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Three steps to choosing a business writing course

When you want to improve your career prospects choosing a course to spend your hard earned money on is a serious business. It can mean the difference between getting that job or promotion and completely wasting your money. So, how do you make sure that the course you choose is the best one for you? Simple – follow the three steps below, being honest with yourself in the process, and you’ll have a course that suits your needs in no time.

What you’ll need

Before you start, you’ll need to set up a way of recording your answers so you can keep track of the suitability of the colleges and courses you look at. You can do this using an A4 pad and pencil or set up a spread sheet – whatever is easiest for you. Simply list the questions vertically and the colleges you think might be suitable horizontally, as you start to fill in the table it will be easy to compare the results. And remember, if you can’t find the answer to a question – call, email or write to the college to find out!

Step 1 – Why do you want to study?

First, you need to decide why you need to study. Are you studying:

• to gain a promotion at work?
• to get a new job?
• for self-improvement?
• to get into higher education – University for example.

Or are you studying for some other reason?

It’s very important that you know the answer to this question as it’ll determine what kind of course you choose. If you need to improve your skills to get a new job, you’ll have to make sure that the course you choose meets the accreditation and content requirements of the company you want to apply to. The same applies if you are studying to get into university. In contrast, if you are studying purely for your own pleasure – to stretch your mind and improve your skills – the course only needs to meet your requirements.

Step 2 – What kind of study do you prefer?

Now that you know why you need to study, you can think about what kind of study will suit you best. There are lots of options available, from online study to full-time courses, and you’ll need to be honest about your preferences and your lifestyle as both will influence the kind of course you’ll choose. For example, if you work full-time, is it really practical to consider a course that requires you attend classes in the daytime? Think about whether you prefer to:

• study at home or in a class-room setting
• have deadlines set by the course or work to your own timetable
• work on paper or electronic materials or a mixture of both
• have a course that allows you work at your own pace over a number of years or have a short, set time limit?

Step 3 – The college and course

So you know why you want to study and what kind of study you want to do, the next step is to start looking at potential colleges and courses. Here are some questions you might want to think about:

• how much you want to spend on the course, what payment methods are available and if any instalment plans are offered
• the subjects or areas covered by the course
• whether the course is basic, intermediate or advanced level
• whether the course offers any kind of assignments
• what kind of feedback is given
• the tutors, their qualifications and whether they can be contacted directly
• the other support available, such as forums, facebook, twitter or student support
• can you re-sit failed exams or retake the course should you need to

Now you should have a clear idea of which course is best suited to your pocket, time and content needs. All you need to do now is enrol, study hard and complete your chosen course.

If you fancy improving your business writing skills, Business Training has two courses that fit the bill – Business English with Spoken English and Advanced Business English.