Home Study Courses
If you're reading this page, there's a good chance that you are considering education through home study courses. Depending on your future goals, they can be an excellent choice. However, you should be aware of what they are, and, what they are not.What They Are Not
Home study courses will not create a business for you.
A potential employer may not have a good understanding of what you have learned simply based upon your completion of a home study program.
What They Are
Properly designed home study courses increase your knowledge. That's the bottom line.
Home studies can help you get a job. Home studies can help you get a promotion. How and why? Even if you hold a degree from an accredited and highly respected university (like many listed on this website), you usually get the job you want by demonstrating your knowledge during an interview, on the phone, and later in person.
It is true that some jobs don't consider applicants who don't have a doctorate. In that case, they're making the rules and no amount of knowledge or experience helps. In the vast majority of cases, experience and knowledge helps. How many times have you seen the following classified ad or something similar?
Electrical Helper Needed
Experienced Only
111-1111
Employers place ads like that because they can't afford to start from scratch. Training can be a huge burden on employers. Many times, they may train three or four people before they find someone who learns what they need to learn and wants to continue the job.
If you go into such an interview with knowledge you can demonstrate, you're miles ahead of other applicants. Not only do you posess the knowledge they are looking for, but they also know you are a self starter. You taught yourself many of the things that you need to know. Employers love that. They know you're interested in the subject, know you're willing to learn, and know you're self motivated.
What They Could Be
We'll add one more category here. This needs to be said. If you have aspirations of working from home, or owning your own business, a home study course can be a huge help. There are many very successful business owners that never graduated high school. How could that be? Ask yourself.
Let's take this example:
Have you ever bought flowers? When you walked into the flower shop, did you find the owner or manager and ask them about their education credentials? Maybe you did... it might be an interesting story as the owner had a surprised look on their face. The owner could have a Doctorate of Floral Design, but that probably wouldn't be enough to make you buy crappy looking flowers for someone.
Those who own successful businesses are good at what they do. They have knowledge and skill. They understand the business, understand the vocabulary of the business, and know how to communicate with others in the business. They are self starters. They zero in and learn exactly what they need to learn. If that's the road you want to be on, home study might be a great choice.