This guide outlines the benefit of vocational courses as an alternative to higher education for career advancement.
When you decide to pick up a book to read or enroll in a course, it is in search of knowledge — but also in search of development. And this applies very much to your career path
Maybe you’ll try to learn new skills, have some kind of growth, gain more freedom, get prominence in your professional environment, or simply fulfill a personal desire.
But have you ever stopped to think about how decisive education can be to our success? With that in mind, we invite you to reflect on where you are now and where you want to go.
Therefore, understand that for any person that wants to grow, whether personally or professionally, at some point it will be necessary to invest in education. And you know why? Because education is the one thing that’s going to direct you to accomplishing all the things you want.
Career benefits from vocational courses
Career planning occupies more and more space in the lives of professionals.
Much is said about ways to plan a successful career, attitudes, behaviors and shortcuts, but undoubtedly education is the most considerable item for a professional to be always developing in the job market and be an undisputed expert.
Today the market offers options for people with the most varied levels of education, but labor market statistics show that the competition in the labor market is great. Education is the way to beat it.
In addition to traditional education (primary, elementary, high school, higher education, among others), another good way for a professional to always be up to date is to seek vocational courses that contribute in some way to their professional training.
If, by chance, going to college is still a slightly distant dream, for whatever reason, we invite you to think more strategically. Because, you have other alternatives to invest in your education, such as vocational courses.
A vocational course, besides being faster, is often more targeted towards career fields. It can fit in your budget and even, in your time. Since classes are usually held on some days of the week and not daily.
Taking vocational courses can be the first step when thinking about getting ahead in your career.
You analyze your career and see that it has been stagnant for some years. It’s been a long time since you learned something new or contributed to a new project in the company. So you organize the budget and invest in a vocational course.
You graduate with new skills and techniques. And with that they manage to improve sales or a situation that was making the company spend more.
Reasons to take vocational courses
1. They are faster
An undergraduate course lasts an average of 4 years. A technologist or technology superior on average about 2 1/2 years. On the other hand, a vocational course can last from 6 months to 1 year.
And if the intention is to do something faster to improve your income or even get an extra, no doubt the results will be much faster when taking a vocational course.
Many people will not even be able to take a higher education course for a number of reasons. And so that it does not remain an obsolete workforce, the best alternative is to opt for a vocational course. That’s why we talk about adding value to your career.
2. It’s cheaper than college
First of all, let’s not encourage anyone not to go to college. Let’s just give an initial orientation as a first step before college.
So if you are feeling lost and do not know what course to take, what we suggest is that you contact professionals from the areas you are interested in and that, mainly, get internships and experiences before deciding.
One of the alternatives that some people take is precisely to invest in a vocational course and get to work in the area before properly hitting the hammer and deciding to go to college.
After all, a college degree is quite expensive, and this makes it harder to access unless you can arrange finance for a student loan from somewhere like Navient Marketplace.
So if you can’t get a college right now: qualify your plan. Study, learn something new, move in the direction of your dreams.
Who knows, with vocational courses, you could get a salary increase or even a better opportunity elsewhere, and then you can pay for your college or invest in a preparatory course.
3. More focused on professional needs
In a professional course, because it is leaner and with a few hours, the contents need to be focused on practice. On day-to-day work life. This is the case with vocational courses, which are highly targeted.
4. Teachers are often professionals in your field
Ask the provider of vocational courses about the professional’s experience with his work. Look for directions. Search their profile and see what the work and relationship he or she has with people. If they already do a good job this will be great for you as you can extract from them the best during the course.
In addition, it is quite common for professional courses to be guided by professionals, but knowing who they are and their results is critical to your success as well.
5. Fast-track your career advancement
As we have already seen that, on average, a vocational course can last from 6 months to 1 year, we can conclude that it is much faster to achieve results with a job being done autonomously or to get the long-dreamed job vacancy in a good company.
6. Be able to ask for a higher salary
Knowing how to do certain things or improve some skills already add up to extra points for you to ask for a raise or supplement your salary with an extra income.
7. Help a career change
If your intention is to change careers, nothing better than a vocational course to direct you at the beginning of your path.
And remember that it’s never too late to do something that we love or that we’ve always dreamed of being able to work.
Final words
So if you’ve convinced yourself that investing in good vocational courses is what will give you more opportunities in the job market or just want to make a personal achievement, it’s time to get going!
