If you’ve reached a cul-de-sac in your career, should you go back to college or university?

 

Will this be the Elixir to career greatness?

 

Today, I discuss the pros and cons of going back to college

 

Hello and a very warm welcome to Episode No 58 of ‘Your Bravo Career’

My name is Mark Crossfield, I’m a Professional Career Coach / helping you to love your job and build a great career.  

 

How you can enjoy what you are doing day each day at work

and how to build a great career along the way.

Introduction

 

Welcome everybody to Episode no 58.

 

Today, we are talking about whether you should you go back to college or university?

 

Could this be a good move for you?

 

I will be discussing some of the pros and cons and giving you some things to think about. To help you decide what’s best for you.

 

It’s a good question actually, and one that I’m often asked. 

 

The question normally goes something like this – 

 

I feel like I would benefit from getting some more qualifications to help my career prospects. Should I go back to college?

 

Or, I’m stuck at a certain level or in a certain role or position in my job, should I go back to University?

 

The answer is different of course for each person and for each situation.

 

But, it’s an important question and the stakes can be high. Going back to college or university can be expensive and very time consuming.

 

So, today I’m going to look at some of the considerations to going back to college, either full time or part time, and what might the alternatives be.

 

So, let’s jump straight in.

 

First of all, why should you go back to university?

 

In what situations might it be worth considering?

 

Well, in certain situation going back to university to gain another qualification could be a great way to enhance your career prospects.

 

Whether it’s because you’re struggling to find work in the field you’re actually qualified in, you’re stuck in a dead-end role, or your dream career just didn’t turn out the way you thought it would, going back to university to study something new could be a good move for you.

 

This is particularly true if you feel like you are under-qualified for the roles you aspire to or the ones you are interested in. Maybe you don’t have any of the right qualifications.

 

Another scenario where it might make sense to go back to college is when you’re on the right path, but you need extra qualifications to progress in your career…

 

For example, some roles and industries will require certain academic qualifications for you to work in that role or to advance in that industry. 

 

Also, another relevant scenario - going back to university could also help you to branch off into a particular specialism within your field of work. A word of caution here though, often specialist qualifications can be acquired without going back to college. I will say more about this later on.

 

By the way, going back to college or university doesn’t have to be a full-time commitment.

If you’re currently dealing with lots of other commitments, such as work or raising a family, it doesn’t mean you can’t get back into education.

 

A variety of courses offer online, distance learning, and work-based learning options, which will allow you to study wherever you want, without compromising your current life commitments.

 

So, going back to college could be good for your career, enhancing your prospects and likely increasing your salary. 

 

As I often mention on the show, It’s not uncommon for people to get stuck in the wrong job as a result of poor career guidance or a lack of self-awareness at a young age. Further education can set a career change in motion and get you into a more desirable career path.

 

All sounds good right? Let’s get applying to college or university. Right?

 

Well, let’s next look at some of the arguments against going back to college.

 

So, what are the arguments against going back to college?

 

First of all, not all careers need additional qualifications. Look around you at those that are successful, many of those people won’t have lots of extra academic qualifications. It’s not a guarantee of success.

 

Also, remember that some of the country’s most successful businessmen such as Richard Branson and Alan Sugar did not go to university.

 

Also, going back to college or university is hard work and can be expensive. Will the career improvement, and salary increase, lead to a net return on investment (ROI) over, say the next 10 years?

 

The answer to whether university is worth it is something only you can decide for yourself. Take a long hard look at why you want to go to university and what you hope to get out of it and then you can start to work out whether it will achieve those things for you.

 

Is there a clear line of progression from where you are now into the role or career that you aspire to? If you are not sure, speak to some people who are already doing what you want to do. How did they get where they are?

 

So, there are arguments for and against going back to college. I hope I have given you some things to think about.

 

 

Now let’s look at some of the alternatives?

Because, luckily there are plenty of other ways to educate yourself and upskill yourself without going back to college. Let’s look at them now.

 

First of all, let’s look at

 

 

Many industries, roles and sectors offer Professional qualifications, accreditations or Certifications to prove you have both a baseline understanding of what’s required in a job or a mastery of best practices in a certain field. 

 

For example, the APM, Association for Project Management, has a range of qualifications – APM Project Fundamentals, APM Project Management Qualification and APM Project Professional Qualification. You can even become a Chartered Project Manager now.

 

It’s the same in other field such as IT, HR, Data Analytics and finance.

 

 

Getting these qualification and certifications show you have knowledge and capabilities, and you achieve this without having to go back to college. 

 

For example, during my career I achieved some management qualifications and went on to achieved Chartered Manager status with the CMI. I also did some coaching qualifications and later became an Accredited Coach with AC.

 

These accreditations and professional qualifications opened doors to me in my career which were previously shut. 

 

 

There’s also a wealth of learning platforms out there. I have mentioned quite a few of these on the podcast before. They include LinkedIn Learning, Skillshare, Udemy, google and good old YouTube. You’ll also find free courses from some of the top schools around the world, including London University, MIT, Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. Here is a link to a few UK based courses.

 

 

It might be worth having a discussion with your manager to see if there is an opportunity to move onto a new project or do a slightly different role. These stretch assignments would give you new skills and experience which would be helpful in your career.

 

Also, consider a rotation with another employee to gain some new experience.

 

Finally, you could volunteer in an area that would give you new skills and experience.

 

 

Mentors can provide so much more than a listening ear. The right mentor outside of your direct leadership or function will provide new perspectives on your work and how to uplevel your skills and challenge you to think differently.

 

So, the alternatives I have discussed.

 

Many industries, roles and sectors offer Professional qualifications, accreditations or Certifications

New Projects, Rotations, and Volunteering, and

So, there you have it, I hope that’s been useful, 

 

I’ve discussed,

 

The pros and cons of going back to university. This boils down to answering the question, 

 

Does it, or at a push, could it, give you a clear and direct path to your desired career destination? 

 

Also, does it make financial sense, and is there a Return on Investment, over the next 10 years

 

And,

 

As I’ve just mentioned there are lots of alternatives to college and university that you could consider.

 

So, I hope all that is helpful.

 

Not sure, and still need help, email at mark@bravocoaching.co.uk and we can have a conversation.

 

By the way, you can find today’s show notes at bravocoaching.co.uk/podcast.

 

 

If you are interested in working with me, you can book a free discovery call on my website.

 

If you haven’t already subscribed, why not do that now. I’ve got a special guest on the next podcast who I’m excited to talk with. I think you will enjoy the conversation as well …

  

Have a wonderful week and I will speak to you again in a couple of weeks time.

 

Bye for now.