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Rossheim, John. “Find out Whether Completing a Course of Study at a for-Profit Career College Will Put You on a Path to a Career Change and Vocational and Financial Stability.” Human Resources Assistant I Salary in Orlando, FL | Monster.com, 2018, www.monster.com/career-advice/article/retraining-career-college.

Link, James. “Thinking of Skipping College? Here Are 6 Stats to Change Your Mind.” Cornerstone University, 2017, www.cornerstone.edu/blogs/lifelong-learning-matters/post/thinking-of-skipping-college-here-are-6-stats-to-change-your-mind/.

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Starting January 15th I will be enrolled into the University of Alabama's early college program. For the first four weeks I will be taking a college readiness course to prepare me for the classes to come. After that I will be partnered with a mentor that will help me pick my classes for the next 10 weeks. I plan on majoring in communication studies and also taking classes during the summer. This is all to prepare me to be a motivational speaker.

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LINK by Prudential | Prudential Financial

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Welcome to LINK by Prudential! We'll help you set your goals, bridge your gaps and pull together your game plan.

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UGA is my reach college. The campus is in Athens, Georgia and has a population of 28,848 students. At this college I will major in Communication Studies, and participate in activities such as leadership and service, service-learning, and multicultural Services and programs.

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UA is my target college. The campus is in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and has a population of 33,305 students. At this college I will major in communication studies, and participate in activities such as service and leadership, student media, and student government.

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WCBC at ALC is my safety college. The campus is in Norcross, Georgia and has a population of 745 students. At this college I will receive a ministerial degree, while participating in public speaking activities and mission trips.

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There are no required classes or specific training required for motivational speaking. This is because the only way to get better at public speaking is to actually do it. With that being said, taking courses in public speaking could help a lot.

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A motivational Speaker uses audio, visual, and sometimes physical props to engage an audience in a speech made to encourage them to be better people and achieve their goals.

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My personality color is yellow. I am a perfectionist, fun and exciting to be around and I have a great sense of humor.

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Going to college or enrolling into a training program is critical to being successful in the career of your choice. There are many careers that are very competitive, and whether you went to college or not could be the difference between you getting the job or not. It also has a lot to do with pay, statistics show that, "College grads earn $17,000 more each year."

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John Rossheim, Monster Senior Contributing Writer

The phone rings and a telemarketer pitches you steady work after you graduate from the technical school he represents. A billboard promises a world of opportunities with a certificate from a retraining program at a private business school. A friend raves about how a vocational program in allied health has brought her steady work.

Will completing a course of study offered by a for-profit career college put you on a path to a career change and vocational and financial stability? Hard to say. But this strategy for changing careers is more likely to work if you thoroughly check out the program before you decide to devote valuable time and money to the effort.

Certainly these career-training schools -- whether they call themselves trade schools, vocational schools, technical colleges or career colleges -- are needed. "Public two-year and four-year schools don't have sufficient capacity," says Anthony Carnevale, director of the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University. "These proprietary schools tend to be much more focused on learning that leads to gainful employment in a particular occupation."

And through the deep recession of 2008-2009 and continuing months of high unemployment, many of these schools, which have campuses nationally, have prospered. Revenue at Lincoln Educational, which operates Lincoln Technical Institute, grew from $376 million in 2008 to $552 million in 2009. Similarly, revenue at ITT Educational Services jumped from $869 million in 2007 to $1.3 billion in 2009.

But private career schools' growth doesn't guarantee your success in a new career. "Many of these career colleges and vocational schools are reputable and teach skills that are needed to get jobs; other schools of this type are not to be trusted," says Julian Alssid, executive director of the Workforce Strategy Center in New York City. "The schools that work well have very strong ties to industry, faculty who are industry people and facilities that are up-to-date."

What sorts of claims made by career colleges should you not take at face value? Statements about total tuition costs, accreditation and salary potential should all be questioned, according to an undercover investigation of 15 for-profit colleges by the federal Government Accountability Office.

How can you tell a worthwhile vocational program from a dubious one? Here are six expert tips.
1. Before You Go to School, Do Your Homework
"People often put money into education and training before they know if it's worthwhile," Alssid says. "Talk to students of the school and recent graduates; talk to people working in the field; connect online." If you really want to know the bottom line, call the human resources departments of a half-dozen prospective employers and ask whether they've hired graduates of the specific program you're considering.
2. Comparison Shop
Don't choose a career school simply because it's the first to approach you with a sales pitch. Shop around, and consider lower-cost alternatives like community colleges. Private career schools tend to be dramatically more expensive than their public counterparts. For example, the core 51-week automotive technician program at Universal Technical Institute, a Phoenix-based school that trains automotive and diesel technicians, costs about $25,000; a similar program at a community college is typically $6,000 to $8,000.

"Ask how much the program costs relative to what you could pay elsewhere for the same training," Carnevale says. "Also compare the cost of the program to the value of what you will learn." Whichever school you choose, learn all you can about government grants and student loans that could help finance your education. The US Department of Education has put for-profit colleges under increased scrutiny due to their graduates' low repayment rates on federal loans, so be sure you have firm commitments from lenders before signing on the dotted line with a career school.

3. Research the Local Job Market

Do federal government statistics say that licensed practical nurses are in high demand? That's nice to hear, but what really matters is whether healthcare employers in your area are hiring new LPNs with no work experience. "Look at what's going on in the regional economy," Alssid says.
4. Make Sure the School's Offerings Are Current and Relevant
Does the school you're considering continuously reinvest in its course content and industry connections? "Our curriculum is constantly updated to include the latest technology," says Tina Miller, a spokesperson for Universal Technical Institute. "We have committees that meet to discuss the latest technologies, like alternative-fuel vehicles. And we work directly in partnership with car and truck makers like Nissan, Ford, Cummins and Navistar."
5. Find Out How Prospective Employers Value Fresh Training vs. On-the-Job Experience
In a labor economy where both new graduates and experienced workers are available, who will prospective employers choose? "Companies want to keep costs down, so they may go for a more recently trained worker," Alssid says. "But there's an outcry about workers who have the credentials but not the right skills and attitude." Ask local employers about their preferences.
6. Find a Niche
Even though manufacturers have laid off millions, they complain that they can't find enough skilled technicians to operate and maintain the robots and other complex factory technology that have replaced so many workers. You could convert this irony into a career niche -- if you can find a school to teach you the skills. "There's a continuing skills recession, especially in fields like advanced manufacturing," Alssid says. "With research you may be able to figure out who offers training in these hard-to-find skills."

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Find out whether completing a course of study at a for-profit career college will put you on a path to a career change and vocational and financial stability.

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John Rossheim, Monster Senior Contributing Writer The phone rings and a telemarketer pitches you steady work after you graduate from the technical school he represents. A billboard promises a world of opportunities with a certificate from a retraining program at a private business school.