With many colleges and universities shuttered for the foreseeable future, students are turning to online learning for new careers, such as massage therapy, and continuing education for obtaining advanced skills.
In the past year, many colleges and universities have struggled with how to provide continuing education opportunities while keeping students, staff, and faculty safe. Most closed and only a small few have reopened over the past month.
With so many higher-education buildings shuttered—at least for the moment—how can students continue their educational path?
One of the best things about remote learning is that it makes a good education available to everyone who wants it. It creates new opportunities for stay-at-home parents, the disabled, and people living in isolated communities to improve their skills, gain new ones, or simply engage in recreational learning.
Here are ten well-paying careers for which online learning is available.
1. Paralegal
Paralegals are legal assistants that work for a firm or freelance for a group of lawyers. Annually, these assistants earn AU$56,193 per year. Most paralegal courses are modules that enable the student to certify for under AU$2,000.
2. Massage therapy
Massage therapists provide in-home or in-office services. Many massage therapists have their practice with several repeat clients and occasional referrals of new clients. Getting paid to help people will always be incredibly rewarding. A whole-body massage online course is less than AU$1,000 with additional modalities (specialties) starting around $300, but priced higher for intensive modalities. Massage therapists make about AU$54,221 per year.
3. Court reporting
Court reporters make about AU$59,000 a year and are in high demand these days. Students that add certifications to report on the deaf and partially deaf can increase their salary demands. Achieving a certificate in court reporting will cost about AU$2000.
4. Market research analyst
Market research analysts are experts at understanding customer data to augment business and marketing roles. Making about AU$58,251 annual, they are in demand at many companies in many industries. A certification in this field is about AU$500.
5. Embalming
Though not the right career for most, some people find this career path an opportunity to help others dealing with the loss of a loved one. Embalmers earn about AU$59,000 a year, and the certificate or diploma will cost about AU$1000, depending upon the facility.
6. Medical transcription
Medical transcriptionists create written documents from voice recordings of doctors and doctors’ staff. Transcriptionists can earn about AU$56,215 yearly, and the certification course will cost less than AU$1,000.
7. HR specialist
HR specialists are well paid, earning about AU$72,372 per year. They are responsible for the management of employees as a company resource, including hiring and managing compensation and benefits. There are many specialties, but the core certification is about AU$1,500.
8. Vocational nurse
A licensed vocational nurse earns about AU$50,000 per year and spends about a year obtaining qualifications such as ACLS certificates that can be obtained online. LPNs and LVNs provide primary patient care and work closely with registered nurses and doctors.
9. Interpreter or translator
For students that speak multiple languages, a career as an interpreter or translator may be the right choice. Interpreters work with different types of agencies, including the police, a hospital, or in government earning an average of AU$59,737 per year.
10. Fitness trainer
If you enjoy staying fit and helping other people become fit, consider a career as a fitness trainer where the average salary per year is AU$69,000. With healthy living becoming more central to more people, this is a rewarding career that costs about $2,000 to obtain a certificate. Various specialties are available as well.
Dispelling myths
For many decades, the surest path to a stable, lucrative career has been an advanced degree. Though education is still important, there is a growing trend for employers to focus on what a candidate knows rather than how they learned it. Skilled people with little or no college are finding a place in the corporate and entrepreneurial workforces.
This isn’t to say employers don’t think education or continuing education is important, they do. Most employers offer education benefits in which they will partially or fully pay for continuing education courses employees wish to pursue; and that’s a great way to start a career.
