By Marie Field

Deciding to head back to school can be one of the most important and exciting decisions you’ll make, but getting what you want out of this experience can be tricky.

Know your school options. Being an educated consumer is essential in deciding where to look for a continuing education program. Speak with students who currently attend or alumni who have exited the program to get first-hand feedback. The reputation of the school is significant since selective employers value some programs and they’re dismissive of others. Focus on your area of interest, and find professional organizations or societies that can give you an idea of how a school ranks nationally. Check with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education for accreditation information. And don’t be shy about talking to recruiters directly for feedback on programs they respect.

Get what you need. Whether you simply want to enrich your intellectual capacity or gain a degree in order to change careers, knowing your end goal is essential before you can even begin to contemplate what type of school or program to attend. Katherine Stahl, Executive Director of the American University Career Center in Washington, D.C. says, “I always encourage returning students to get a good sense of what they want to do, to decide what they are passionate about and to identify and align one’s interests with his or her intended career path.” Be sure to choose a school that has accessible advisers who can help evaluate your goals and assist you once you’re ready to put that degree to work.

Assess your intended profession. If you’re considering continuing education to improve job prospects or even change careers, it’s important to attain the skills your prospective employers’ desire. For example, if you currently fulfill a public relations role in a non-profit organization but wish to move into a management position within the same sector, you may need to undertake business courses that teach both analytical and communication skills. Check with others in your desired industry to see whether a company will pay for related coursework or if there is a chance for promotion with a new degree.

Weigh benefits against drawbacks. Cost, program reputation, study time, and location are all issues to assess before choosing a program. One of the biggest roadblocks for someone considering going back to school is a financial one. It’s more difficult for continuing students to earn scholarships; many institutions require a full schedule—12 credit hours a semester—in order to receive financial aid. Assess what is really important aside from earning an additional degree or certificate. Focus on time, family, and work obligations that may hinder the experience.

Start slowly. If possible, sign up for one or two classes to measure the workload and assess how much you feel you can handle. You may find that a full schedule works for you; on the contrary, you may wish to enjoy a slower pace. Some universities offer accelerated courses and evening and weekend classes in order to speed up the process and accommodate to continuing education students.

Create a schedule. There’s nothing worse than feeling overwhelmed. Whether it’s arranging childcare to stay with your kids while you’re studying, or making an effort for the activities you currently engage in, a good schedule will reduce stress and allow you to enjoy your studies.

Meet people. Half the fun of going back to school is meeting new people. Look forward to it. Everyone knows that as you get older, it becomes more difficult to meet new people with similar interests as yours. Take advantage of attending courses with like-minded people.

Marie Field is a journalist with QS Network, a leading education and career network. QS links undergraduate, graduate, MBA and executive communities around the world with the best employers and education providers.

By Samantha Ettus

So you want to get to Person X aka your “Target.” But how? Don’t fret. With a bit of creativity and a lot of confidence you can usually get to anyone. I have used cold calling as my primary technique for putting together my Experts’ Guide series of books. From Suze Orman to Donald Trump and Rachael Ray, each of the experts who have written chapters in my books was the result of my cold calls. Over time, I have found a few foolproof techniques that have served me well. Here are my secrets:

Have a plan. Don’t pick up the phone until you have a plan. Clearly outline your goal in reaching your Target e.g. to follow up on a job interview, to set up a sales call, to introduce yourself for a networking purpose. Be as specific as possible. You would be surprised at how often I hear people say that they got their Target on the phone and froze because they didn’t expect to reach them directly. So cover your bases: go so far as to role play the potential call with a trusted friend or even into a tape recorder. Rehearse potential responses and how you will react to them. Once you reach your Target you might have limited time with them so it is important that you know your intention and be able to articulate it clearly.

Manage the gatekeeper. Congratulations! You have arrived at the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper in some companies will be the receptionist, in others it will be the department coordinator or the assistant/secretary. Here are some simple but essential rules for dealing with the gatekeeper

1. Befriend the gatekeeper. Ask his or her name and write it down so that the next time you call you can address them by name. This enables you to interact with her on a friendly basis, jumpstarting your relationship with the gatekeeper and will bring you one step closer to reaching your Target a.k.a. getting your phone call returned.

2. Assume the gatekeeper has your Target’s ear. I have worked with executives who trust their assistants to be their eyes and ears. If they feel that you have a bad attitude you could ruin your chances of ever reaching your Target.

3. Ask the gatekeeper when the best time to call back would be or how she recommends you might get in touch with her superior. This way you are enlisting her in your cause

Use email. Email is often the best way to completely bypass the gatekeeper and reach your Target directly. If you don’t already have it, finding a Target’s email can require a bit of creativity and bravery.

The easiest way to start the email address hunt is by looking at the company website. First, look under the “contact us” area of the website. If it provides no information don’t be disheartened just yet. Next go straight to the press or media page and look up a press release. Many times a press release will list a contact email address. It is a safe bet that your Target’s email address uses the same format as the press contact listed e.g. [email protected].

If this does not work, pick up the phone to contact the company receptionist and get braced to tell a pale white lie. Say you have been trying to email the Target yet your emails have been getting bounced back to you. The receptionist will sometimes offer the correct address without question. More often she will respond by asking what address you are using and you must make up an educated guess e.g. [email protected]. This should yield the correct address. If not, resort to the phone.

Cater to confidence. Don’t lose sight of your primary goal for contacting your Target and that getting to them is only part of the battle. The real test comes when you interact with them and in how convincing you are in selling you, your products or your resume. And this is the part where confidence can make or break you. The advice above outlines useful tactics for reaching your Target but there is another aspect to this that can’t be underestimated – your self-esteem. All of us have bad days and good days and without a doubt your success will go up immensely on a good day. So use the bad days for paperwork and emails and pick up the phone only when you are feeling good.

About the author

Samantha Ettus created the Experts’ Guide series of books and is an expert at identifying trends in all industries.

By Kim Lavine

You want to start a business but you can’t get past your fear of taking the risk and striking out. Reduce the risk, and you may find taking that first step easier than you ever imagined. If you’re willing to invest $500 and some of your time, following these steps may get you to where you want to go faster than you ever thought possible.

Business Model: No business is easier to start and requires less capital to operate than a service business. This is a business that utilizes your time and expertise to generate revenue. If you have professional skills, like bookkeeping, graphic design, or just an idea like home-organizing, you can start as soon as tomorrow selling your time for a premium. People are busier than ever and willing to pay for services today that just yesterday they would have done themselves, so be creative.

Business plan: Once you’ve selected the service you want to sell, visit SCORE (SCORE.org) or your local Small Business Development Center  and get the free help you need to write your business plan. They’ll also help you comply with all the government registrations on the local, state and national level, which for the most part cost nothing. Here’s where you’ll come up with the name of your company and it’s logo; remember, you sell to a consumer’s heart—not always their head—so be original. Search your company’s name at the United States Patent & Trademark Office (uspto.gov) and see if it’s available to register as a trademark for $328. If your business takes off, you could franchise the concept and make millions—think Geek Squad—provided you have strong Intellectual Property.

Website: You don’t need a brick-and-mortar storefront anymore to start a successful business—all you need is a website. You can find many easy to use services on the web that can get you up and running like Go Daddy (godaddy.com) Website Tonight for as little as $4 a month. You can register your domain name there too for as little as $7. Most website building tools don’t even require that you know HTML anymore—it’s all point and click.

Marketing: You can easily get your name out into the marketplace for free by writing a clever press release and sending it out to local media. You can learn how to write a good press release and even post it on the web to be distributed to media across the country for as little as $40 at PRWeb (prweb.com). Having a good story is what’s going to get you media attention, and as long as you focus on a human interest angle that will captivate and inspire the reading public, you’ll get noticed. Network by joining your local service clubs, or maybe start a blog at Typepad for as little as $5 a month (typepad.com), to get your unique point-of-view and own helpful tips out there.

Making the money: You will no doubt start bringing in revenues and you need to accurately track and account for those revenues for tax purposes. The gold-standard accounting program is QuickBooks. Setting QuickBooks up for a service business is easy. You can buy QuickBooks Simple Start online at Amazon (amazon.com) for anywhere from $40 to $90, depending on whether you’re willing to buy it used. Not only will you be able to capably handle the financial functions of running a successful company, but QuickBooks will make you look like a pro doing it, producing sharp invoices and even job quotes to present to your customers.

Lavine is the bestselling author of Mommy Millionaire: How I Turned My Kitchen Table Idea Into a Million Dollars and How You Can Too , and President and Founder of Green Daisy.

By Kaamna Dhawan

Depending on the day, the experience of starting an internal women’s network in a corporate environment vacillates between a root canal and time at the spa. Having recently started such an organization, I can highlight five critical tips for the successful launch of an internal affinity group.

Make it about the business. Professional women do not want to sign up for, nor do they want to be perceived as having a need, for a support group. While balancing a career and family is a condition that women will be learning to master decades from now, try to expand the focus of your organization to all topics related to effective work practices. Like any business unit in a company, internal networks must articulate their role in maintaining the company’s competitive advantage. By creating a forum in which women can sharpen their business acumen, you achieve the dual benefit of increasing employee productivity as well as demonstrating to women that the company is investing in their growth. Given the anticipated shortage of labor, corporations do not take attrition lightly. People who believe that their company cares about their personal and professional development are less likely to look for those things elsewhere.

Find an executive champion. Having a visible executive sponsor is an important signal about the viability of the organization. Companies pay executives well for their time. If an executive considers this initiative a worthwhile use of his or her time and energy, you automatically have strong corporate endorsement for your cause. In addition, the sponsor can help you identify real business needs that your organization can help tackle. Further, your executive sponsor can approach his or her peers on behalf of the group to increase executive support for events. Remember though, when asking for involvement, always be prepared to articulate why your existence is good for the business.

It’s not competition, it’s cooperation. It’s not about being better than men. It’s about being better women. It’s time to stop pretending that we are not different, and to celebrate that we are, and to appreciate that men and women have a different set of skills they bring to the table. Women and men have unique sets of development areas too. In order to truly add value, it is important that your organization is realistic about women’s relative strengths and weaknesses and works proactively to improve performance. Enlist men in that development process. Often, the few things that high potential women need to be successful are the things they need to learn from men.

Engage your early adopters. For various reasons, women may be reluctant to actively participate until they are fully convinced of the organization’s value. In the mean time, seek to share the burden of building momentum. Through the organization of lightweight activities (brownbag lunches, coffee hours, etc.), identify the early adopters in your population. These are the handfuls who participate in activities before the mass arrives. Enlist the early adopters to participate in, evangelize, or even run events. Teach early adopters to identify their own groups of early adopters. Employ this strategy, one member at a time, until you have more active participants than passive ones.

Think big, start small. Your ultimate aim may be to change the company culture, or even the national culture, but progress occurs slowly and sometimes, inconspicuously. It is important to start small, and to celebrate your wins, no matter how insignificant they may seem relative to your overall goals. Remember that you are providing a valuable service to your company. Endless research has propagated the strategic benefits of internal networks for companies. Congratulate yourself for taking the initiative.

Kaamna Dhawanis the HR Business Partner