Have you thought about education as an option to enhancing your
employability or career development?
- Do I need more training?
- Where do I go for it?
- Can I afford it?
- Am I eligible for a grant?
- Do I need a professional or trade qualification for my
work?
- Do I have the time to study?
These are typical questions that many people face when moving
into the often unknown area of further and higher education.
It may be that schooling was the last formal experience you may
have had of the education system and this experience, good or bad,
will probably have informed your current thinking about it.
However, the modern education arena is very different from
school and there are now a host of full time, part time, work based
and professional training opportunities that are available to
someone seeking to develop their skills and qualifications.
Many civilian occupations have qualification bars. This
means that you need a formal qualification in the subject area to
work or practice. Typical careers that require this
include:
Medical and healthcare
Teaching
Caring
Accountancy
Banking and financial
HR and personnel
Legal
Social work
Child care
Civil/Mechanical/Electrical Engineering
Merchant Navy
If you "google" each one with the pre-word "careers", you will
open up many pages of information on each area and likely
qualifications required for each area.
Experience v Qualifications?
It may be that your experience will stand you in really good
stead to get these types of jobs but unless you have the
appropriate professional qualification, you may be disadvantaged
when competing in the civilian arena. Generally employers
will see the qualification as "getting you to the interview" but
will spend more time finding out about your experience as relevant
to the job.
Your best point of contact in identifying what training or
professional development might be required is to talk to a careers
advisor at Careers Scotland or your
local college. If you are in employment, a good employer
should be discussing your development at regular opportunities and
this should include your progression towards professional
qualifications as required. Some really good employers will
also give you the time to study and help with the costs of
it! Speak with them on a regular basis as if you have been a
good employee, they will not want to lose you.
Another way is to go through the careers advisors at Regular Forces Employment Agency or
the Careers Transition
Partnership.
Local Colleges and Training Providers
The quality of all mainstream education provision is regulated
by Her Majesty's Inspectors of Education and are quality
assured. The list of colleges and universities below all have
to meet the rigorous requirements of these standards. It is
highly likely that you will receive the best level of education at
the most cost effective price (fee). Private or commercial
providers offer a much more personalised service and may have very
nice facilities but this comes with a higher fee!
West Lothian
College
Adam Smith (Fife)
College
Falkirk
College (now part of Forth Valley)
Forth Valley
College
Jewel and Esk Valley
College
Stevenson College
Telford College
Napier University
Edinburgh University
Heriot- Watt University
Queen Margaret University
Another really good site is Learn Direct Scotland. This
site lists every possible course that you might want to do in
Scotland, start dates, fees, methods of study and typical
qualifications.
At Veterans First Point, we have Peer Support Workers who can
offer assistance to help you find out more about the resources
listed above, so if you need an informal chat about your
educational needs, please drop in or give us a call.