Education & Training

No matter how far you choose to go with your education goals, the farther you go, the more doors that open for you. Are there millionaires who haven’t graduated from high school or gotten a GED? Yes. It can be done, but those folks are one in a million. Your real key to success and getting paid is getting as much training and education as possible. As you might have learned from looking for a job already, it’s hard when you first start out. They want experience, or an education, or you won’t be allowed into the game. So if you want to play, get those skills.

Female student with instructor

You own a business. You need to hire a new employee. Who would you hire?

  • Employee A: Has no experience or training
  • Employee B: Has some experience and/or some training.

When you get a job, companies are paying you for your time and skills. Be the employee that companies want to hire by developing your skills through experience, training and education.

You + Education/Training = Getting Paid and Living Large!

College graduates earn $1 million more over their lifetime vs. high-school-only graduates. You don't have to go to college to have a lucrative and successful career, there are many paths to a rewarding and happy life, but this illustrates how improving your skills can lead to more income. 

So, how do you decide what education or training to get? There are many different ways to do this. You can take an assessment, which will help show you how your strengths and weaknesses might be used to find a job you’d like to do for awhile. You can research different careers through online resources, and also talk to people in different professions to see what the pros and cons of the job are. They say the average adult will change careers a couple of times during their lifetime, so don’t get hung up on the question: “Do I want to do this the rest of my life?”. Pick something that you think might be a good fit and go for it. You’ll learn as you go whether it really is a good fit for you.

A good way to help decide what career you might want to explore is to use a career explorer tool. MyNextMove.org is a great site that lets you explore career options by several different methods. You can also find current information regarding salaries, job outlook, and many other items related to various occupations.

One last thing. Don’t get caught up in the "getting paid" part too much. If you choose something that you really love to do, the money will follow. If you love what you do, you’ll do it well, and people will want to pay you a lot of money to do it for them. There definitely is something to the saying “if you choose to do something you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.”

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