Having a college education has benefits for you and your family. Earning a degree affects your career opportunities by giving you freedom to choose the job you want to pursue and freedom to say “no” to the jobs you don’t want.
Many college degree programs are broad enough to allow you to transfer your skills and knowledge to different industries. You aren’t stuck in one field. For example, a business degree can help you enter the workforce in several areas, from entrepreneurship to marketing to sales.
Obtaining a college degree affects how you feel about yourself, your lifestyle, your community and your future. It gives all these areas a more positive outlook. It affects the opportunities you can take advantage of in both your personal and professional lives.
Below are more specific ways a college degree can affect your career opportunities.
Keep Up with a Changing Job Market
Job markets are growing. Existing jobs are expanding, and new jobs are being created to fill the voids in certain industries. It is reported that many of the jobs involved in this growth require some form of secondary higher education.
While there are still many more jobs available for those holding only a high school diploma, the newer jobs being created are focused on those with a college degree.
Having at least a two-year degree makes you more marketable. It gives you opportunities you would not be able to pursue with just a high school diploma. You remain marketable even when the market changes.
More Resources Equals More Opportunities
When you are getting a college degree, you have access to all a college’s resources, including career placement and research. Colleges offer career counseling, personal counseling and unlimited technical support.
These are advantages when you are applying for jobs. Other resources include access to professors, researchers and other students who can help you excel in your field. Colleges provide many opportunities to socialize and network with others.
You can also join specific career-related clubs and participate in activities that will teach you beyond the classroom and build your resume.
Invest in Yourself for Better Opportunities
The best investment you can make is in yourself and your education. Attaining a higher level of education can boost self-esteem and confidence in employees. When you feel more confident, you will only go after jobs that are worthy of your knowledge and expertise.
You will feel capable of acquiring the higher paying jobs, or the upper management, because you spent many hours preparing for that role. With only a high school diploma, you may not feel secure as secure when competing for jobs.
Investing in yourself means developing your skills through whatever avenue fits your lifestyle and needs the best. This doesn’t always mean achieving higher education. Sometimes simply completing certification courses can be helpful.
The key is to utilize any available training to further your knowledge.
Also, allow your creative side guide you in furthering your abilities. Learn a new language, become a writer, start a side hustle, or create art in a form that suits your personality. These creative talents can make you more interesting to an employer. You may be able to weave your creative talents into your professional work to benefit your employer too.
Many reports have stated that having a college degree is a great way to protect yourself from layoffs or downsizing. While nothing is guaranteed, having a college degree may be able to help you maintain or find a new job during recessions.
Some reports state having a college degree may have helped many people avoid unemployment. Statistics showed in some studied that 2.7 percent of those with a college degree are facing unemployment while over 5 percent of those with a high school diploma face unemployment.
These statistics were offered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Personal Development Enhances Opportunities
Jobs that require higher education often offer personal development opportunities such as trainings, certification courses and even tuition reimbursement to further your college education.
Time management and organization skills, as well as communication and problem-solving skills are areas of improvement in jobs that require a degree. These skills, as well as critical thinking and reasoning, are learned in college but you can carry them with you throughout your career.
In college, you can also learn how to work in teams, which is a necessary trait in any career. You learn how to motivate yourself and your team mates to reach success on a project. Employers are looking for staff who already possess team building talents.
Other talents sought after include researching and investigating problems and developing solutions to those problems without much guidance. Getting a college degree prepares you to gather information, analyze material, and applying what you learn to form a plan for resolution.
Enhancing your personal and professional skills while in college makes you more marketable when entering the workforce.
Access to Jobs With More Job Perks
Many jobs that require a college degree come with better perks than jobs that do not require a college degree. Perks can include health benefits for you and your family, including medical coverage. Even if you must split the costs with your employer, they may be more affordable than at what you may be able to get in other jobs.
Pensions are another perk offered with many jobs requiring higher education. In addition, vacation and sick pay, performance bonuses, retirement plans, stock options and flexible scheduling are perks found in many jobs requiring higher education.
It seems that to have access to careers with the best perks, earning more education is necessary.
Along with the above-mentioned areas that affect career opportunities, a college degree has been shown to increase job happiness and career satisfaction. Increased learning has also been said to lead to a graduate being happier and healthier in their personal lives.
There seems to be much support for obtaining a college degree and that it does in fact have positive affects on the career opportunities you encounter.