Career and continuing education – madamenoire.com
For the ambitious and busy corporate sister on her way up the corporate ladder, continuing education is a MUST. After all, as they say, if you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backwards. No such thing as a standing still in one’s career…
Yet as busy as we may be managing our lives and careers, how could we possibly fit in any continuing education of any kind? It’s hard enough staying focused on our current career paths, never mind adding to it, right? Wrong…
As I and many corporate sisters have come to learn, in a professional world riddled with competition, gender and racial discrimination, it is crucial to position oneself as best as possible. And that is without mentioning the constantly changing legal, financial and social landscape of the business world, requiring us as competent professionals to constantly be appraised of any change affecting our career, whether directly or indirectly.
As a professional currently sitting for a professional certification while raising two young kids and striving at work, I have come to realize that rather than avoiding having to enlist into the continuous education ranks, our best bet is to actually embrace the challenge:
1. Discuss continuous education opportunities with your manager right off the bat: One of the questions many recruiters advise candidates to ask during interviews is around the requirements for and availability of continuing education. Whether before the start of your career or as you’re pushing through to the next level, continuing education should always be part of your discussion with managers, mentors and peers. For even better results, include it in your performance reviews as one of your evaluation parameters.
2. Seek opportunities right where you are: Ask around for continuing education opportunities offered by your company. You may be bypassing great, and free, opportunities to get additional career credentials and get noticed for them. Many companies offer learning services available right through your computer, and/or offer reimbursement for college courses in line with your position. Take advantage of these!
3. Have a Plan: A woman with a plan is a woman going somewhere! With that in mind, as you embark onto a continuing education path, make sure you’ve devised a plan to get there successfully, and sanely! My current strategy is borrowed from Jeff Elliott, founder of the Another71 CPA review community. It’s basic, but effective. Its acronym ELL stands for Early, Lunchtime and Late: in other words, I wake up an hour earlier to put in 1 hour of study time before work, study for 1 hour at lunch, and 1 hour late at night after the kids are tucked in. 3 hours in a day, that’s 15 hours from Monday through Friday, and about 5 hours on week-ends for a total of 20 hours a week. It’s my system, find yours, have your plan and set yourself up for success!
How do you handle continuing education?
The Corporate Sister
