Community College Offers Job Opportunities

As the national unemployment rate climbs to 10 percent and shows no signs of abating anytime soon, more and more workers are having to upgrade and retrain to find jobs in an increasingly competitive job market.

Dollar for dollar, community colleges offer some of the quickest, cheapest and most effective means of acquiring new skills and certifications that can make you more employable in your local job market.

Community college is a bargain, providing college-level courses as prices that are half of those for the very same courses at a four-year college or university. While you can’t get a four-year degree at a community college, you can complete about half the course work necessary for a four-year degree, or complete a two-year or less program that can give you a quick route to a better job.

Community colleges have a good feel on the pulse of the local economy, and offer classes in job fields that are needed in your area. This is because state governments are increasingly turning to community colleges as engines for workforce development. Some hot areas in community colleges currently include training for IT and Allied Health Jobs along with welding and auto mechanic jobs.

Many of these programs take much less than two years to complete, so if you’re receiving severance from a former employer, you can use it to maintain yourself while you study and prepare for a new job. President Barack Obama has even mentioned allowing displaced workers to draw unemployment while they retrain for a new career at community colleges.

Not all of us were the best students in high school or during our first go-round in college. Community colleges offer a more inclusive atmosphere than four-year university and have much easier entrance requirements. For students who don’t meet community college entrance requirements, some community colleges even offer remedial classes to help bring prospective students up to speed to meet these requirements.

So if you’re intimidated by the idea of returning to school at a community college, you shouldn’t be. There in business to bring you in, not to kick you out.

Community colleges also offer classes on flexible schedules, which are a godsend for students with family or work responsibilities. The target audience of many community college programs are non-traditional students with children or jobs that prevent them from attending school during traditional business hours. The advent of online classes have made scheduling even easier for students, who can now log on and complete coursework in many classes at their convenience.

Private, online universities also offer quick degree and credentialing programs, but one advantage that community colleges have over many of these programs are that they accredited by state institutions, therefore making their programs more legitimate than those offered by non-accredited programs. When you get a certification or degree from an accredited community college, you can be sure that your money was spent on a credential that will actually be recognized by employers.

For folks looking to better their lot in a tough job market, community college is an excellent deal because of its flexibility, affordability and value.

Other posts you may want to read:

1. Choosing a “Real” Online College
2. Community Colleges to Train Jobless Graduates
3. How To Find Quality Online Degree
4. Teaching Career Does Pay
5. Tuck Business School (Dartmouth College)

Author's bio: Zul is the founder and principal contributor for the SKOR Career blog. He is the author of two books, The Malaysian Job Seeker's Dilemma and Buat Duit Tanpa Kerja Makan Gaji (How to Make Money Without a Job), available in major book stores nationwide. You can reach him at zulkiflimusa[at]gmail.com.