Continuing Education: Moving Up The Corporate Ladder Despite Your Age
The workplace often gets less comfortable and more competitive as you get older, though it doesn’t seem like it would. With many careers now, employers are able to hire younger employees to do the same job, with more recent education, for less money. This is a great thing for employers, but this is a bad thing for established employees that may not be up to date with education though they have been working loyally for the company for years.
Many established employees find that they are slowly weeded out and replaced with younger people that have an up to date education, but there is a simple way to combat this issue: continue your education.
There is another group of individuals that often has a hard time making their mark in the workplace and that group would be the younger generations or college graduates. College graduates often think that they don’t need to continue education because they just finished and they have a degree under their belt now. The fact is, education should never really be over if you want to climb that corporate ladder sooner rather than later, and continue on your way up for quite some time. Education is something that needs to continue, or you might yourself replaced!
Many individuals expect that their job will be secure after several years of hard work with a company, but that just isn’t so anymore, especially in technology driven jobs. Employers can usually hire two college graduates for the price of one well established employee and so the company must choose between experience and loyalty or a fresh up to date education that comes cheaper. The choice is usually an obvious one for companies that are constantly facing budget cuts, and so established employees are let go. There is an exception to this rule though, established employees that have continued their education. When an employee has experience, loyalty, and up to date education it’s hard for a company to overlook their worth and the value that they truly add to the company and working environment.
Of course, how you continue your education is dependent upon your goals and the degree you already hold. If you simply have an associate degree when you land your first job, you might think about working your way up to at least a Bachelor of Arts degree, and if you believe that it will be beneficial a master’s degree is wonderful, too. Sometimes, advanced degrees really can open doors for you that wouldn’t haven’t been opened for experience or loyalty. Even with budget cuts and labor constraints employers see the value in having someone who has been around and has an advanced degree. You’ll find that you just have an easier time getting the attention you want to get when you hand someone your resume or even when someone reviews your past and present performance each year when it’s time for your yearly raise or bonus!
Even if you have an advanced degree, there are great ways for you to continue your education. Even individuals with a PHD or M.D. usually continue their education because there are always new things that you can learn to broaden your areas of expertise and experience, as well as making you more attractive to current and future employers. You are sure to keep yourself on the top of your game when you are constantly testing yourself and standing up against the new “kids” that come into the mix every year.
For many individuals taking certification classes and exams is a great way to continue to move up the corporate ladder. So many careers don’t require certain certifications but those that have them are usually the ones that advance quickly and continue to climb the corporate ladder with great success. This applies to people that are older and to those college graduates that believe that have to start out at the bottom and slowly work their way up. Either group, the young or well established, will benefit from continuing education or special certification programs and see their careers take off.
It really doesn’t matter what your age is, young or old, you should think about continuing education throughout your career. Continuing education will keep your mind sharp, your skills fresh and up to date, as well as catapulting you to the top of the corporate ladder if that is where you want to be. Continuing education shouldn’t be looked at as an option if you want your career to take off and take you to the places that you’ve always dreamed of. Education shouldn’t just be about advancing in the career place though; it should be about bettering yourself as a person, as well.
If you aren’t sure about how you should continue your education, you might want to get with a career guidance counselor. If you talk to a counselor about your current profession and where you want to be in five years, ten years, and twenty years they can usually set you up with a plan that will allow you to continue your work now as well as achieve your goals in the future. Education is the way to go if you want to climb the corporate ladder early or late in life. If you’ve been working for twenty years or you’re just twenty years old it doesn’t matter, continue your education to get noticed, get skilled, and get climbing up that corporate ladder!
Another great thing about continuing education is that it will not only boost your value in the workplace, you’ll feel great about yourself as well. Many people start to feel as though their education isn’t as important as their experience, but when you keep educating yourself you’ll feel as though they are equally as important. Also, as you continue your education you’ll be able to experience more things and add more to your resume, as you’ll likely be capable of bigger and better things. Continuing education is just a good idea, it will likely affect you positively in the workplace as well as in your personal life because your confidence will soar.
