Career Options After High School: What Are They?
Having an education in your desired field is a great start to your career. But just acquiring a degree or certificate in your hand is not enough. There are myriad of people out there with degrees. You need to take certain measures to add value to your education. Also, the field you chose after school will play a major role in your career. To find out what career options after high school there are and make your final call, you need to ask yourself some questions such as:
- Is this your passion or you are going for a course just because your friends are taking it?
- Does this career field have a good scope in this country?
- Can you cope with the efforts required to complete this course?
- Does your finance situation allows you to study this course?
- What sort of course duration works best for you? (Courses duration can vary from 6 months to 5 years.)
Asking these questions will make you aware of your situation and help you make the right decision.
What Kind Of Degree?
A large number of students pass out every year from school; between 2014- 2015, the total number of students enrolled in Australian schools grew by approx. 57000 (1.5%). Every student have one question in mind: What next?
After finishing high school, the first dilemma is to whether to go for a university degree or diploma, or something like certificate 1,2,3,4.
Well, being in education industry, I can tell that you it’s ultimately your work experience after the studies that will shape your career and that is what matters the most to grow your career. Even though experience will ultimately decide the fate of your career, getting the right education is one of the most important steps you would take in your life.
Opting for a degree or diploma will depend on an individual’s goals and individual’s situation. For instance, if you are planning to study Masters, then of course you do need to have at least a four years graduate degree in many cases, while if you like to study for shorter duration, certification or diploma courses may be better.
There is a perception that a degree is better than a diploma, but that’s not always the case. Like I said above, in many cases it doesn't even matter. In fact, university degrees are a bit rigid (courses and syllabus stay the same for years), while diploma courses are more flexible and more frequently updated.
What About Online Education?
Online education is on the rise these days because it comes with lots of flexibility. Blended learning is even better as it gives you even more options such as study online and visit the campus once in a while to sit in a class. And if you wish to go for distance education, these courses provide you the option to study from anywhere. You do not have to attend a single class. You can study online, and clear exams online.
Having said that, both degree and diploma are good. Even certificate 3 and certificate 4 courses are good courses to kick start your career.
Some of the most common short courses in Australia that I have seen are aged care courseσ, child care courseσ, and commercial cookery courses.
If you are technical person, then why not go for a social media marketing course or learn SEO (Search Engine Optimization). These two fields are new and have a really good scope in the marketing world. Many businesses are looking for social media or SEO specialists. Having a specialty in niche market is one the best things you can do to yourself to sky rocket your career.
Accounting, Business, and Leadership management are some of the other popular career choices after high school. Students mainly go for a diploma or degree when they choose these courses.
A good thing about these short courses is that there are many government funded courses or programs to support students. In Australia some of these programs, such as VET FEE-HELP, assist eligible students to study VET courses with an approved VET-FEE HELP provider, to pay for all or part of their tuition costs.
Final Thoughts
I understand that selecting the right course or choosing your career field after school can be a daunting task, especially when there is a plethora of courses available. Like it is said too many options can cause “choice paralysis”!
You best bet is to do your research online and offline and only then make a decision about your career options after high school. And once you have taken the decision, work hard to make that decision a success to score a dream job in the future.
