Choosing your Career College – 5 Steps Towards What’s Next in your Career Training

With so many career colleges out there, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. These 5 simple steps will help you choose the college most likely to help you reach your career goals.

1. Know your goal: What job do you want to be prepared to get after graduation? If you don’t have a specific job or field in mind, consult with a career counsellor to get clear on your goal. The more specific you are about what you want to achieve – the more you believe in it, talk about it, engage others in helping you reach it and take actions towards it – the better your chances of getting there!
2. Make sure the training matches the goal: Make sure the career college program(s) you’re interested in will help you develop the specific skills you need to get and excel in your goal job. That’s right, we said “get and excel”. Ideally, your career college will not only equip you with the Essential Skills you need to do well in your goal job, but will also coach you on how to go after that job, including job hunting strategies, interview techniques, etc.
3. Get comfortable: Tour the career college and make sure the learning environment is comfortable (How are the classrooms? Is the equipment current?) and appropriate to the field you want to be in (Does the environment mirror the on-the-job reality of your goal career? Does the career college offer the right balance of individual, small group and larger group instruction?)
4. Get familiar: Get to know the staff at the career colleges you’re investigating. Are your teachers qualified Career College Instructors? What work experience in the field do they bring to the position? Are they trained educators? Do you get good customer service? Remember, you are going to spend a lot of time there, so you need to know that you’ll be well taken care of.
5. Get your money’s worth: Career college education is an investment. Don’t be afraid to ask tough questions about how that investment will get you where you want to go. Most career colleges have an admissions interview process. Remember: there are two interviewers, and you are one of them. It’s your job to make the most of your career college education. It’s your career college’s job to help you succeed. You have to walk into your new school with confidence that they are the right education and training partners for you.

At Grade Learning we’re passionate about delivering concise, focused, job-specific training that prepares our students with the right skills and tools to quickly secure a position in their chosen fields. For more information on our Career College, see: www.gradelearning.ca/careercollege