So let’s start with what is distance learning. This is the style of learning when you are geographically separated from your teacher. Most distance learning happens by computer or by paper based learning sometimes referred to as a correspondence course.

So what’s the point of distance learning? Well, with the kind of lifestyle we’ve got today, sometimes it’s not possible to be at a certain place – or in a certain classroom – at a certain time. So instead of that kind of structured learning, you’ve got the option of studying where and when you want to: at work, at home … or even travelling between the two. And in these days, with the rise of uni fees and the drop in available places, distance learning organisations like RDI and the Open University (where you’ve got around 600 different courses to chose from) are becoming a very viable alternative to traditional classroom learning. And not only are they a lot less expensive, but there’s also the plus of getting qualifications, from GCSE’s to City&Guilds – and everything in between – without the added mountain of debt usually waiting for you at the end of your spell at university.

But, you may be thinking, surely there’s that hands-on aspect of teaching which doesn’t exactly work when you’re learning online. That’s as may be, but then again, have a look through this little list of distance learning courses and prepare to be surprised!

Law, Psychology, Accountancy, Fashion Textiles, Social Care, Counselling, Nursing, Nutrition, Astronomy, Forensic Science, Mathematics, Music, Sport and Fitness, Creative Writing, Spanish, How The Universe Works, Plants and People, Robotics, Inside Music, Healthy Eating, Customer Care, Nail Technology, Hypnosis, Self-Defence, Teaching Assistance, Bricklaying, Web Design … and much, much more!

So if you’ve been used to turning up at a given classroom at a given time, it might be time for a change – for whatever reason. But that doesn’t mean you’ll never have the chance to meet teachers and fellow students in person. Course providers often offer drop in centres, as well as support help lines, funding and research materials.

notgoingtouni.co.uk helps you find out everything about distance learning, apprenticeships, sponsored degrees, and volunteering – in fact, all the available options to help you decide what is the best career for you – and then get going without having to follow the traditional university route.. This article, Distance Learning – One Class You’ll Never Be Late For! is released under a creative commons attribution license.

Are you the kind of person who has creative ideas all the time – and wants to see them come to life? Then maybe an apprenticeship in the creative sector would be just right for you. If you have idea after idea after idea … or if you like taking other people’s ideas and making them a reality, you should be considering a career in the creative sector. It would be a satisfying, rewarding and – dare we say it? – fun way of making a living, and even making a name for yourself at the same time.

A word of warning, though: you won’t be the only one thinking about a career in that kind of environment – there’s a lot of competition for jobs there.

Typically, job candidates who have work experience within their chosen area are the most successful in this type of sector and this is where a creative apprenticeship can really help you out.

The creative sector as a whole covers many different areas taking on many different forms and encompasses a broad array of jobs requiring different talents, skills and practices.

Are you technically creative? Maybe you’d be happy testing computer games, looking for bugs and glitches. Or if you’d rather not be stuck in front of a computer screen all day, you might prefer manning the lighting for a show – in a theatre, perhaps, for a Shakespeare play … or in a different venue every night, on tour with a band.

But then again, if your creativity leans towards designing and building, how about an apprenticeship in set design and construction, to start you off on a career in the film industry? Or you could get an apprenticeship in a clothing factory, with a view to designing and producing garments yourself?

All businesses needs administrators to keep them running smoothly, and companies in the creative sector are no exception. Yes, you could get an apprenticeship and find yourself running errands and making the tea, but if you’re a music fan, where better to run those errands and make that tea than in the head office of a major record label?

Whatever apprenticeship in the creative sector you’re thinking about, Notgoingtouni believes you should have a number of skills, including: The ability to produce ideas pretty well on demand; The ability to appreciate and discuss other people’s ideas; The ability to work within a team; The ability to communicate effectively verbally and on paper.

You’ll need to be able to work within a team, and communicate effectively, both verbally and on paper. To be considered for an apprenticeship in the creative sector, you’ll have to convince people that you’ve got the passion, the desire to learn and the ability to work hard that they’ll be looking for.

If this sounds like the type of job you would like to pursue then take a look at notgoingtouni.co.uk, the leading website dedicated to promoting the alternative opportunities to the traditional university route to young people.

Notgoingtouni.co.uk guides young adults with their future by showing jobs and training that exist apart from university. There are a number of apprenticeships in the creative sector available, free career guides and more than 300 videos on distance learning, foundation degrees, gap years, voluntary work and advice on getting a sponsored degree.. Free reprint available from: An Apprenticeship – Your Shortcut To Success In The Creative Sector.

The way things are going, you’ve got some tough choices ahead of you: the kind of career you’re going to decide on … which one’s got the best prospects … and what you need to study for your best start. Here at notgoingtouni.co.uk, our aim is to show you what options you’ve got instead of the traditional route from school to university and then out into the job market.

Let’s have a look at the banking and financial sector. Believe it or not London is still the world’s top financial city (alongside New York) and there is still a great deal of activity and hiring going on! Yes the industry has been hit by the economic downturn however there still seems to be some optimism towards future growth.

There are still thousands of jobs to be had in banking and finance, and even if you don’t feel you’re cut out to cash cheques and take deposits you’ve still got plenty of choice when it comes to administrative positions in financial institutions like building societies and commercial or investment banks.

And what kind of opportunities are out there waiting for you? There’s:

Retail banking, where you’d be based in a high street bank, offering general financial services to the general public and small businesses;

Investment banking – these provide more specialized services to commercial & industrial companies, governments, pension providers, etc;

Private banking – for mega-rich private customers and a few corporate customers;

Actuarial services – calculating risks and dealing with pensions;

Insurance brokers, where the best kind of cover is analysed for customers, and the best price is negotiated with insurance companies;

Underwriters, who analyse specific insurance risks and calculate the most appropriate premium payable for the policy for each of those risks.

What are the companies in the financial sector looking for?

They will want strong numeracy, good communication skills, good attention to detail. You will need to be very focused as many roles will require working with lots of data and accuracy is all important. Being IT literate will help and second languages are also an advantage in the private banks who often deal with clients from around the world.

Visit notgoingtouni.co.uk to find out more about apprenticeships, sponsored degrees and entry level positions available in the financial sector.

www.notoingtouni.co.uk helps you make an informed decision about your future by showing you that there are alternative ways into your dream career than the traditional university route, like apprenticeships , foundation degrees, distance learning, diplomas, NVQs, gap years and work experience.. Also published at A career in Finance or Banking?.

If you’re interested in becoming a mechanic or have already decided to become a mechanic you might be overwhelmed with the number of options you have to accomplish your goal. Your choices are numerous and they include everything from learning at home using self study courses online, formal classroom training, mechanic apprenticeships, and even hybrid classroom programs that include both classroom training and apprenticeships. If you’ve done any reasearch, you know that you’ve got a lot of options. These options consist of everything from world wide web training to actual classes, to traditional apprenticeships These options cover anything from learning at house utilizing internet training to incredibly demanding classroom regimines which will have you studying for examinations just about every few days. Do not fear though, you can find so many paths that a minimum of 1 should totally match your way of life as well as goals. Your own choices are numerous plus they consist of many methods from learning from your own house utilizing do it yourself study classes online, conventional in-class instruction, mechanic apprenticeships, and even a mix of both classroom courses which consist of both class schooling and apprenticeships.

Anytime everyday people imagine a particular apprenticeship, they may be generally considering the particular type of training they have noticed in the films or found out about in books. You have the senior master technician who has already been practicing his trade for many years who makes a decision to pick a couple of pretty youthful students to individually teach hands on. A major benefit to this type of education is that you find more personalized attention, yet this can be normally at a cost. These unstructured apprenticeships may run for a great number of yrs, and you can never be certain that you might have figured out precisely what you are going to demand for future. What are the results when your industry adjusts or you choose you should target some other niche that you just were not trained in?

An alternative choice will be the far more standardised apprenticeships These are typically jointly with big firms or unions. Massive organizations offer apprenticships emphasizing their very own goods with their goal to employ the apprentices when they are finished. Unions are able to offer a range of arranged apprenticeships with the exact same objectives. The profit is these programs have become structured and based upon years of training hundreds of students. One of the big things to consider however, is the level of commitment that these programs might require after you graduate.

A recent increase in mechanic internships is a classroom apprenticehips. These kinds of programs grab the best of school room learning and hands-on education Class room instruction is a useful one given it lets you learn from books in a official environment, nevertheless it has been negative because people which master by employing their hands usually be misersble With such fresh programs which have begun showing up however, you can get the perfect combination of school room time along with personal instruction.

Your footing that’s accumulated upon school room instruction, helps you to get a wonderful basic starting of knowledge. Your own apprenticeship feature really helps to offer you real life knowledge. The particular problem to this particular form of program would be the fact educational costs can be pricy and you also are unable to generally receive money.

Looking to find the best deal on Mechanic Apprenticeships, then visit www.mechanicapprenticeships.com to find the best advice on Mechanic Apprenticeships in California for you.

Upon completion of your apprenticeship you will possess a range of prospects dependant upon the main features of your respective program. You’ll find typically four different tracks upon finishing of your initial auto technician apprenticeship dependent on your personal objectives as well as version of apprenticeship program that you were enrolled in: Auto mechanic Trainee Permit, Advanced Mechanic Apprenticeships, Taking Mechanic Course for extra Qualification, not to mention Instantly Securing a Job as a Mechanic.

If you enrolled in an apprenticeship program which was quicker or not technically planned and you had been using it to evaluate your own curiosity about a career being a mechanic, your following step would be to obtain a auto mechanic trainee permit. A trainee mechanic permit will allow you to get employment with a mechanic as well as mechanic shop to keep your hands-on learning. Nearly all permits limit the sorts of functions you can take part in when you initially start and are generally limited in time, requiring renewal. For instance, Michigan’s Mechanic Trainee Permit demands candidates to select the section of work they’re serious about. You must have experience with that discipline, either through some sort of apprenticeship, high school instruction or trade school training course. Michigan restricts your Mechanic Trainee Permit to 24 months, however , will allow the permit to always be renewed. For much more info on Michigan’s Mechanic Trainee Permit or make application for a permit kindly visit Michigan’s Repair Facility/Mechanic Education Web page.

After completing a longer structured apprenticeship, you will probably have the essential skill-sets to get more complex Mechanic Apprenticeships. Many multi-national enterprises provide leading-edge apprenticeships and also qualifications with regards to unique products. This includes companies just like Rolls-Royce not to mention Honda. A major advantage to these types of Firm Backed Apprenticeships is that you acquire specialized teaching from the designers and manufacturers along with technicians connected with the products you’ll ultimately operate on. A possible downside is that often a large number of training programs will most certainly be primarily based out from the companies’ home office buildings. For instance, in the event that you’re truly interested in skilled mechanic apprenticeships with some sort of European automaker, you’ll likely be expected to join a course in a different country. Get information on auto mechanic apprenticeship in another country.

Further, in the event that you intend to do a particular job that needs a qualification that you just did not acquire through your apprenticeship, you can find web based or self-study certificate programs. Since you already have a foundation of training, you may use web based mechanic classes or maybe self-study mechanic certification courses and perhaps avoid thousands compared to a entire program.

If you carried out a longer apprenticeship (which often can cover anything from 2 – 4 years) you’ll probably be capable of quickly secure employment as a journeyman or even a expert technician. State and also Country laws will change, so please look at (blank) Country Specific Mechanic Prerequisites (blank) (blank) (blank).

Looking to find the best deal on Mechanic Apprenticeships, then visit www.yoursite.com to find the best advice on Mechanic Apprenticeship Jobs for you.

Administration and Human Resources (HR) are critical parts of any business or organisation regardless of the sector in which they operate.

Administrators make sure that the overall office is organised and ensures effective running and efficiency whilst HR ensures that the office is staffed with the right employees and deals with any staff issues that may arise.

Without Administration and Human Resources, businesses would be disorganised and productivity pretty well non-existent.

Nearly twenty percent of the UK’s labour force are administrators of one kind or another.

They make sure day-to-day operations run seamlessly, whether they’re multimillion-pound deals happening in the boardroom, or just signing for a stationery delivery down in reception.

Administrators are some of the most important people in companies and organisations and this is because they have the broadest overview of what is going on in the office. An administrator can deal with a whole raft of different duties: dealing with internal and external correspondence, typing up letters, agendas and reports, send emails/faxes, answering and dealing with phone calls and many others.

So it’s no wonder administration staff are essential – to any kind of company. With their variety of duties and sheer number of people they come in contact with each day, who else has so much background knowledge about the ins and outs of the business?

Equally important – and equally knowledgeable about what’s going on within any company – is the Human Resources Department.

Working with management to recruit and train new staff, the role of the HR Department is to make sure the right people are in the right position to create the maximum benefit for the company.

And not only are Human Resources there to make sure the company gets the best from its people, but they’re also there to make sure people get the best from the company, in the form of help with personal issues within the workplace.

This could be anything from mundane matters like booking holidays, through to making sure the needs of employees with disabilities are catered for, to helping staff cope with stress, to stamping out bullying in the workplace.

Notgoingtouni believes that you need to have a number of essential abilities:

You need to have basic numeracy and typing skills and be able to communicate well both verbally and in writing.

You must be be able to keep cool working under pressure and have a good dose of personal organisation.

Businesses are always desperate for people to fill Administration and Human Resources positions, one reason being that they can be a springboard to fast promotion elsewhere within the company.

Because if you’re seen to be good at what you’re doing, you could find yourself very quickly moving up into a role with more responsibility. How does Team Leader sound? Or Personal Assistant? Or how about a move into management from where, perhaps one day, you may even end up running the company!

To find the latest opportunities available check out notgoingtouni.co.uk.

Notgoingtouni.co.uk provides advice, jobs and training that exist outside of university. There are Admin and HR apprenticeships on offer, free career guides, over 300 videos on distance learning, gap year, voluntary work and sponsored degrees.. Also published at Administration and HR – More Than Just A Helping Hand For Both Staff And Business.

89% of apprentices would recommend an apprenticeship to other people but is it the right move for you?

Apprenticeships are a vocational route where you can earn ‘n’ learn at the same time.

You can develop the skills you need while working in your chosen industry at the same time as studying for a nationally recognised qualification like an NVQ or BTEC.

Whatever industry sector interests you, you’re sure to find an apprenticeship programme for you there.

Although people tend to think that apprenticeships are only for manual trades, you can get an apprenticeship in pretty well every field you can think of – marketing, floristry, engineering … or even testing computer games!

The period of time an apprenticeship can last will vary according to the company and also to the sector you are working in but most apprenticeships last between one and three years.

Apprenticeships are becoming an increasingly popular route for young people to consider and this could be due to the many advantages that come with undertaking one.

One of the main benefits that seems to appeal to young people is being able to earn money while doing an apprenticeship – since August 2009 apprentices have being paid at least 90 per week, but an earnings survey demonstrated that it was often a lot more, with an average salary of 170 per week. And to top it all apprentices get 20 days paid holidays a year in addition to the usual bank holidays.

So now you have a choice: you could sit in a classroom five days a week and be taught the skills you need by someone who doesn’t necessarily have the experience to pass them on to you (ho hum) … but then again you could be learning those skills from people with a passion for their job, who want to pass that passion on to you.

And you could, after sitting in that classroom – for what feels like forever – find yourself knocking on doors looking for work … or you could be one of the over 90% of apprentices who’ve already got a job by the time they complete their apprenticeship.

A wide range of employers work with local training providers to establish apprenticeships in a variety of sectors. You can find them advertised at your local college but also at notgoingtouni.co.uk who provide a huge range of apprenticeships in addition to information and advice.

So if an apprenticeship seems like the right move for you then get applying!

Notgoingtouni.co.uk guides young adults with their career by highlighting jobs and training that exist apart from university. There are several apprenticeships currently available in addition to free career guides and more than 300 videos on distance learning, foundation degrees, gap year, voluntary work and advice on getting a sponsored degree.. Also published at Apprenticeships – earning while learning.