Going to university is one of the biggest decisions a young person has to make, and a lot can rest on the outcome. Do they leave college and head straight into a new career, learning and earning along the way? Or do they further their education and bulk up their qualifications in hope of a better paid job down the line? There are advantages and disadvantages to both; getting on the career ladder as early as possible is a good idea, and sometimes by the time a similar aged, degree qualified student is looking for the same type of job, the employer may opt for the candidate with the actual hands on experience anyway, rendering the extra qualifications useless.
However, a degree is not the only worthwhile factor to consider when weighing up the decision as to whether or not to head off to University. The experience gained from living away from your parents and having to fend for yourself is invaluable, and sets you in great stead for later life. Of course, with such freedom comes responsibility, and none are as important as learning to manage money, and coping with a small amount to live on each week. Budgeting is a helpful tool to have in all walks of life, and at university students will learn that every penny needs to be carefully accounted for or life will get extremely tough when you run out!
All students going to University can apply for a loan from their Local Education Authority (LEA) to help towards course fees and accommodation, etc. Depending on individual circumstances, tuition fees may be waived in some cases. Whilst student loans are a necessity for many, their very nature means they do have to be paid back, in full. So, by the time a student leaves university after their 3 or 4 year course, they could already have debts of over £14,000, without taking into consideration any other monies owed to banks from overdrafts and credit cards. Starting a new career with such large money worries hanging over you is at best worrying.
Students can take on jobs to help subsidize these expenses, but this can have an adverse effect on their studying. The best way to earn money whilst at University is to try to secure employment during the holidays, where the breaks can often be anything up to four weeks during term, and three months at the end of the year. This is plenty of time to accrue a decent lump sum that will support them during the following periods.
There is no doubt that a degree looks impressive on a CV, and are essential for many of the skilled jobs available in today’s society, such as doctors, scientists, architects and lawyers. They enable those who have them to start from a higher rung in the career ladder, rather than down at the very bottom, but it is worth remembering that nothing is guaranteed, and sometimes students who have just finished degree courses are without what they would call ‘meaningful’ employment in their preferred field for months, even years, before they finally make it to where they want to be – and still with a mountain of debt on their shoulders.
By: Adrian Lawrence
Archive for September, 2009
The Ideal it Help Desk Jobs
September 23rd, 2009The IT help desk job in the United Kingdom is one of the greatest launching pads for IT careers available. Young professionals often choose help desk jobs because they allow them the broadest experience available in the IT job market. As well, help desk professionals are highly visible throughout a company and are likely to receive feedback for exemplary work.
While help desk jobs may be great for some professionals, not every help desk job fits the bill for the aspiring IT professional. Some IT help desk positions are housed in departments with hundreds of workers, making it difficult to stand above the competition for advancement opportunities. As well, there are just some help desk jobs that don’t offer the promotional or financial opportunities available at other positions. Finding the ideal IT help desk job for an individual’s needs can lead to great rewards down the road.
One of the best places to find IT help desk jobs is at universities throughout the United Kingdom. Universities have a significant number of students using public computer stations or their own computers attached to university networks in student housing. As such, there is a constant need for help desk professionals in the university setting. The benefit to these types of jobs is that if one does not work out, there are hundreds of others to compete for throughout the region.
IT help desk professionals looking for high advancement opportunities need to look in the engineering field. There are few industries that are as reliant upon computers and networking and most engineering firms have top notch equipment available to help desk workers. In addition to the financial benefits of working for an engineering firm, the ability to attach a prominent firm’s name to a CV can increase the prestige of an individual candidate in future positions.
A final area where IT help desk jobs are plentiful is in the telecommunications industry. Telecommunications firms throughout the United Kingdom, as well as satellite offices for international companies, offer plenty of opportunities for talented help desk professionals. Sales departments need their computers to be working at full strength in order to make deals with corporate clients. Data networking professionals need assistance in maintaining office data streams, which can include monitoring issues from the help desk. In every aspect of telecommunications, technology is paramount to the success of individual professionals and the overall company. Help desk professionals can make the difference between a poor IT system and a great one.
By: Steve Bishop
What is the Best Online University for You?
September 20th, 2009The enhancement of internet technology leads to the rapid growth of online education. Online degree programs are increasing in popularity and creditability, more and more online universities are available on internet offering degrees from Bachelor to MBAs and Ph.Ds and Subject areas range from business to nursing.
There are so many information and options available on online universities; it sometimes can be difficult to choose which online universities to enroll for your degree program.
Hence, if you decide to earn your degree online, which is the best online university for you?
Three criteria: marketability, usability and class quality can be used as your key determination factors to find the best online university for you.
Marketability
You pursue a degree for a better career future; therefore, degree from a well recognized and good reputation online university is essential to ensure your degree is marketable by itself. For example, employers consistently regard the students coming out of University of Phoenix Online as prepared for the job market and as a result, a degree from University of Phoenix Online, more than any other online university, confers marketability.
DeVry University is one of the oldest and most widely recognized online universities. Like the best of its competitors, DeVry is fully accredited and offers an excellent reputation.On other advantage of University DeVry over other online universities is DeVry offers students over 70 physical locations where, in addition to their online studies, they can take classes. A degree from DeVry University is well recognized by most of employers and it more marketable as compare to degree from other online university.
Other good reputation and well known online universities by the job marketing include:
Capella University
Kaplan University
AIU Online
Usability
A good online class teaching system is important to ensure a smooth learning environment. In most online universities, lecturers and students are communicated through classroom chat, webcams, message system, email & etc. The most common issues found by the online students are:
The classroom chat is tedious
The webcams sometimes malfunction.
Capella University has taken the initiative to over those issues and implements a new system called iGuide System to replace the tedious classroom chat and malfunctioning webcams of old. Students consistently report good experiences with their iGuide system.
Class Quality
When talk about class quality, DeVry University is unbeatable. With it physical campuses over 70 locations throughout US to supplement it online classes and it unique online learning system, DeVry is uniquely able to offer students a wide array of classes and majors.
University Phoenix Online is another recognized online university which provides good class quality. A low ratio on students-to-lecturer ratio has enabled a better attention and guidance by each lecturer to their online students.
In Summary
There many good online universities out there; each good online university has it pros and cons against their competitors. To maximize the investment on your education, you must choose the best online university which meets your career goals. Spend some of your time to read the review by others on your short listed online universities before make up your decision.
Jullie Harvard is the author from http://www.studykiosk.com. StudyKiosk.com is an information website on all online degrees available. The site featured over 1,000 online degrees and accredited online degree programs.
By: Jullie Harvard
