<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=474941229738723&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">

5 Questions to Ask Yourself When Choosing a School for Career Training

    

5 Questions to Ask Yourself

As you consider your professional goals for 2020, now is the time to ask yourself important questions about your motivations, aims, and talents to make the most of your career. Everyone wants to get ahead, but making the decision to advance your career and actually taking the positive steps necessary to move up the ladder are two different things.

Certification allows your current or prospective employer to verify your skillset, offering you a wider range of career choices and additional mobility and flexibility. With the right training and certification, you can unlock countless benefits in fields that are both exciting and profitable. Before you make any decisions, ask yourself these questions to best prepare.

What is my motivation for career training?

Before you develop a plan for your career goals, be sure to understand why you want to change your professional life. Are you re-entering the workforce after a layoff or years away from the job? You need to learn modern skills and current best practices. Are you looking to specialize your skillset? Time to pursue advanced technical training. Want more responsibility and a leadership role? Project management might be your answer.

Truthfully, you might be motivated by a mixture of these factors. Better pay, more responsibility, and a secure job often go hand-in-hand, and you can achieve all of your goals with the right training. By understanding your own motivations, you can put your best foot forward in training and interviews alike.

What specific skills do I want to acquire or improve?

Even before career training, you should always be working on your soft skills. These qualities, such as creativity and communication, aren’t job specific, and you can bring them to any task or challenge.

While soft skills are important for career success, employers are looking for employees trained in specific skills such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, or cybersecurity. According to CNBC, there are over 700,000 open tech jobs in the United States, and these shortages will only grow as technology becomes more complex and ubiquitous in our daily lives. With the right training and certification, you can quickly secure a lucrative position in these growing fields.

Do your research before you embark on career training. Use websites like Glassdoor or LinkedIn to learn what certifications are commonly required in your desired field. Talk to expert career advisors and develop a game plan for the best certifications for your career goals.

See what certifications will be highly sought after in 2020 >>

Who teaches the class?

With a variety of online resources available for pursuing training, knowledgeable instructors are one of the big advantages of an actual training center. With an expert there to answer questions in real time, you can master material quickly and learn unique tips and tricks.

At New Horizons Career Development Solutions, we take pride in our award-winning instructors. Our coaches have proven experience working in their field, so they can provide unique insights and advice that you won’t get out of a textbook or pre-recorded video.

What is the cost of a typical course or program?

The cost of career training can vary greatly depending on your circumstances, but there are a number of ways to help pay for your program and alleviate your expenses. Generally, career training is both faster and less expensive than college, allowing you to obtain your certification and start working in a lucrative field without years of student debt and classes you don’t really need.

If you’re a veteran, you may be able to use your veterans education benefits to pay for training, so you can effectively transition into the civilian workforce without shouldering the burden of training expenses.

For others, programs such as the Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act or Trade Adjustment Assistance can provide assistance to workers that face layoffs, outsourcing, and other unexpected career transitions.

How will this program help me advance my career?

According to a report from IDC, certified employers earn an average of 15% more than non-certified staff. Additionally, they are more efficient, adaptable, and productive, and they don’t cost employers as much to train, making a certification a valuable asset for your resume.

Once you’re certified, doors open up for your professional life. Many of our students find employment through our job placement services, while others, such as Scott Landry, forge their own path into IT entrepreneurship.

Career training will make you a more effective, efficient, and productive employee. With certification under your belt, you can make a strong case for promotion, or you can simply find a better position someplace else. Career training and certification will help empower your career, so we’ve developed a checklist of questions you should ask before undertaking any career training program. These questions will help you select the right training center to help you on your way to a better career in 2020.

Looking to further your career? Consider these questions when looking into further career training programs. Download Checklist >>

Subscribe to the CDS Blog