Short courses can improve career prospectsShort course qualifications that are recent, relevant and specific can be far better indicators of a person's current skills than a qualification achieved years ago. Needing from 8 to 120 hours of commitment, they enable someone to kick-start his or her career. © georgejmclittle – 123RF.com “In our tough economic climate, employers – from small startups to major corporations – want to be sure that people are equipped to carry out the roles they need performed. Short courses continue to gain popularity with career-minded individuals seeking to boost their prospects, as well as with those who want to study but are not able to do so full time,” says Peter Kriel, GM of The Independent Institute of Education (IIE). “Many short courses are offered online but there remains an ongoing interest in those that are presented face-to-face in groups, as it is hard to match the interaction, collaboration and networking achieved in this way.” The IIE’s key providers of short courses, Vega School and The Business School at Varsity College, confirmed that most students enrolled with the aim to ensure their skills were up-to-date and immediately applicable in the workplace, as it improved their career prospects. “There is a direct correlation between the demand for short courses and the corporate world demand on staff to take up a new role or responsibility quickly. This is where short courses come into their own, as they give ambitious people what they need when they need it and in an immediately implementable way.” Popular short courses
“Short courses are now very much focused on career progression and new skills and few people have the personal resources or can get funded by their employers for ‘vanity courses’, focused on personal growth. This is not only because of the state of the economy but also because of the rapidly changing demands of the world of work. “Employers reward staff and seek new candidates who can demonstrate that they have achieved a solid grounding in a specific niche field and that they are able to perform specific duties from the word go. Short courses are therefore an option for those people who need to upskill or wide-skill within a limited time, whose time for studies is limited, or who need to demonstrate that they can meet a business need right away,” concludes Kriel. For more information, go to www.iie.ac.za. |