Education - always a good investment

In yesterday's Sunday Times (one of the biggest Sunday newspapers in SA), I noticed an interesting trend. Normally, at the bottom of the pages, underneath the larger articles, you would find a variety of adverts. These would generally be a real variety, ranging across every industry and service imaginable. What I noticed yesterday, though, was how many adverts Damelin had, all throughout the different sections of the paper.

In short, Damelin is a privately owned college, that specialises in distance learning. Their course selection ranges from short, multi-week certificate courses all the way through to full diplomas taken over multiple years. They have a variety of courses that cover pretty much everything.

Now, distance-learning colleges are nothing new, and generally not that noteworthy. What was interesting to me was how pervasive their advertising was, throughout such a major Sunday publication. It's not cheap to advertise in that newspaper (although they probably would have been able to pressure for a good deal as newspapers ad revenues are taking a hammering - but that's a story for another post), so their campaign is costing them a pretty penny. I personally think it's a very smart move on their part, though...

Around the world, people are having their jobs cut out from underneath them left, right and centre. Those that are managing to keep theirs, are generally the ones who have made themselves indispensable to their companies. These days, having worked for the same firm for 40 years does not make you indispensable - being a multi-skilled multi-tasker does. And this is exactly where further education comes in. If a manager has to choose between you and your colleague in the next cubicle, where you both have the same history and performance, but you happened to have an extra diploma or certificate in something, chances are you're the one who's bacon is secure. And it doesn't have to be an advanced degree in your field either - even a small certificate or diploma in an unrelated field could play into your advantage. It shows that you are open to other experiences, have exposure to another industry or sector and, most importantlty, that you are trying to learn and improve yourself - an asset for any company.

Personally, I aim to learn something substantial every year. Whether it's a new course, a foreign language, an artisan skill, or how to create a following for a blog (like this year), I aim to constantly expand my horizons and skills base. Not only does it make me a more valuable employee (or business owner in my case), but also a richer person mentally, and hopefully more interesting too! So, my advice for those of you who have lost their jobs recently, or have been battling to find one in the first place: Don't sit at home and mope - get out there and sign up for a course, do some volunteer work in a different industry, learn a skill by shadowing an expert, anything - just get out there and do it.

And this doesn't only apply to entry-level and shop-floor employees - it applies to executives too. A few week ago, I went to a talk for a distance MBA. One of the execs there asked the presenter "I'm already a senior exec, why should I study an MBA?". The presenter replied "To keep your job." Everyone in the room nodded their heads in agreement. He went on to explain that there is a breed of younger, more driven professionals coming through the ranks, with these qualifications under their belts, and no-one's job is safe anymore. This sparked an impromptu discussion amongst the delegates there, with many of them saying that they weren't looking at doing the MBA to leap-frog to the head of their respective companies; they were there to keep their current jobs, and to stop being passed over for promotions time and time again. They'd committed themselves to taking up the challenge of doing the MBA, in the knowledge that it would help them to keep their careers afloat

So, to get back to where I started, I think the move by Damelin to get major exposure (especially at the beginning of the year when many people look to change jobs), is a super-clever one, and they are capitalising on this trend for people needing to study further. If nothing else, maybe they triggered a couple of readers into at least thinking about it...