Top 4 Misconceptions About Careers in Finance

The finance industry is seen as a dog-eat-dog world with high risks and huge rewards. Stress levels are off the roof, too. Imagine stockbrokers and how they need to watch the market, play their hands and take a few people with them on their financial ascent. Imagine financial consultants who need to study their client’s accounts and advise them on what to do to save a little bit of money while earning a whole lot more. Financial careers seem to be fruitful, but why are there not a lot of people in the industry? It’s because of several misconceptions about it that puts off a lot of people.

Insane Hours
One of the main reasons why a lot of people don’t want to take a career in finance is because of the hours. They believe that for them to make a lot of money, they have to work fifty to sixty hours a week. While working that amount of hours is not impossible in finance, it is optional and highly dependent on how good you do your work. For instance, if you are a financial consultant, you actually have control over your hours. If you feel like the usual eight hours isn’t enough, you can add more clients for you to earn even more.

Get Rich Quick
Another misconception with financial career is that it is the promised land of financial freedom. With insane hours comes insane income, right? Not necessarily. Granted that financial jobs pay really well, but the pay you receive will be proportional to the amount of work you are doing and have already done. Initially, you’ll only be able to earn a lot by adding a lot of hours. Let’s take the consultant scenario again. As a newcomer, you’ll be posed with problems on finding clients. When you do find them, you start at a lower rate. This means you have to be working for more clients to earn good pay. Once you have already made a name for yourself and are valuable to your clients, you can start charging a higher rate.

It’s a Grind
If there’s anything people hate as much as working too much, it’s working too little. Some would look at financial careers as a grind; that it involves doing the same things over and over again for years. This isn’t true. When you embark on a financial career, you actually learn a lot of new things that you didn’t learn before you graduate. The more you stay in your chosen path, the better you become.

All About Banking
Finally, people think that a financial career only involves working at a bank. You actually have a good number of career paths with finance. If you’ve got the skills, you can work for any other company that deals in finances. For instance, you can work at loaning companies that cater to government employees. You can take your accounting skills and put them to use in insurance companies. If you really think about it, there’s a really big market for finance.

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Instructional Design Tips for eLearning Developers

In the digital age, eLearning offers flexibility and accessibility that traditional classrooms often cannot. At the heart of successful eLearning programs lies instructional design — a process of creating educational experiences that make learning effective, engaging, and efficient. This article explores the principles, processes, and best practices of instructional design in eLearning.

Understanding Instructional Design
Instructional design (ID) is the systematic development of educational experiences using learning theory to ensure quality education. It involves creating materials and experiences consistently to facilitate effective learning.

Key Principles of Instructional Design
Learner-Centered: Focuses on the needs, skills, and experiences of learners.
Goal-Oriented: Begins with clear learning objectives that guide the development process.
Systematic Process: Follows structured models like ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation).
Evidence-Based: Grounded in research and learning theories.
The Instructional Design Process
Analysis:

Needs Assessment: Identify learning needs and gaps.
Learner Analysis: Understand characteristics and preferences of learners.
Context Analysis: Consider the learning environment and available resources.
Design:

Learning Objectives: Define clear, measurable objectives.
Instructional Strategies: Choose methods that align with objectives and learner needs.
Content Sequencing: Organize content logically to build on existing knowledge.
Development:

Material Creation: Develop texts, videos, interactive activities, and assessments.
Prototyping: Create a sample of the course for feedback.
Implementation:

Delivery: Deploy the course on the chosen platform (e.g., LMS).
Facilitation: Support learners and instructors during the course.
Evaluation:

Formative Evaluation: Conduct ongoing assessments to refine the course.
Summative Evaluation: Evaluate course effectiveness using feedback and performance data.

Best Practices in Instructional Design for eLearning
Engagement and Interactivity: Use quizzes, discussions, simulations, and gamification.
Multimedia Utilization: Incorporate videos, audio, animations, and infographics.
Scaffolding and Support: Provide guided practice, feedback, and resources.
Accessibility and Inclusivity: Ensure materials are accessible to all learners.
Continuous Improvement: Use data and feedback to improve the course regularly.
Challenges and Future Trends
Challenges in instructional design for eLearning include:

Technology Integration: Keeping up with rapid technological changes.
Learner Engagement: Maintaining high engagement levels.
Scalability: Designing courses that scale easily.
Future trends include:

Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI provides personalized learning experiences.
Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR): These technologies offer immersive learning.
Microlearning: Short, focused modules for quick consumption.

Conclusion
Instructional design in eLearning plays a critical role in the success of digital education. By adhering to sound principles and systematic processes, instructional designers can create impactful and engaging learning experiences that meet the diverse needs of today’s learners. As technology advances, the potential for innovative and effective instructional design in eLearning will continue to grow, promising a future of more accessible and personalized education for all.

Careers in Education Other Than Teaching

The careers in education go far beyond teaching and administration. Find out about the other lesser known, but great, education career opportunities.

The field of education offers many career opportunities that people may not be aware of. Teaching, counseling and administration careers are well known, as are many support staff positions. However, many of the best education careers are not as well-known, even though they are essential to education.

The Mandates for Specialized Educational Jobs
Most of the other jobs in education provide assignment writing help and other services to students who are struggling in one or more subjects, or they provide services to students with disabilities who require specialized instructional supports. Many of those positions provide services that are required by law for students with special needs.

The No Child Left Behind Law requires schools to provide intensive instructional supports to students to ensure they reach mastery levels of instructional content and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires schools to provide necessary instructional supports to students with disabilities. Additionally, schools are required to address the social, emotional, and behavioral needs and progress of students, as well as the academic needs.

The result is that there are many job positions that help to support those legal mandates. Some are even required by law. For example, a diagnosis of certain special education disabilities, such as learning disabilities or emotional disturbance, requires the employment of a person with a specialized license or certificate. Therefore, some of those jobs, while they may have lengthier education requirements, are legally required for schools.

Careers in Education: Instructional Support Positions
Reading specialists help to provide intensive reading interventions to struggling students and students with dyslexia.
Speech Therapists provide intensive speech and language instruction and interventions to students in special education who qualify as having a disability in that area.
Other Jobs and Careers in Education
Technology Specialists help make sure schools have technology that works correctly and helps to support instruction. They may also train staff on the use of technology.
School Psychology careers involve conducting evaluations, helping to design programs, and providing behavioral interventions and counseling. School psychologists have a state issued license that requires an advanced degree.
Diagnostic Services require a certificate or license. The person providing diagnostic services may be called a diagnostician, psychometrist, or a similar term in different states. They evaluate for and diagnose learning and other types of disabilities for Special education. This position usually requires prior teaching experience.
Occupational Therapists provide therapy related to fine motor skills and sensory based needs to students in special education who qualify. This position usually requires and advanced degree.

Physical Therapists typically have a doctorate, although, physical therapy assistants can work with a lower level degree. Physical therapy is a related service that schools are required to provide to students in special education who qualify for it.
Assistive Technology Specialists provide required assistive technology supports for students with special needs. Those supports include hearing, vision, custom writing, and other supports.
While auto mechanics may seem to be totally unrelated to education, transportation is a big part of education and school buses require mechanics. Schools employ mechanics as part of their transportation departments.
Employment in Education
Education can be a great field of employment for many jobs and careers. While schools may struggle financially, they will never go out of business and, because they are state run, benefits are dependable. For those who are interested in education, but not necessarily wanting to be a traditional classroom teacher, there are many other career options in education to consider.