I am glad that I chose the career that I did.  I haven’t often thought of trying a colossal career change.  I’ve been fortunate to get experience in engineering, support and management over my 17 year career, and if I were to try what some people might think of a career change, it would only be an extension of what I have been doing for many years. 

If I were in a position where I was looking for a career change, I would absolutely look toward distance education to facilitate that change.  That’s what some people have done.

Cathy Kramer of Muscatine loved her job in marketing, but at 51 she still dreamed of becoming a classroom teacher.

To get her master's degree in education, she enrolled at the third-largest university in Iowa based on full- and part-time enrollment - and it wasn't the University of Northern Iowa. Now, Kramer is a science instructor at Muscatine High School - and she did most of her class work sitting in front of her home computer in her bunny slippers. 

Kramer was a member of the first Iowa group of career-changing teacher graduates of Kaplan University, a rapidly growing, for-profit institution where most classes are taught online.

Read the article here…

Sometimes people need a career change.  To be honest, I am surprised that I have not looked to make a change like this by now.  I am the type of person who is not satisfied with what I have, and I always like change.  I am impatient to some extent, and I'm always looking for more things to do with my knowledge and experience. 

We talk about the many benefits of distance education on eLearners, but career change is one topic that has not been touched on very much.  Put yourself in the shoes of Ms. Kramer.  She’s got children who are approaching their teenage years.  She needs to maintain a certain level of income in order to sustain a household with the children, and doesn’t want to quit her current job.  Kaplan seems to have been the answer for her.

This article outlines the flexibility that Kaplan and other schools can offer someone who is looking for a career change.  A career change is a pretty difficult mountain to climb to begin with.  I can only imagine the thought of being completely out of my element after spending almost 20 years in one particular type of industry, only to jump into another one and essentially “start over”.  Not to mention the education requirements that are often needed to make something like this happen.

The fact that we can take accredited online classes in our bunny slippers is a great thing.  Having to attend classes on a campus with all the other things going on in life would be a challenge that I am not sure I could overcome.  I’m not 20 years old anymore, and like most people, I have tons of other responsibilities.  My decisions affect a lot of other people at this stage in my life.  Ms. Kramer is a great example of what Kaplan and online education can do for someone looking to make a massive career change.

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