It you are serving under the US army you have access to excellent facilities to increase your skills and educational levels regardless of whether you plan to pursue a permanent career in the Armed Forces or not. There are a number of Army correspondence courses through which you can prepare yourself for your post military career or better your career prospects while remaining in the defense forces. You can take advantage of some of the following programs:

The Army Correspondence Course Program

The ACCP (Army Correspondence Course Program) is designed to let you update your skills to current levels and prepare for advancing your military career. The course consists of progressive modules that let you earn points and work your way towards a promotion. Every module consists of several sub-courses that you complete one by one. The ACCP program is designed to provide you training related to your specific professional field. You may opt for courses for skill qualification development and/or for advancing in your MOS.

eArmyU

The eArmyU program is sponsored by the US Army to let you pursue online college education in your free time when you are off duty. It is aimed at supporting you to prepare yourself for a non-military career or take up a course you may want for personal development or interest. It is possible to obtain TA or tuition assistance for this program through the GoArmyEd portal. All soldiers on active duty whether officers, warrant officers or enlisted, are authorized to receive TA subject to conditions. Under a uniform fiscal policy of the Department of Defense, 100 percent of tuition and authorized fees charged by an accredited college up to an annual ceiling of $4,500 (for the year 2005) are payable by the Army under the Tuition Assistance program.

DANTES (Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support)

DANTES programs are aimed at providing military personnel with opportunities for further education that can fit into the active military lifestyle. DANTES programs involve cutting edge and innovative methods of delivering education to deployed troops that include e-learning, satellite courses, video, Podcast classes and also courses that can be downloaded on to PDAs. Such programs are offered through college and universities authorized by DANTES for delivering distance learning education. You can thus take specific courses allowing you to complete your degree, earn a degree or undergo vocational training provided by a DANTES approved education provider.

If you want to stand out as a specialist among your peers you can opt to take one of the exclusive Bachelor of Science programs offered by Henley-Putnam University and specialize in counter terrorism, intelligence and protection. There are over one hundred courses offered on various topics like covert actions, intelligence team management and counter terrorism. All degrees can be completed online. Terrorism and counter terrorism studies cover organizational structures of terrorist outfits, their techniques, psychology and tactics and ways for developing and executing strategies to forestall and disrupt terrorist activities as also mitigate the damage they inflict. The faculty members are specialists who have served leading intelligence organizations like the FBI, DIA, CIA, US Secret service and Special force in senior positions. Every student to these courses is attached to a faculty career mentor who supports and guides the student in intelligence and strategic security.

You may take advantage of any of the programs mentioned above to prepare yourself for a post military career and ensure smooth transition into your new role for a secure future.

You can plan for career advancement with the help of a five-year plan. You may think this is not necessary, but it can be a great help. After you have researched your choice career, you are now ready to decide from one, two, or three possibilities. The next step is to make a five-year plan for all your options and choose which one is right for you.
If you would like to be a lawyer, for instance, make this your long-term goal. Reaching that goal is not difficult when you follow a series of steps and have the career you have always wanted. Arriving to the point where you are ready to make the next step, will be determined by what your current skills and abilities are that can be utilized in this career.
Your next step is to decide what your personal development goals are and how you will use them for career advancement. These are all of the steps you need to take to develop yourself in order to be able to get employment in your chosen area. They can include private goals like becoming a more dynamic speaker or learning how to organize small groups. You will also want to think about your educational goals. Most careers require a certain educational program or at least abilities that might require on going education. Once you look at how you meet or fall short of these requirements, you will know what those goals are.
It is a good idea to take your education seriously. It doesn’t do anyone any good to graduate with a low gpa. The goal may have been completed, but the experience itself may not be enough to convince an employer to hire you. Goals can also be divided by years and by smaller goals within those years. You want to be as specific as possible about the tasks you wish to finish each year that will lead you closer to your main goals.
Allow yourself enough time. If you know that you will need to take classes, you can look up the type of education needed. If it is a master’s degree and you don’t even have a bachelor’s, you will obviously have to get a bachelor’s first. Or, if you need a bachelor’s degree, you can subdivide each of those years into smaller goals like keeping at least a 2.0 average in all your courses to indicate you not only completed the courses, but also completed them successfully. It is a good idea to be specific about your goals so that you can decide whether you successfully finished the goal.
Set goals that you will be able to accomplish and that are realistic. Setting goals that are hard to achieve will leave you will less desire to continue with your career plans. If you are not meeting your goals in the time you have given yourself, getting help will aide you in getting to where you want to be. If it is a personal goal that is not mandatory but will increase your chances, consider reviewing it and evaluating whether there needs to be a change in your expectations about the chosen career or your own abilities. Doing this will help you understand which areas to work on without discouraging you in your plans and keep you motivated on the most important aspects for career advancement.

One persons career development needs differs from another. A nurse’s path leads them in one direction while a racecar driver follows another. Even in the same profession one person may take a completely different route than another while winding up near the same goals.

The one thing all occupations take into account when assessing their career development needs is what they already know. Students showing great aptitude for artistic skills may wish to continue by finding a career that incorporates one, or more of their talents.

For example, a person who doodles, draws, and has experience with graphic programs may wish to go into graphic design and logo making for large companies and small businesses. He should sit down and list his career development needs with separate lists for small and long term goals. How much does he already know about graphic design? Has he worked for a client in the past either free or for pay? What programming skills does he have? How far is his artistic range and is he able to keep up with client demands? Is he only interested in creating logos, or will his graphic design skills go further into webpage design, animation and magazine design? These are some of the questions he should ask.

His next step when thinking about career development needs is to decide his readiness to go into the graphic design field. Can he start right away, or does he need more schooling first? Does he plan to attend classes for continuing education even after he starts his career? If he worked for clients in the past, was he professional or does he need to learn more about the professional field?

Part of assessing career development needs is realizing when further education is required for career advancement. It is not always necessary, but it is a great way to keep up with present markets if the individual and company want to advance in today’s moneymaking society.

The serious professional should learn to write good resumes where is listed his skills that will compliment the job he applies. A company doesn’t want to know that a person applying for a secretarial job can keep his house in “tiptop shape”. What they want to know is if the person is good at organization and keeping notes.

Career development needs don’t disappear once the person starts his or her career. There is always room for improvement for the individual and for the company. A person’s career development needs can change slowly over time, or drastically when they decide to try a different career. It’s all up to the individual and what he or she is able to handle.