Thinking about going back to school?

CoMMoN reasons for going back to school are to make yourself more marketable, to be in a better position for promotion, or to move into a new area of work.

Before you take the leap, here are a few things to consider.

You may not need a degree or diploma Quite often when we’ve been away from school for a long time, our mind hops back in time and resets to teen needs where long programmes are most useful. Now you’re an adult though, you may be better off with a short course or even a set of seminars.

Refine your goals

Vague ideas like “I need more options” can lead to poor decisions. Pinpoint exactly what you want, and then get good advice on how to get there. It may be that in your company any kind of Masters automatically gets you ahead, so you need not necessarily do something directly work-related.

Identify the most effective path to your goal

Going back to school may mean hitting the virtual classroom. once you know what you need, look at all your options. If you need to be with people, then go to a school but if you want to pass an exam and are happy on your own, then online learning with a few face to face tutorials might be a better fit.

Be realistic

If you are up at six in the morning, will you really be able to take evening classes? And if you bring the books home, will the kids give you peace at the weekend? Work out what free time you have before you commit to something.