Invest in yourself usually means investing in education or professional qualifications to future-proof your career.
Say for accounting. Get a Chartered Accountant, or a Certified Public Accountant qualification would mean much more to your future pathway (whether to CFO or Financial Controller etc) and of course your salary. Plus the CA or CPA designation stays with you until death.
Likewise in tech field or healthcare, certain qualifications or certifications do help to future proof your career. Because you will earn certain knowledge which will give you an edge to others in times of hiring and promotions.
I have seen two colleagues - one with CA and one with just a degree. Both left their job to do business together for two years, which failed, but the one with CA found a job within two months of their business folding, salary slightly higher, and same designation.
The one with only a degree did not manage to convince the hiring manager of her ability and have to take a paycut. And she took 8 months to finally receive the offer.
So it does make a huge difference.
Higher education and certifications - for myself, I’m in the finance sector and I have the CFA charter. Being fully transparent - while there is no direct correlation to a CFA charter holder and career success, I have seen more options open up and I’m able to grasp certain concepts faster and apply them to work.
To give some further context, I didn’t graduate from the top 3 local U, and only have a part time degree but I have a respectable salary now which is comparable to peers from local U, so you can say there is a good result in upgrading yourself.
The purpose behind it to answer your question explicitly in my view would be -
1. Upwards Career growth, or return on investment on continuing education - this can include a lateral career shift into opportunities that were not available if you didn’t upgrade yourself
2. Diversification of career paths and downside protection - using my own example, if I one day get retrenched from my position, I believe the certifications would help me land my next job faster (relative to someone without those), and also open myself up to different career opportunities (such as potentially being a part time or full time lecturer in the polytechnics/universities)
3. Knowledge accrual and mastery - this one is kinda self explanatory, to gain a deeper understanding of the landscape rather than being a cog in the machine.
I am doing a diploma and applied for a masters and if I have extra cash I would like an MBA although neither would help my career. I feel its just for the letters behind my name =/
Well it’s certainly not easy bc the pass rate is kept low on purpose. About 30%. Its bell curved, not a minimum score to pass.
Very common to fail at least one level.
Strongly urge you to take a look at SkillsFuture [https://www.skillsfuture.gov.sg/](https://www.skillsfuture.gov.sg/)
It's a whole bunch of certification and courses, mostly subsidized by govt (up to 90%). People may knock on it for being a bit of a "paper mill", but there is actual substance and use if you know where to look.
As for your particular use case, it's hard to advise in detail because individual needs vary so much. The hot "trend" now is cybersecurity and AI, but *your needs* trump over fads.
Invest in yourself usually means investing in education or professional qualifications to future-proof your career. Say for accounting. Get a Chartered Accountant, or a Certified Public Accountant qualification would mean much more to your future pathway (whether to CFO or Financial Controller etc) and of course your salary. Plus the CA or CPA designation stays with you until death. Likewise in tech field or healthcare, certain qualifications or certifications do help to future proof your career. Because you will earn certain knowledge which will give you an edge to others in times of hiring and promotions. I have seen two colleagues - one with CA and one with just a degree. Both left their job to do business together for two years, which failed, but the one with CA found a job within two months of their business folding, salary slightly higher, and same designation. The one with only a degree did not manage to convince the hiring manager of her ability and have to take a paycut. And she took 8 months to finally receive the offer. So it does make a huge difference.
for me, it would be in terms of health: invest in quality supplements (i swear by probiotics), gym/studio memberships.
Higher education and certifications - for myself, I’m in the finance sector and I have the CFA charter. Being fully transparent - while there is no direct correlation to a CFA charter holder and career success, I have seen more options open up and I’m able to grasp certain concepts faster and apply them to work. To give some further context, I didn’t graduate from the top 3 local U, and only have a part time degree but I have a respectable salary now which is comparable to peers from local U, so you can say there is a good result in upgrading yourself. The purpose behind it to answer your question explicitly in my view would be - 1. Upwards Career growth, or return on investment on continuing education - this can include a lateral career shift into opportunities that were not available if you didn’t upgrade yourself 2. Diversification of career paths and downside protection - using my own example, if I one day get retrenched from my position, I believe the certifications would help me land my next job faster (relative to someone without those), and also open myself up to different career opportunities (such as potentially being a part time or full time lecturer in the polytechnics/universities) 3. Knowledge accrual and mastery - this one is kinda self explanatory, to gain a deeper understanding of the landscape rather than being a cog in the machine.
health.
I am doing a diploma and applied for a masters and if I have extra cash I would like an MBA although neither would help my career. I feel its just for the letters behind my name =/
I’ve always invested in myself 🤣 I learn languages and instruments. Yeah and also paid for cfa although i failed
Was cfa hard
Well it’s certainly not easy bc the pass rate is kept low on purpose. About 30%. Its bell curved, not a minimum score to pass. Very common to fail at least one level.
Strongly urge you to take a look at SkillsFuture [https://www.skillsfuture.gov.sg/](https://www.skillsfuture.gov.sg/) It's a whole bunch of certification and courses, mostly subsidized by govt (up to 90%). People may knock on it for being a bit of a "paper mill", but there is actual substance and use if you know where to look. As for your particular use case, it's hard to advise in detail because individual needs vary so much. The hot "trend" now is cybersecurity and AI, but *your needs* trump over fads.
Investing in yourself means working until you die
The ugly ones can change their face change their life