It is 2015 and everyone is ready to make new start! It is not the usual new year resolutions that we are talking about, but a high mileage start from the dull recessionary years that created tough situations for both employers and employees. Hiring estimates are going up and the corporate world is ready to welcome fresh and experienced talent with open arms. Lot of professionals have spent past recessionary years in upgrading their skills and investing their time in learning - either on the job, or through regular and distance learning programmes. While full time degree course pursuers may come with some amount of placement assistance, the question of the hour is whether distance education degrees hold any value at present? Are corporates ready to embrace  distance learning graduates with similar enthusiasm with which they welcome regular learning graduates?

The answer is a big and affirmative yes! Corporates are willing to provide good opportunities to grow for those individuals who choose a distance learning degree, if the candidate is able to exhibit knowledge and self awareness and certain years of hands-on experience. Technology has revolutionized the demand for distance and executive education. There is widespread acceptance of the fact that with long working hours and demanding job profiles, it is tough for employees to upgrade their skills. It has also become important to achieve a certain degree of academic excellence, which would act as a key differentiator and unfold new opportunities of professional success. Organizations themselves, have become smart in providing career building and learning environments for employee success. There have been many instances of corporate tie ups with educational institutes, where employees are expected to take up concentrations in marketing, sales, finance and strategy, IT analytics and entrepreneurship areas.

While employees work and study through distance mode, companies get more educated workforce without the hassle of giving them breaks and options to relocate. Employees, in-turn, get the opportunity to increase their marketability and career prospects as with improved educational qualification and hands-on experience, they become a lucrative prospect within the related industry. Several  B-schools of repute have started enrolling undergraduate and postgraduate students for online courses. These online programs have a rigorous entry, based on the profiles of applicants and entrance tests. Online degrees from these reputed distance learning schools come with a reputation of hiring the best of the best, and hence the job prospects of the online programme graduates continue to increase.

However, there are certain fields of study like medicine, pharmaceutical , engineering and applied sciences, where a distance education degree may not be of any benefit for the education seeker. In such scenarios, the amount of time spent in labs and real life scenarios will be given more preference over a distance learning job seeker.

Distance education is beginning to boom and the demand for courses through distance education mode is in full surge. But like is the case with most educational qualifications, a good resume is built only when one adds additional efforts to get noticed in the eyes of the employers. It is very important to support one’s distance learning educational credentials with practical knowledge, if we wish to make the most out of our degree.

-ReKruiTIn.com Team