Certifications?!?

One pathway out of career purgatory that seems the most obvious is acquiring a college degree. College like anything else is a commodity. But if you are in career purgatory then there is a very good chance that you lack the funds to go to college right this moment.

An alternative that may be of interest in the mean time is acquiring certifications. You can make yourself more marketable by acquiring useful certifications in your desired career pathway. Not only are certifications relatively cheap to acquire but many of them you can learn the material on your own time at your own pace.

You may be thinking about all of those certification schools that are advertised on television with the catchy jingle or someone saying that they did it and now they have an exciting career blah blah and how they seem like a rip off, well I would agree. Certifications are like elusive creatures that are known to exist but are hard to find. You need to talk to people and try to figure out what kind of certifications would be beneficial. Plus do not be impulsive and jump at the first certification you can get. You need to shop around for the best bang for your buck when it comes to certifications. For example since I’m interested in medicine I was looking at medical certifications. I found that you can get these by going to a community college or you can go through the Red Cross. The Red Cross is significantly cheaper than a community college and you can acquire your certification in less time.

Over time I would like to compile a list of certifications that can be acquired without extensive schooling that may be of interest to someone trying to crawl out of the pits of purgatory.