When people ask us for our opinions on which course to follow, we don't tell them straight away, of course we can't! Advising people on their career is a very serious business and requires a great deal of calmness and foresight.

We think it's important for you to ask yourself "what do I really want from my education?". One dimension to analyse along (there are several, and I'm sure we'll cover them all someday!) is the title to this blog entry : lifelong learning versus lifechanging learning.What's the difference?Well, let's have a peek :)

 Lifelong learning

 You're in an industry you adore. You find that you're really good at what you do. People cheekily refer to you as someone who is going places, and you're alright with that. But, and this is a big but, they are basing their predictions on the fact that you can execute technically on all your tasks. That is not an indicator of leadership, that ultimately you aspire to. Furthermore, while you are doing well, it may be because you've been GIVEN tasks to do that you can execute well on. To an extent your career is defining you : when you come to work every day you perform work that has been assigned to you. Ultimately, when you reach a position of responsibility you should be the one doling out the tasks. And that implies you understand other people, it implies you understand the needs and interests of other departments across the enterprise, it implies that you have transcended the ease at which you did something that you used to coast along naturally at.

ABC

A wise person once said that "Success is the same old ABC : Ability, Breaks and Courage". Sure, you got the ability.That's easy to spot, and judge. It's like a metric, you tick certain boxes. Now, B and C are less easily defined...

B for Breaks means that you've been fortunate enough to have been in the right project in the right office at the right time to have had the ability to stand out. You're not ten times smarter than your other colleagues, you just got the opportunity. If you're a new hire assigned to back office versus sales your career can look mighty different if your visibility is low. Even if you perform excellently, your company might run out of cash and set your career path back to square one, or worse. And time is ticking all along.

C for courage : do you grab opportunities when they come along, and can you make them work for you? Can you make hard decisions to change what you're doing because you're willing to risk it all? (and of course will you be lucky)

So, how do you hedge your bets against the vagaries of fate, and how do you assure yourself that when the time comes, you'll know an opportunity when you see it and be confident enough to take it?

The answer for us in the Admit Zone is "lifelong learning". Being ready before the time comes to change, and being constantly updated on what opportunities lie ahead. So if the pendulum of fate swings against your current career track, you'll have seen it coming, and you'll be armed to deal with the new situation.

If you want to maintain an even keel, and you look forward to being as good as you can possibly be in your chosen vocation, then you should consider part time business programs, or a series of specialised executive education options to keep you career-fit and agile to face the inevitable changes around you.

 Lifechanging learning

You are smart. You have huge energy. You haven't been dealt all the cards you want in managing your career but you've consistently made the best of what you've got, and you're building a track record of execution and ability that marks you out as someone to watch out for.

Thing is, you don't see yourself doing what you're doing for the rest of your life. The more you  grow, the more you feel you are growing apart from this role or industry you chose. And you know a head of steam is building up. Something's gotta give.

You sit down with your colleagues / boss / mentors and chat to them about your life, some tell you to change your role, some offer advice on moving to a different city others will even advise that your physical or emotional health needs attention! But very few will really risk telling you what you know you need to hear, namely that you need to make a radical change. In fact, in one conversation I had with a mentor in my consulting days, he listened to me complain that it didn't seem that my hard work was really translating into opportunity, and he said "Maybe you should consider that you're in the wrong industry". I didn't want to hear that at the time, but in my heart I knew it was true. I was still hoping that one last tweak of the console, and I'd fix the problem, but the reality was I needed to to do something different. And in a big way.

How can education be life-changing? Sometimes it's purely by getting you out of your comfort zone that you've created to help you manage the duality between what you are doing and what you desire to do, that it gives you the confidence to do something radically different. Additionally, you need to see that there ARE other options, ones that you would never have considered in your current career and that they are equally valid and realistic.

By immersing yourself in an environment that gives you the permission to think differently, to challenge your assumptions, to stay out of your comfort zone, you give yourself the chance to break free of the gravitational pull of the short term safety of your current career, and make bold decisions you previously would have shied away from as far too many people would have warned you of the risk.

You are the kind of person whom Gandhi would have said is the change they want to see in the world. Don't wait for change to come to you, only you can make it happen.

Bottom line :

Decide if you want a career booster or career changer. Part time programs work better for the former, and full time programs work best for the latter.

You don't have to make a radical change if you're happy and productive where you are now. So many of our clients feel that they HAVE to go from IT to Finance because they think it will help them achieve their dreams of prosperity and credibility. But by being really good at something in the most mundane of fields, makes you far more likely to achieve all you want in life than being mundane in the most exciting of fields. Make your choices carefully. But if you discover that it's change you really want, then the power lies not in your stars, but in yourselves, to paraphrase a slightly better writer than me. Go for it.