Many job require some form of qualifications. Whilst some people resign to the fact that they’ll never have the necessary education, others take the bold action to go back to school and get those grades. Getting an education after leaving school isn’t difficult nowadays and there are lots of ways to make it cheaper and easier like passing your CLEP exams. Here are few tips when gaining more credentials to put on your CV and for college success.
Study online
Online courses can be studied in your own time from any location. This may allow you to fit them around a full time job, depending on how complex the course is. You won’t ever have to travel to the campus, allowing you to pick from a number of courses around the world. Online courses are picking up popularity. Many universities offer them, although not every course may be able to be taken exclusively online, especially where practical exams are part of the subject.
Hire a tutor
Hiring a tutor can help to give you the in-person learning that studying online might not be able to give. Tutors may be able to come to your home, whilst others may operate locally from a special study centre. There are many sites such as The Tower of English where you can look for a tutor. Make sure to always check that a tutor is fully qualified.
Try a short course
On top of your conventional three year courses, many universities are now offering accelerated courses which may be able to be completed in two years. It’s also worth considering similar qualifications, some of which can be completed in a matter of weeks. There may even be qualifications in individual skills that be learnt in a week’s workshop.
Look out for sponsored qualifications
Whilst it is rare, there are some companies out there that will pay for you to obtain a qualification so long as you then work for that company afterwards. If you cannot afford an education or don’t want to get into debt, such as scheme could work out perfectly. Sponsored courses are highly competitive so bear this in mind – Career Pilot offers more information on them. In other cases, you may be able to get a grant that contributes to studies.
Emphasise the good, leave out the bad
How you display your education on a CV is also important. Whilst you should never lie about grades, there’s nothing wrong with leaving out certain information. In fact, it’s best you don’t mention any of your bad grades. Many people have a tendency to list out all their grades, but really you should only mention the valuable ones. You should then expand on these and emphasise any modules or exams you may have done particularly well in. There may be a subject that you got a bad grade in, but a module within that subject that you did well at. Mention this somewhere but don’t mention the overall grade. Education should ideally be relevant to the job you’re pursuing. For example, if you’re applying to work at a chemist laboratory, highlight all your science achievements but don’t bother mentioning that creative writing essay you did well in or that history exam you ace.