What training/education is most marketable?

In My Humble Opinion
1

If you were considering obtaining training/education/certification/whatever in the hopes of improving your ability to obtain a decent paying full time job, what would you pursue?

For example, I’m thinking that if one wished to obtain a nurse’s degree, at the end they would be a licensed nurse and would have that job market available to them. Or one could get an MBA. Or a commercial truck driving license. A teacher’s certificate. Become a Microsoft certified technician. . . .

What investment in training/education give the biggest and most likely bang for your buck?

If it helps/matters, I’m thinking about a person in their mid 40s who desires full-time employment after working part-time for the past 15 years. They have a BA in LAS, and a JD, but have had ZERO success in re-entering the fulltime law market.

2

My guess would be medical services. Health related jobs seem to be the most recession proof.

3

Ditto to that. Forget about teaching… too many of us getting RIFF’ed (reduction in force) lately, I’m afraid.

(and speaking, perhaps, of unintelligible acronyms… what’s a degree in LAS?)

4

Liberal arts and sciences. Political Science, to be specific.

5

Charisma is the most marketable skill in the world, combined with a healthy dose of common sense will get you almost any job you strive for.

6

Ah, consider me enlightened, then. I used to work for the airlines, and so couldn’t help but think that as an “LAS” student you’d majored in gaming or sumpin’. :wink:

7

I’d definitely say nursing. An experienced RN can theoretically blow into town Friday night and have a job Monday morning pretty much anywhere.

8

Army training, sir!

9

If you want to leverage your JD, then an MBA would be a good choice. Currently the market for newly minted MBAs is not too good, but that will likely change in a few years (i.e., around your expected graduation date). There are many areas of business (especially investment banking) where a law background is a strong asset. Be prepared for long hours, though.

10

Physical Therapy is pretty hot.

My wife is a PT. About a year ago, we decided we were going to move out of state. She hated her old job and I was getting ready to graduate from college.

She put her resume on Monster.com at 10pm on Sunday night (central time) and by the next morning at 7am she had gotten a call from a recruiter already. By lunch that same day she had 26 voice messages in her inbox. She continuted to get so many calls until she changed her phone number (taking the resume off Monster.com didn’t stop them all).

11

MAN - does this sound like someone who has not been in the market for a job in some time! :stuck_out_tongue:

12

A month or so ago a news program listed the top-paying jobs for people graduating with a Bachelour’s degree. The top one was something like Petroleum Engineer (or geologist, or chemist – something like that). They claimed a salary of $80,000+. Seemed a bit high for a new grad, and I didn’t look into it.