Is returning to school worth it for advancing your career? Experts weigh in
After a number of years of working in retail, Shantia Cross had sufficient.
One day in 2021, she determined to stroll off the job and go away what she described as a poisonous and thankless office. Her mom suggested her to both discover a new job or return to highschool, and that acquired Cross pondering.
That identical night time, she stayed up till 3 a.m. looking for a profession the place she may use the exhausting expertise that she picked up in journalism faculty — like interviewing and capturing video — and stumbled upon some testimonials about jobs in consumer expertise, or UX, design.
Cross selected a one-year, intensive post-graduate certificates program at Centennial College in Toronto after looking for applications with a UX design element. Brimming with pleasure, she signed up.
“I’m really glad I stuck with it,” mentioned Cross, who’s now a content material strategist for one of many nation’s high banks.
Cross is only one of many Canadians who’ve returned to highschool in an effort to advance their careers, a transfer that consultants say may be helpful as long as it is an knowledgeable resolution.
Jessica Moorhouse, a monetary educator and host of the More Money podcast, mentioned there are numerous perks to returning to highschool or taking certification programs to improve your expertise and make your resume stand out.
“There can be a lot of benefits,” mentioned Moorhouse, who’s at present on her solution to changing into an authorized monetary planner within the hope of incomes belief from potential purchasers.
“It does set yourself apart from others that are trying to do the same thing.”
Ian Christie, CEO and chief profession strategist of the Vancouver-based Bold Career Project, mentioned pursuing greater training may speed up an individual’s profession progress or enable them to make an entire profession overhaul.
“This will give them hopefully some exhausting expertise that they will apply to the job instantly and assist them doubtlessly leapfrog to the subsequent degree extra shortly than by way of simply the work expertise, he mentioned. It can even open new doorways, he mentioned.
For instance, with a grasp of business administration, you might achieve entry to greater ranges of administration and government positions, in addition to a better wage.
In Canada, the typical annual wage for an individual with an MBA is $80,000, in response to figures compiled by Talent.com, although the figures fluctuated considerably.
However, the return in your funding of money and time for pursuing greater training is dependent upon your subject of alternative, Moorhouse mentioned. That’s why she suggests doing analysis, particularly by chatting with folks in that subject, to get a greater thought of the wage expectations, work-life stability and total work tradition.
“If you’re working for an NGO or a non-profit or (doing) social work, you’re probably not going to make as much as someone who did an MBA,” she mentioned.
“Your degree probably was just as difficult and just as costly, but you’re not going to reach a certain income level just because of the industry you’re working in.”
There are a number of different issues folks ought to think about earlier than returning to highschool.
For one, for those who simply accomplished a bachelor’s diploma, Moorhouse mentioned it may be worthwhile to take a while to achieve some skilled expertise earlier than going straight again to highschool. This can mean you can discover what actually pursuits you, or alternatively, what does not.
It’s additionally value determining whether or not you require a grasp’s diploma or PhD to land your dream job or may make do with a certificates or a diploma, she mentioned.
If you are on the lookout for an economical solution to pursue greater training, Moorhouse advisable enrolling in both a part-time program or programs at night time or on weekends alongside working.
Unless it actually issues on your desired career, you can too select a faculty or program that units you up for fulfillment in your chosen subject at a lower cost level than the same faculty or program that is extra pricey however thought-about prestigious, Moorhouse mentioned.
“If you are in the health field or law or something, those things do kind of matter because there’s this weird hierarchy that still exists, but for lots of jobs, people will look at your resume and they will not know that much about that program or that college or whatever; it doesn’t matter,” she defined.
Christie mentioned it is best to choose a program that can equip you with each expertise and networking alternatives that can make it easier to land a job within the present job market.
“Are you getting job-ready skills that the market values? And what other supports does the program have? Do they have a career centre? Do they have connections with industry, with networking events, or alumni network?” he mentioned.
No matter the place you determine to check, Christie mentioned try to be keen to place within the effort and time to just remember to’re getting essentially the most out of this system.
“(It’s) more like, this is a vehicle and I am taking responsibility to leverage the school’s resources, but it’s up to me to find a way to turn this into a really, really positive outcome,” he mentioned.
Sometimes the abilities required for a place might not require greater training, Christie mentioned, through which case you possibly can log on to locations like YouTube and LinkedIn Premium to brush up your expertise. LinkedIn can also be a great place to test the sorts of expertise and experiences others in your required subject have, with the intention to observe their instance, he added.
Meanwhile, Cross recommends folks reassess their expertise and what they’re obsessed with, and totally discover their choices earlier than going again to highschool.
Quoting Aaliyah, considered one of her favorite artists, she added, “If at first you don’t succeed, then dust yourself off and try again.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed May 2, 2023.
