar classroom such as buying textbooks, finding parking, dressing up to be presentable to peers, and adhering to a rigid schedule- all at a cost that's comparable to that of classes in traditional educational settings.
Most distance learning requires you to read an electronic textbook (often included in the price of tuition), complete assignments, and participate in discussion groups via message board or email several times per week. You will also have to collaborate on group assignments, as well, so you'll need a way to stay in touch with fellow classmates, such as Instant Messenger or an IRC chat room. The biggest advantage to distance learning is that you can do it on your own schedule- you can log in and do your daily reading, discussion and research after the kids are down and the dishes are done, for example. It's not prohibitively expensive, either, costs of home school online education are about the same (maybe a little bit higher) than costs of attending physical, brick-and-mortar classes.
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. You're going to have to be tough on yourself- no classes to attend means no instructors to harangue you or remind you about assignments, so you're going to have to keep abreast of things all on your own. If this sounds like something you can handle, you should ask your employer about reimbursement for online education- everyone wins!
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