Work experience or a degree – which should you opt for? Many people face this choice every year, whether they are school leavers or changing career in midlife. How can you make the best decision?

First of all, it’s your decision and that means you need to weigh up the two options from the point of view of your current situation. Do you need academic qualifications to reach your career goal? Or is it possible to train on the job? Can you afford college tuition fees and support yourself through three or four years of study, or perhaps, more importantly, do you want to graduate with a hug debt to repay? Now that almost half the population in many western countries goes to university, do degrees really have that much value?

You are the only person who can answer these questions, because each situation is individual. If you can’t answer them straight away, a little background research into your chosen career and the employment market should help you make your choice.

A degree may not be essential, but you might want the experience of student life, and the chance to study your favourite subject at a high level, even if it doesn’t give you a better chance of getting a job. But you need to be aware that a degree on its own isn’t enough, employers are looking for good skills. So choose your study options with care and make sure you can get the experience you need through placements, voluntary work or in your summer and evening jobs. Check out the skills needed in your career and find ways to get them before you graduate.

You can be pretty creative when it comes to developing skills – adventurous activities like travel or working on challenging projects can be fun and increase your skills at the same time.

If you are itching to get out there and earn money, be careful to make good choices early on in your career. Make sure you find a job which will give you training opportunities and the chance to develop some essential skills. Even if you are working for a small company which doesn’t have great promotion prospects, gaining the right skills and experience will put you in a strong position to apply to firms which offer greater progress. If you do decide you’d like to get a degree or that it would improve your prospects later on, there are plenty of options for distance learning and part-time study.

Having to choose between work experience or a degree is a situation many people face and both options have their positive and negative aspects. Choose in line with your own preferences and career goals, but only after doing thorough research into your goal, and don’t forget that neither course of action is terminal You can http://www.coolercareers.com/”>change direction later on if you want to.

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