In today’s rocky economy, many people are quite naturally worried about the security of their jobs. No one relishes the prospect of opening their paycheck and finding a pink slip inside, ruining what you thought was a secure job. Many large companies were formerly thought of as bulletproof, yet even employers like Google are laying off large numbers of employees, and some retailers such as Kay Bee Toys, Circuit City and Wilson’s leather are closing down all of their retail outlets altogether. Even the formerly impenetrable sector of government jobs is experiencing hardship, as local and federal governments contract to save money. In times of such economic uncertainty, is there any way you can make your employer see you as a “recession-proof” invaluable asset? You will, of course, want to stay active in your personal job search and check local job listings daily, in addition, there’s one other huge step you can take, too.
There’s one surefire way to let your employer know that you’re valuable- 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? 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! As it’s in the best interest of both the employer and employee that the worker be as knowledgeable as possible, many employers see higher education as quite a valuable function.
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’s not impossible- look at the number of people that attend law school at night, for example- but it is extremely difficult. 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 will receive the same high-quality, stimulating education while avoiding a lot of the pitfalls of traditional brick and mortar classes such as buying books, finding parking, dressing presentably and adhering to attendance of classes on a traditional schedule.
Most online classes consist of reading electronic course packs or text books, and then participating in discussions via email or message board, while competing both individual and group writing assignments. There are also collaborative assignments with other students, so you’ll want to find a way to stay in touch with them, such as an IRC chat room or Instant Messenger. The biggest attraction of distance learning is that you can largely set your own schedule- if the urge to write a paper strikes you at 4 AM, you can write it then, and if you wake up thinking about a great point to raise in discussion, you don’t have to wait for class to start to do it. Costs are about the same of a traditional physical classroom (maybe a little bit higher), so the cost isn’t prohibitively expensive, either.
You will need a healthy dose of self discipline to succeed at distance learning, and you’ll need to be personally responsible and provide your own motivation, 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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