Why Continuing Education is the Key to
Career Advancement in More Ways Than One
When many people
reach a career milestone - be it getting a job with that great new company
or even starting their own business - they often leave the concept of
education behind. After all, they've already had a huge amount of schooling
up to this point and they've succeeded in accomplishing what they set out
to, so it probably isn't even necessary anymore, right?
Wrong.
Career advancement is a journey that never ends and continuing education is
one of the single, best ways to make this road the easiest one of you've
ever traveled.
The Key to the Future Rests in the Present
Even if you're completely satisfied with your current position and can't
imagine ever wanting to go someplace else, continuing education is still
valuable for a number of different reasons. Think about your long-term
career goals. Where do you see yourself in a year? In five years? In ten?
Even though you're satisfied today, there will still likely come a day
where you begin looking for a change or what a little something
"extra" out of your current situation. Continuing education not
only makes it easier to ask for a raise within your current position, but
it also makes you more attractive if the time comes where a management
position opens up within your business that you might want to pursue.
Many experts agree that when hiring managers start to look at internal
candidates for a new position, they actually grade on a tougher scale than
if they were looking to fill a position from outside the company. At this
point, a simple history of "hard work" and "dedication"
isn't necessarily going to cut it - their expectations are higher than
that. They KNOW you're a hard worker - it's why you still have a job. A history
of regular, continuing education says that you've taken your dedication to
a new level and that you're not only ready for new responsibilities, but
you have the ethic and the skills to back up that claim.
It's All About Perspective
The late, great comedian Garry Shandling was a firm believer in the idea
that the minute you stop working to improve yourself either personally or
professionally, it's all over. He was the type of person who believed that
his work was never done. There was ALWAYS something he could learn and
ALWAYS some way he could improve the quality of the product he was putting
out into the world. He deeply stood by these ideals, even though by any
objective standard he perfected not only the sitcom but also the comedy
television format with his HBO series (and he had the dozens of Emmy
nominations to back that up). Yet still, it wasn't enough.
Just like Shandling, the moment you feel you've learned it all and the
moment you feel like you've reached the point where you can't get better,
you've lost a game that you never really understood in the first place.
This simple idea is perhaps the most important reason why continuing
education is the key to career advancement, regardless of the type of
industry you're working in. It forces you to think about ways that you
could be doing better and about the shortcomings in your daily life that
you need to address. It keeps you moving forward, but it keeps you grounded
at the same time. Continuing education doesn't just make you a better employee
on paper because you get to add a new certification or qualification to
your resume - it makes you a better person, period.
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