Balancing Work and Online Nursing School

Posted on January 13, 2021January 13, 2021 by Edna Crane

Balancing work and college is not easy. You will need to still be productive at work while being equally productive in class. This is never easy especially if you have a career in health care.

If you are going to succeed you will need to have a good work-study balance. You will also need to have some time for your family and friends as well.

Taking your classes online can make things a bit easier to manage but there will still be challenges. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of work and study.

Focus on What You Want to Achieve

Whether you are pursuing an online bachelor’s degree or an advanced degree such as an online mph degree you will need to stay focused in order to achieve your goals.

Take the time to write down why you are pursuing this degree. Display what you have written down in a place where you can take a look at it every day. It will be useful for those times when the stress is high and you begin to wonder why you decided to do this.

Set Up a Schedule

At the start of the semester, your professors are likely to send out your syllabus and tell you about your exam dates. You will also receive assignment deadlines.

Do not put off reading these. You should take a look at it as soon as it is sent out and start marking off the important dates on a physical or electronic calendar. You should start setting up reminders for when you should begin studying for your exams.

Set up reminders as well for when you should begin studying. Always ensure that the schedule fits in with the responsibilities you have at work.

Communicate with Those Around You

You can’t do it alone, in order for you to succeed you will need the support of your employer, friends, and family. Make sure that your employer knows that you are enrolled in an online program to advance your career. Let them know your schedule and that you may need some time off work to do your exams.

Let your family and friends know what you are doing. This will help them better understand those times when you may be too busy to spend time with them.

Use Your Downtime Wisely

Whenever you are not at work or in class it can be tempting to just sit back and chill. While this is necessary for your mental health and so that you can have some semblance of a life, whenever you can you should incorporate some study into this downtime.

It doesn’t have to be intense, it can be as simple as taking some flashcards and studying for fifteen minutes. If you commute to work on public transportation this is a good time to study. If you get a long lunch break you can use some of this time to study as well.

Use Your Vacation Time

Consider coordinating your vacation time so that it matches up with your exam time. When you do this you will have a chance to study full time when you need it the most.

This must be coordinated perfectly so make sure that you consider this when you get your schedule at the beginning of each semester.

Take Some Time for Yourself

No matter how well you schedule your work and study time you will not have a complete schedule until you have made some time in it to relax. If you don’t you will get burned out fast and your, work, study, family, and friends will suffer because of it.

Be just as strict about making time for yourself as you are about working and studying this is the only way you can ensure that you have a perfect balance. You should also remember to cut yourself some slack from time to time. If things don’t go as scheduled all the time that is fine.

Balancing It All

The time you spend doing your degree will be one of the most rewarding periods of your life. It may be tempting to think that studying online will be easier than in a physical space.

The truth is that it can be just as demanding and you will need to take the time to balance your work, study, and personal life. It is essential that you carve out time for yourself in all of this so that you can take care of your mental health.

Once you do this, you will be well on your way to accomplishing your goal of getting your advanced nursing degree.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Going to College for Your Career

Posted on June 26, 2019June 27, 2019 by Edna Crane

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Going to School for Your Career #career #careeradvice

For a long time, many people have assumed that going to school is virtually the only way to really get ahead with your career. You’ll end up with some kind of qualification, you’ll have better job prospects, and you’ll also have some contacts to help you get a foot into your industry of choice. At least, that’s what we hope to achieve from studying in a formal educational institute.

The reality is that unless you’re aiming for a certain type of degree or qualification, formal education might not be the best option. Thanks to the internet, there are many opportunities to help you get started or even grow your career without having to rely on obtaining a qualification or a degree. In fact, we’d argue that for certain career paths, going solo or starting a business is one of the better ways to settle into your industry of choice. So to help you out, we’ve put together a list of the advantages and disadvantages of going to school to bolster your career.

Advantage: Clearer Career Options

One of the biggest advantages of studying for a degree or qualification in school is that you have very clear career options. For instance, if you want to study law then you go to law school. If you want to become a doctor, you go to medical school. These options are clearly defined which makes it easy for you to pick the right course. If you do need help, then advisors are available to help guide you to the career choice that you want to pursue. This makes it very simple to start learning about a specific career, job, or industry and you can instantly make use of that knowledge you gain.

Disadvantage: The Cost Commitment

It’s no surprise that going to school is expensive. Between the tuition fees to maintenance costs like purchasing books and equipment, there are many costs to consider. At the end of it, you’re going to be facing a huge student loan debt that you’ll need to eventually pay off. In fact, there are many people who have left university with a degree that hasn’t helped them get a job and mounting debts that they’re struggling to pay off. It can be extremely overwhelming and daunting to even cope and live with this kind of debt. This why we’d advise against a formal education if you don’t feel comfortable borrowing a large sum of money.

Advantage: Structured and Organized Learning

Another advantage of going to a formal educational institute, such as a university, is being able to follow a clearly-defined learning structure. From researching different topics to presenting your findings and learnings, there’s a very clear path through each module and topic. At the end of it, you’ll have learned all there is to know about those specific subjects. This structured learning is very easy to follow. Since you’re given guidance at every stage, it’ll help you grasp a topic much more easily. You’ll always have someone available to help you should you need it. There are also plenty of resources to learn from on the internet, such as this helpful article on surviving medical school. There are study communities dedicated to helping students who are having trouble with their career choices. There are plenty of ways to streamline the learning process and it can be a blessing to have a helping hand to guide you.

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Disadvantage: Locked Study Path

Although the topics you study are well-organized and structured, you won’t have much room to deviate outside of this study path. You’ll have to stick with it until you leave school. This means you might end up studying something that you don’t like, or you feel isn’t helping you achieve your goals. Then you’ll still need to stick with it and perhaps even write a paper or take a test involving it. This doesn’t happen often, especially if it’s a career choice such as computer science or medicine, but it can be the case. You might find yourself struggling to get through certain topics because you simply dislike them or feel that they don’t help with your career.

Advantage: Opportunity to Network

There are many unique opportunities to network and meet new people that can help you achieve your career goals. It could working part-time with employers as part of your educational course or becoming a resident at a hospital while studying for your medical degree. There are actually a lot of different ways to get your foot into the industry even while you’re studying. This can present you with fantastic job opportunities as soon as you complete your degree. They may not even care about your final result as long as you show talent, drive, and motivation.

Disadvantage: A Lack of Real Opportunity

Although you may have opportunities to network and find a job immediately after you finish your course, it can feel like you’re being pigeonholed into a certain job just because it’s available. The truth is, you might not enjoy working for that company. They might be abusing your abilities knowing that you’re a recent graduate busy looking for a job to help pay back student loans. As a result, you might feel like you’re actually not being presented with many opportunities despite having worked so hard to obtain your career in the first place.

So What Does It All Mean?

At the end of the day, studying at an educational institute for the sake of your career is never a bad idea. However, it does cost a lot of money and you might not realize your full potential. It’s a far safer option than teaching yourself and trying to develop your skills on your own. For certain career choices, it’s probably the only way to even get a chance to work in certain industries such as medicine and law.

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Which MBA Specialization is Right for You?

Posted on June 8, 2019 by Katie Evans

Once you have chosen to pursue an MBA, your next step is to choose a specialization. You can choose from just about anything that fuels your passions for the business world. Here are some options:

1. Management

The most popular MBA specialization is management. As a business administrator, it stands to reason that you will be managing people and projects, so the management specialization makes perfect sense. Many people who enter MBA programs have no idea what they will do with their MBA once they receive it, and that’s perfectly OK. If you are undecided about your career path, yet want to pursue an MBA, the management specialization is probably right for you.

Some colleges offer specializations within the general MBA management track, such as international or global management studies. If you see yourself as a globetrotting executive, look for MBA’s that focus on international studies. MBA requirements vary from country to country, so be sure to check for MBA requirements in Canada, as well as the United States.

2. Finance

If your undergraduate degree is in accounting, Finance is the natural MBA specialization track for you. You will strengthen your finance skills and learn to manage larger financial decisions than you studied in your undergraduate degree. Bigger corporations mean more data points, so expect to spend a significant amount of time studying data analysis in this degree track. The finance specialization is best suited for those who want to work for banks or control finances in a big corporation.

3. Entrepreneurship

Starting your own business may seem like a dream come true. If it does, the Entrepreneurship MBA specialization may be just what you need. You will learn what it takes to fund a startup and make the right decisions to run your own enterprise. Who knows—you could be the next shark!

4. Marketing

With the rise of social media, the way businesses market themselves is forever changing. If analyzing market data to find the right marketing campaigns sounds thrilling, the MBA specialization in Marketing may be exactly the right course of study for you.

Marketing specializations focus on sales, promotions, and customer communications, and you can use the specialization in pretty much any sort of business after you graduate.

5. Technology

One of the fastest growing MBA specializations is IT or Technology. Corporations employ huge teams of IT professionals and rely on tech gurus to create custom products and keep the company’s software and hardware systems running. If your undergraduate degree is in computer science, IT, or some form of coding, the MBA technology specialization may feel like a natural fit for you.

New MBA specializations are created all the time, so if you don’t find one that fits your needs now, chances are you will in the near future. Consulting is a rapidly growing field, too. Since most all major universities have an MBA program, be sure to research your options carefully.

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Which MBA Specialization is Right for You?

Is an Online Business Management Degree Worth It?

Posted on March 8, 2019January 3, 2020 by Katie Evans

If you are looking for an online degree program, you will quickly learn that one of the most popular online degree majors is Business Management. While you have plenty of choices for your major, this one is sure to stand out to because it sounds versatile, like you could use it for pretty much anything. After all, everything is “business” in some way, right? And “management” shows leadership!

However, an online degree in business management is not for everyone. I graduated from a regionally accredited online degree program 15 years ago. Online education has changed drastically in that time. You have far more choices now than I did then. Before you decide to check for BA business management course programs, answer these questions:

What Will I Do Once I Have My Degree?

If you answered the question with, “I will apply for a promotion at my current job,” and a degree is a requirement for your promotion, go for the business management degree. It may be the quickest way to your promotion, and if you already have specific industry knowledge that you are using to build a career, the business management degree can support your career trajectory.

If you answered the question with something like, “I will start my own business,” or “I will invent something that will change the world, then go on Shark Tank and make a fortune,” then you might consider a degree that is less theoretical and more practical. Entrepreneurship is often a degree track in traditional business degrees, so look around for a degree that supports this passion.

The same is true of most career-specific goals; unless your goal is to be middle management or to enhance your prospects in an industry where you’re already an expert, a more specific degree may make more sense for you.

Have you thought about a career in management consulting? Check out this guide to becoming a management consultant.

Will a Business Management Degree Help me Start my Career?

Employers complain that business majors have theoretical knowledge, but not practical application that they can use immediately. The market is flooded with business majors–1 in 5 of all undergraduate degrees are awarded in business. To have the best chance of finding a job after college, you will need to stand out from the crowd.

You are better off selecting a major that is specific to something. If you like money, try majoring in accounting–even Kanye needs an accountant, and if you hate it, you can use your mad money skills to consult or move to a business-related industry.

If you love art, but your parents say you should “major in something practical,” look at graphic art, motion graphics, and other art degrees where the end goal is employment with a high-end corporation and not just to create art for art’s sake.

The point is, passion will get you further than a general degree. If you are passionate about a subject, you will find ways to make money with it.

What is Your Endgame?

If you look at this question and answer it with, “I don’t know, I just want a degree.” Then sure, go for the business management degree because it will fulfill this goal and give you a very general degree you can use as a stepping stone to a more specific graduate degree later, when you have more clarity about what you want to do in life.

But if you do choose that path, intern throughout your degree experience. Your degree alone will not get you a job–you need practical experience that you can bring to the table immediately. The vast majority of employers do not want to train you, so be smart and gain experience while you’re working on your degree.

What I did with My Business Management Degree

The day that my business management undergraduate degree conferred to my transcripts, I enrolled in a Master of Arts in English program. In the year it took me to finish out my major credits, I had figured out that I wanted to teach, so the natural next step was to find a subject-specific graduate degree.

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Was my BS in Business Management worth it? No, not really. I’ve since worked as a manager in a big corporation and started my own business–both places where you’d think a business management degree would be useful, but it isn’t. My practical business knowledge was gained from growing up with grandfather’s construction business.

So, for me, a business management degree was a means to an end. I have three master’s degrees (English, Creative Writing, and Instructional Design), all of which serve me more. But, my story isn’t your story. Make the right choice for your goals!

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Is an Online Business Management Degree Worth it? - #career #careeradvice #businessdegree

3 Things to do as soon as you Finish Your Degree

Posted on February 21, 2019February 21, 2019 by Edna Crane

Now you have completed all of your education in your chosen field, you are now ready for the next steps into life! But, for some people, this is easier said than done, and it is not always such a straight line to get from the completion of education to the job of your dreams. As such, we have written this article to give you some advice on some of the next things that you should be doing now that you have finished studying and you are ready for new things. So, if you are interested in finding out some of the next steps that you could be taking, read on.

Get Settled Somewhere

One of the very first things that you should do after you have finished your education is get settled somewhere. It doesn’t matter if this is the same place you have been for the past couple of years or if this is going to be somewhere new, but you don’t want to have a job until you know that you are happy where you are. As such, you should be ensuring that you have taken the time to get settled before you start building your career.

This might sound a little strange, and you might think that you just want to live wherever there is a job for you, and if this is the case, that’s fine. But, it is also important that you are happy and comfortable where you are.

Think Carefully about the Future

When you think of five years down the line, what it is that you see? Do you see yourself working full time somewhere, having little time for your friends and family? Or perhaps you see something different. Either way, it is important to manage your expectations, and if you check out somewhere like the locumguy website you will find some pretty handy information about different expectations from careers.

Having a plan is good, as long as you recognize that this should be flexible. You want to have an idea of where you are going, but you need to be able to bend this to what reality throws at you. Don’t be so set in your ways that you miss out on fantastic opportunities when they come around.

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Find a Job

Once you have settled somewhere and managed your expectations for the future, this is when you should find a job. Finding a job is important, but only after you are in the right place to do so. Look around for the kind of job that you want and make sure that you keep in mind the kind of goals you are hoping to achieve here when you are sending in your applications. Also, try to aim a little above where you think you are as well as at the same level. This way, you might end up with a higher position than you ever thought possible for a starting place.

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3 Things to do when you finish your degree - #getajob #careeradvice #career #college #grad

5 Advantages of Internship

Posted on October 19, 2018October 19, 2018 by Edna Crane

Back when we were at school the likelihood was that our teachers pushed us to pass our exams, get good grades and apply for universities around the country. University has always been seen as the main way to gain the knowledge and skills for a great career and it is something which has always been a big part of our lives. However, a college education alone will not get you a job.

Employers want you to have real-life experience. When employers are looking at applicants for entry-level jobs, they are going to hire applicants that have job experience over those who don’t. The best way to gain experience while earning a degree is through internship.

Here are five advantages of internship:

1. You Learn on the Job

The main advantage of internship rather than through a university course is the fact that you will be able to learn on the job and this will allow you to branch out and learn hands on skills which you wouldn’t learn during a course. You’ll gain people skills and experience from day one and this will always look good when you come to apply for jobs later down the line.

2. You Can Find Multiple Mentors

When you come into an internship there will be one member of staff who is charged with mentoring you and guiding you through the work making sure that you are safe and able to understand the work you are being given. This employee will be able to sit down and talk you through your work and they will be able to give you some rest advice from a person who actually works in the industry. It can be very valuable and allow you to be more successful.

3. It Helps You Learn Discipline

The main thing which will change for the way you work as you get an internship in a new place of work will be the education style. When you are thrust into the working world like this you will have to learn how to delegate work to yourself and make sure that you stay on track. You won’t have a teacher giving you homework and deadlines and this means you have to learn how to discipline yourself. It can be hard at first but it is a very valuable skill to learn.

4. It Looks Great on Your CV

Working in the job while you learn will always look good on your CV because it helps you to seem like a person who has it all figured out and it will show that you have the ability to manage your time and stay organized which is always what an employer wants. Being able to show that you have experience over people a similar age will also benefit you and it will ensure that they pick you rather than someone else for the job.

Related Post: 9 Reasons I’m not Hiring You

5. You Could Earn Your Future Job

If you work in a certain place for your internship and they like you, you could earn yourself a permanent position at the workplace and this can mean that you already have your future career in the bag.

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Career Fitter: Career and Personality Test Review

Posted on August 29, 2018September 3, 2018 by Katie Evans

If you’ve ever struggled to figure out what you want to do with your life, a career or personality test can help you see your options. However, not all career tests are created equally. Most give you 3-5 potential job titles that may work for you, or they give you a general personality type that you then have to research on your own. Career Fitter is much different than any career or personality test I’ve ever tried, and I’ve tried a lot!

Career Fitter advertises that they’re both a personality and a career test. Instead of relying on Myers-Briggs or your job skills, it combines what you like to do with how you prefer to react in work-related situations, then takes that information and recommends careers in medicine, academia, corporations, and general career fields. Even more, Career Fitter does the research for you. For each recommended career, they provide an analysis and video. You also receive detailed information about your test results and what you should look for in a career to meet your individual needs.

The Test

It’s free to take Career Fitter’s career and personality test. It’s 60 questions long, and it takes about 5-10 minutes to complete. The questions are straight-forward, either/or type questions about your preferences in the work place.

Career Fitter test questions about work personality

I had a hard time answering some of the questions. On Myers-Briggs, I’m an INTJ, so I already know that I’m strategic and a “big picture” person. One question asked me whether I get the most satisfaction from creating or completing a project, and that’s a tough one. I usually have a love/hate relationship with creating a project; as in, I love to hate it. It’s an intense process for me and I feel overwhelming relief when a project is done. So, I chose “completing” but I’m not sure that was really the right answer.

But then, with this kind of test, there isn’t really a “right” answer so much as a “most right” answer. If you’re stuck between two choices, just choose the one that is true for you most of the time. Human beings are complicated, and this test knows that. That’s why there’s 60 questions instead of 6.

Initial Career Fitter Results

Career Fitter’s free analysis briefly describes your test results. They tell you about your personality, and tease that they’ve found dozens of jobs that will fit your personality and preferences.

My results showed that I’m (surprise!) a “big picture” person, who is “calm, confident, and analytical.” I’m not sure about the “calm and confident”—it’s one of my daily struggles not to go through life as a stressed-out hot mess—but I’m definitely analytical. I’ve been told I project confidence at work, so that’s probably true. I’m cool-headed in a crisis, so that might be the “calm.” Either way, it’s an interesting teaser.

My strength is supposed to be “strategic system design,” which makes sense since I’m both a college professor and an instructional systems designer. They’ve hit the nail on the head!

The teaser continues as career fitter tells me they’ve found 32 jobs that fit my profile, and one of them had an average salary of $208,000 last year! If you’re interested in my complete “free” results, I’ve saved them in a PDF for you: Katie’s Free Career Fitter Test Results

Career Fitter Full Results Review

At the end of the free report, Career Fitter offers to show your full report for around $12. That’s less than two cups of coffee at Starbucks, and I was impressed with the sample report on their website, so I bought it. It was totally worth it!

The full report is HUGE! It’s well organized, too, with a table of contents on the left side of the screen. It gives you a label; mine is “Developer.” From there, it walks you through a summary, career suggestions, personality details, your ideal business environment, and famous people like you, and more.

My summary includes a line that I’m “Skeptical, Independent, Original, Logical, Non-Conforming, Rational, Analytical, Objective, Aloof, Ingenious, Inventive, Resourceful, and Enjoy Complexity.” I truly don’t enjoy a lot of complexity, but I do seem to attract it. It’s a great joke of the universe. Everything else is dead-on true.

After the summary is a C-FAR chart showing my work personality characteristics.

Then, Career Fitter gives the most comprehensive list of career possibilities I’ve ever seen in this kind of test. Three of the jobs on the list are jobs I actually do, too. There’s great suggestions that I wouldn’t have considered on my own. It’s the career personality test results I wish I would have seen when I was in college. It would have saved me a lot of strife.

Each career has a link to information about the career field, and a video telling more about the career. It’s a good basis for your career research, and a great way to identify possible dream jobs.

Most helpful for career seekers is a section on the report called “Occupational Factors.” Here, you’ll see the traits a job needs to have in order to bring you satisfaction. So, if you’re ever in the position of deciding between two jobs, or figuring out if a job is right for you, here’s a list of exactly the factors a job must have for you to set yourself up for success.

Overall Impressions of Career Fitter

While the free Career Fitter report is very general, the full report is a major asset at any point in your career. If you’re feeling stunted in your career, taking the Career Fitter test will help you see possibilities, which is invaluable. At $11.98, Career Fitter is a steal, and I highly recommend it.

If you aren’t sure if Career Fitter is right for you, check out my full report before you make a decision. Rest assured that Career Fitter’s report looks much better than my PDF!: Katie’s Career Fitter Full Report

Try your own free Career Fitter report, and let me know what you think about your results in the comments below!

Infographic: MBA Salaries

Posted on July 27, 2018July 27, 2018 by Edna Crane

If salary is a major motivator in your career choice, you should do solid research before you commit to a degree program. On average, people with master’s degrees do earn more than people with bachelor’s degrees. One of the most popular master’s degrees is an MBA.

Here are common job positions and their salaries for MBA’s:

Human Resources Director

Average salary with master’s degree: $92,000

Basic role description: Overall responsible for the running of the HR department and its profitability.

Director Of Operations

Average salary with master’s degree: $87,000

Basic role description: Overseeing the operations of most areas of the business, from finance to HR.

Marketing Managers

Average salary with master’s degree: $131,180

Basic role description: Management of all marketing activities, including developing marketing strategy and running campaigns.

Information Security Analyst

Average salary with master’s degree: $92,600

Basic role description: Planning IT security measures and putting them into place for systems, networks and data.

Not-For-Profit Management

Average salary with master’s degree: $64,680

Basic role description: A huge focus on fundraising efforts, along with creating strategic plans and managing personnel.

Healthcare Administrator

Average salary with master’s degree: $96,540

Basic role description: Largely responsible for budgeting, overseeing the running of the establishment, and managing staff.

Take a look at the infographic below for more information.

Infographic Design By SBU Online’s MBA Program