Education opportunities in the time of the ‘Great Resignation’

The ‘Great Resignation’ can be a misleading term. People just don’t quit their jobs to sit on the sidelines.

According to data and economists, a strong job market with ample opportunities and higher pay are luring them to find work elsewhere. In 2021, 53% of Americans who quit their jobs made a career change – and this figure is even higher with younger workers (18 to 29) with 61% shifting their field of work or occupation.

Considering the ‘Great Resignation’, we wanted to share our perspectives on how to best leverage education opportunities to accelerate and/or shift your career.

Business Education Short Courses

Most business schools offer short courses and have a wide choice of courses. In Singapore, NUS, NTU and SMU all offer short courses like Tableau: Unlocking Insights with Analytics, Innovation and Design Thinking, or Advanced Negotiation Skills in Business Applications. It is important to note that those courses can be heavily funded (up to 90%) with the SkillsFuture Mid-Career Enhanced Subsidy (“MCES”) and the Enhanced Training Support for SMEs (“ETSS”). You can also easily complete online courses from leading global business schools – for instance Columbia Business School offers a wide range of options like Strategic Storytelling: Maximum Impact in a Digital World. However, those are usually much pricier and may not fit all.

Certifications

Professional certifications can be a great way to advance your career. Most industries have some form of certification that will likely increase your chances of higher pay, better job prospects and new career opportunities. You will find below some of the most in-demand career certifications.

• Project Management Certifications: Careers in project management continue to be in high demand, especially for those who hold the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) and Project Management Professional (PMP) certifications
• Business Analyst Certifications: There are several business analyst certifications, though popular choices by professionals in this field have been the Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) or the IIBA Agile Analysis Certification (IIBA-AAC).
• Marketing Certifications: Social media and marketing analytics certification are widely available. Some of the best certifications in 2022 would include the Google Analytics IQ Certification, Hootsuite Social Marketing Certification, HubSpot Content Marketing Certification or The Digital Marketing Institute Certified Digital Marketing Certifications.
• Finance Certifications: If you’re considering a career as a financial analyst, or are already working as one, having a professional finance certification can significantly increase your earning power, reputation, and ability to deliver high-quality financial analysis. You can explore the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) or Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst (FMVA).

Part-Time Degrees

 We’ve written an article a few months ago on why we thought the Part-Time MBA was a great program. We believe that those part-time degrees (MBA or specialized MSc) are great options for people looking at accelerating their careers. Most leading U.S. business schools offer Part-Time MBA (the notable exceptions being Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business) and all 3 leading Singaporean universities have such programs. In addition, an increasing number of leading business schools offer part-time specialized MSc like the NUS Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) or the NYU Stern MS in Business Analytics, MS in Fintech and MS in Global Finance. For more experienced professionals (9+ years of experience), EMBA programs can be a great option to up-skill and increase your market value.

Full-Time Degrees

This option would be the most radical one as it implies to quit your job and pause your career. We would mostly recommend it to younger individuals (1 to 8 years of experience) with a preference for top 50 programs. You can reap a lot of benefits with a well thought full-time program planning. Having worked with 1,000+ candidates in the last 10 years, I have been fortunate to witness the impact a leading MBA or Specialized MSc has had for most – from engineering an effective career switch to helping them grow tremendously, the number of benefits is unrivaled.

Naturally, there are other ways to succeed in accelerating and/or shifting your career – being poached by a competitor, actively networking in the industry you are targeting, learning how to transfer skills, etc. If you’d like to discuss in more length, you can easily arrange a personalized complimentary session with me at any time.

Cheers,
Jonathan