Page 98 - Marky Stein - Fearless Career Change_ The Fast Track to Success in a New Field (2004)

Fearless Career Change

Ambition, drive, motivation, and willingness to
learn are only a few of the positive connotations
the employer infers from the fact that you are
trying to better yourself and improve your
knowledge through enrollment in a training
or education program.

You May Be Eligible for
Government-Funded Retraining

If you have been laid off in the last 16 weeks (note that the time
limit may vary from state to state), the local office of your state’s
employment development department (EDD) may be able to assist you
with payment for your entire certificate program. It is doubtful that
the EDD will fund a degree program, but it is quite common for
someone who has recently been downsized to be able to receive
funding up to $10,000 for up to nine months of classes in a certifi-
cate program.

It is important to note that there is a window of
time within which you must inform the EDD that
you wish to be considered for a retraining program.

In the state of California, for example, you cannot enroll in any
of these programs using government funding past the 16-week mark
of your first unemployment claim. In other words, the faster you
communicate your desire to get retraining after being laid off, the
better.
If you wait until after the enrollment period, you will not be
eligible for government assistance in retraining. It is also important
to note that you must make a case for retraining.
There must be some reason that you cannot return to your nor-
mal occupation. Some of these reasons could be that the job market
is too slow in your former occupation, that you have some disability
that prevents you from going back to your old profession, or that you
need additional education to be competitive in your former career.
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