Retraining

Date: 18 May 2010

Have you been made redundant and there no longer many opportunities in your field? Or have you always wanted to explore a particular passion, but have embarked on another career path which you are not finding fulfilling? Or maybe you have been out of the workforce for some years and your motivations for working have changed or you have developed new interests and skills which you want to explore.

There are many reasons you may want to change career, but in order to do so it might be useful to retrain.

What jobs would you like to do?

The first thing to consider is what you really want to do, what fires your imagination and what fits in with your lifestyle, for instance, if you have childcare considerations you may want to choose a career which has fixed hours.You also need to look carefully at the career you have had until now. What do you like and dislike about it? Write a list of pros and cons and include the skills you have gained.  Do some research on the skills needed and how different people got into sectors you are interested in. Research the industry, including job security and availability and issues like flexibility which might be important to you. Once you have some sort of career plan of what it is you would like to do and what skills you might need to do it then you can start looking at the kind of retraining you might need. 

What to consider before retraining

You will need to consider your budget and whether there is funding available for training, for instance, student loans. Could you manage on this money? If you could not manage for, for example, the full three years of a degree course, you could check out professional qualifications. There may be shorter courses which will get you into the right sector where you can work your way up. You can take professional qualifications in a variety of disciplines including accountancy, web design, IT and computing and child care, many of which can be done from home, or at local colleges. Many careers have professional organisations which offer courses, for example, the Chartered Institute of Marketing offers a variety of professional courses in marketing. You may also be able to earn while you learn, perhaps by getting a part-time job, but be realistic about how you will fit this in with any family responsibilities. Ensure that the course you opt for and any funding shortfalls can be covered without forcing you into too much debt or making life extremely difficult. You need to give yourself a realistic chance of achieving your goal.

Lifetime

Passionate about fitness and fancy combining a career and family, then look no further! With Lifetime, you can combine a career that you love, with the flexibility of working hours to suit you, plus you can be your own boss, allowing you to make your family your first priority. There’s no better time to start – visit www.lifetimehf.co.uk

Home Learning College

The Home Learning College offers a variety of professional qualifications including accountancy, web design, IT and computing and childcare all from accredited sources. All these qualifications can be achieved at home. For more information visit www.HomeLearningCollege.com