How Can You Find The Right School (and Degree) For You?

Ask yourself three questions:

1. What does the future hold for the job market?
With an aging population, we can look forward to a career of employment that will most likely be varied and part time. Full time employment is on the decline, with more part time jobs taking their place. Be prepared for a working environment where you will be doing several things at once. Health issues and services will become the main concern of the political economy and will be a major part of your life.

With this limited picture in mind, it’s important that you know who you are and where you want to go in your life. It might even be a good idea to start a portfolio of your accomplishments that will help you keep track of your skillls and interests. When it comes time to make a decision about your future education, you can refer to this portfolio and remind yourself of the goals that you set for yourself.

2. What career is best for you?
To find out what career will work best for you, ask yourself a few questions:

What skills do you have and what are you good at? Since we aren’t the most objective judges when it comes to our own skills, personal faults or strengths, ask your guidance counselor or even a good friend, boss or family member whose judgement you trust. Get them to tell you what you’re good at and what skills you’ve demonstrated. You might be good at resolving conflicts or have an aptitude for anything to do with numbers. Skills are something you collect and will continue to excel at.

What interests you? You may love to do something, but are you any good at it? Will training help you to be?

What kind of environment would you most like to work in? Do you want to work with children? Take care of people? Work on a computer? Take on a trade? Do you like being around people when you’re working or would you prefer to have a job that’s solitary?

What’s your family situation? Do you have young children you’d prefer to stay home with? Or are you free to go into an office? Where are you located? Are you in an area where there’s a healthy local job market or will you need to telecommute?

All of these things will be a factor in your decision.

3. How can you choose the best university, college or online school to help you get the career your want?

Here’s a list of rules that you might want to keep in mind when making your final choice:

Rule 1: Ensure that you meet the requirements of the occupation you want to enter.

Rule 2: Be realistic and make sure you have a backup plan. What happens if you start a program and don’t enjoy it? Have another option open to you, just in case.

Rule 3: Comparison shopping. Look carefully at all the universities, colleges and online schools that meet your requirements and compare them.

Rule 4: Be true to your own decisions. Do it for yourself and don’t let yourself be influenced by other people’s ideas of what you should do. If you want a particular career, go for it! Even if things don’t go as you planned, you’ll never have to wonder "what if".

Rule 5: Remember that you have a long life ahead of you. Choose the widest possible highway to travel leaving yourself as many alternative routes as possible. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

If you keep these things in mind, you’ll be well on your way to finding a better education and a better career!