Education Tops List of Barriers to Career Satisfaction, According to an eLearners.com Survey
Nearly 60 percent of survey respondents say education is very important in changing job outlook
Hoboken, New Jersey (November 19, 2009)—A recent survey conducted by eLearners.com (http://www.eLearners.com), a web resource of EducationDynamics which connects prospective students with online colleges, found that the main barriers to job success are education, time, money, and the lack of job opportunities. The recent survey polled people who took part in the eLearners.com Empowerment Tour, an RV tour which traveled the U.S. from June to September 2009 offering free career coaching and opportunities to apply for full-tuition scholarships and internships.
Sixty-one percent of people who participated in the survey said education is very important to them in changing their present job situation. Of the respondents, 32 percent have a high school diploma or GED, 22 percent have an associate’s degree and 28 percent have a bachelor’s degree.
“What we heard during the Empowerment Tour and are seeing through these results is that people want to go back to school, but enrolling is a giant leap that many people are reticent to take,” says Terrence Thomas, executive vice president of marketing for eLearners.com. “However, statistics prove that if you have a college education, you are less likely to be unemployed and more likely to command a higher salary. And what makes it even more of an imperative is that 76 percent of the fastest growing jobs in the United States require a college degree, making a degree a necessity, not a luxury.”
In addition to citing education as a roadblock to getting the job they want, survey respondents also noted experience and age as prohibiting factors. About one third of respondents said that their age is keeping them from landing the job they want, while about 35 percent said their lack of experience is holding them back. Beyond age and experience, money, time and the lack of available jobs were also cited as reasons for their current job situation.
Of those who responded to the survey, 36 percent are currently employed but searching for new opportunities and 31 percent have been unemployed for more than one year.
To make inroads into this dilemma, eLearners.com created the nationwide Empowerment Tour, which featured free career coaching. Nearly half of those who participated in the career coaching said they now feel optimistic about their career path and are motivated to start the process of improving their careers.
To enable more people to benefit from the career coaches experiences from the Empowerment Tour, the three career coaches put together a free “Book of Wisdom.” The book is a compilation of advice based on common questions the career coaches received during the tour when they met with nearly 1,000 Americans who are struggling with their careers. From the sessions, the career coaches have extracted the most relevant and practical advice for a career hunt or transition in today’s economic environment. The book can be found at http://www.careerstimulus.com.
About eLearners.com®
eLearners.com is one of several high visibility websites operated by EducationDynamics. Since 1999, eLearners.com has been successfully connecting learners to online education, including online degree and certificate programs, specialized career training, and a variety of online courses. For prospective students, eLearners.com provides a powerful search engine for users to find thousands of online degree program offerings, as well as educational evaluation tools and financial aid resources. For online colleges and universities, the eLearners.com website offers a low-cost, performance-based method to provide national exposure and increase enrollments in their online learning programs. For more information on eLearners.com, visit http://www.eLearners.com.
About EducationDynamics
EducationDynamics, a portfolio company of Halyard Capital, is higher education’s leading marketing services company dedicated to helping institutions find, enroll and retain students. Its content-rich and highly visible education websites, including EarnMyDegree.com, eLearners.com, GradSchools.com, StudyAbroad.com, and its more than 50 special interest microsites, make EducationDynamics the premier provider of qualified prospective students for colleges and universities. In addition, the company offers a full suite of Web-delivered services proven to drive enrollment growth and reduce student attrition. Through its Market Research and Advisory Services division, the company brings a decade of proprietary research, unparalleled market and student intelligence, and best practice insights to its clients. For more information, visit http://www.educationdynamics.com.