How to learn new tricks

Mark, a fifty-year-old truck driver and ex-Navy serviceman, is three months away from completing a three year national plumbing and gas-fitting qualification. His day involves rising at 4am for a 5am start, a 10 to 12-hour shift including driving and paperwork, then home by 8pm to eat, study and grab five hours sleep. On weekends, Mark studies and spends time with his family. He says while he's tired of the routine, he's also excited about the future.

"There's a huge demand for plumbers internationally and if you work hard, the pay is good. I left the Navy without any formal qualifications and this is a chance for me to have a secure retirement doing something I'm interested in," says Mark.

If there's one ubiquitous piece of advice being handed out by career advisors today, it's this: with the job market wide open, now is the time for people to pursue the career they've always wanted. For some, this is as simple as resigning and launching into self employment, full time study, overseas travel and employment, or sideways into a new industry using the same qualifications. For others it means retraining or further education while holding down a job, raising children, or both.

Diane Marshall, a 42-year-old mother of three, worked in the banking and finance industry until her job was restructured while she was on maternity leave. To return to the same position, Marshall's former employers told her she would need an appropriate tertiary degree. Unimpressed, she decided to retrain for a completely new career and enrolled in a Diploma in Early Childhood Education with distance education specialist the Open Polytechnic. Now two-thirds of the way through that qualification Marshall says she is looking forward to her new career.

"My first job was about earning money, and career progression. I needed something that was more about me and to work with people who care about what they are doing" says Marshall.

She says furthering her education has been challenging and expensive - her completed tertiary study fees will total more than $8000, and finding the time to study is hard. Marshall completes four polytechnic papers per semester and studies for two hours every evening. Prior to enrolling as a distance learner, she obtained School Certificate (the equivalent of NCEA level 1) and gained a few university papers extramurally through Massey University.

"You need to be self-motivated and because you spend so much money it is really important to just keep going," she says.

Doug Standring, corporate communications manager for the Open Polytechnic, says the institution has around 30,000 distance learners in New Zealand - 75 per cent are adults and 70 per cent of those are in the workforce. About 10 per cent have no formal school qualifications and these students may find distance learning less threatening than a classroom environment, says Standring.

"[However], one of the great things about distance learning is the huge diversity of the students. They range from focused career professionals adding to their skill sets, to people who used to think tertiary study could never be for them. [Many] are working people studying at night and juggling families and job responsibilities. Observing that is tremendously inspiring," says Standring.

He says while distance learning offers many benefits, it also requires self motivation and good time management - key tips are to talk to teaching and guidance staff before enrolling, contact the lecturer well before the first assignment is due, take things one step at a time, and make a study plan.

Kahu Pou, manager for the University of Auckland's New Start programme, says adult learners often have rusty study skills and programmes such as New Start are designed to guide people through course selection, enrolment and the practical aspects of tertiary study. The New Start programmes can provide a day session on essay writing for around $50 or a 12 week part-time course outlining a specific area of study for a few hundred dollars. Further education often appeals to people who want a 'second chance' at a new career, says Pou.

"It provides an opportunity for people to turn their lives around or to test other waters; some just want to see if they can study at tertiary level," says Pou.

She should know - working for New Zealand Post in 1993, Pou says the word 'redundancy' suddenly came up.

"I thought 'Well, little Maori girl, you'd better get yourself along to university,'" says Pou.

She completed the University of Auckland's New Start programme then gained a Diploma in Business part-time. After graduating, Pou accepted her current job and then spent six years completing a BA in Education and Maori part-time. She has since embarked on a Master's degree.

There's plenty of proof that education, while challenging, can lead to remarkable career turnarounds - Pou has seen a former plumber complete a Bachelor of Commerce degree, a retail salesperson become a tertiary lecturer on health sector issues, and an office administrator become a lawyer.

"We've certainly had people who were just sweeping floors or working in a factory and are now teachers, are in the health sector, or have got a degree and are doing wonderful things," says Pou.

Standring recalls a single mother who enrolled in one business paper which led her to obtain a business diploma, and then a business degree. He says she now works internationally as an accountant.

"Education and learning is now a lifelong process rather than a one-off experience; skilling and re-skilling at different stages of life is becoming an international trend," says Standring.

Nor is tertiary education the only way to kick-start a new career - the New Zealand Correspondence School has a significant number of adult learners refreshing secondary school subjects or attempting them for the first time; free courses and community night courses are commonly used by working adults to 'dip a toe' into a new industry area, and some people willingly move from careers that initially require significant education, such as dentistry and law, to those that may take less than a year to master. Examples include tourism and hospitality, police work, creative writing and retail sales.

Is it all worth it? Mark the almost-plumber and Marshall the soon-to-be kindergarten teacher certainly think so. "Decide what career will make you happy; even if it's only for the next 20 years. Visualise your dream," says Marshall.

BACK TO SCHOOL

What you need to establish:

* What new career do I want? If you don't know, seek professional advice.

* What kind of learner am I? Will you benefit from full time or part-time learning? Does a classroom course, or self-paced distance learning appeal more? Do you need a contact course; or web-based learning tools? Do you have special learning needs?

* Are any general academic skills missing? Consider revising a secondary school subject via night school or the New Zealand Correspondence School. Consider short courses for guidance.

* Research different degrees, diplomas, certificates and industry training courses. Where will they take you? Where have they taken others? How does the reputation of one qualification compare with others? Which have the highest standing in your desired career field?

* Research learning institutions. Does a polytechnic or a university (or an ITO or private training institution) have more to offer? What are the credentials of the teaching staff? Where did the high fliers in your desired career field study?

* How will you manage your time and/or the cost of re-education? Do you need a loan; can you manage at home? Do you have the support of close family or friends?

* How self-motivated and determined are you?