8 affordable ways to get training for a new career

Find a mentor Sometimes there’s nothing like a little one-on-one handholding to give you the skills you need next. There are several places to look. First, try SCORE.org, which links

aspiring entrepreneurs with business mentors in their field and locale. Second, contact your college or university. Go to your school’s website and click on alumni. You’ll find tabs that say

things like “learn and network.” Then look for a LinkedIn group started by graduates of your school. Why the emphasis on alums? “It’s the feel-good factor,” says Kurth, also the founder of

Revere Software, which provides a private-labeled platform that universities use for alumni mentorship and other interactions. When someone learns you walked the same college green they did,

they want to lend a hand. There are also mentors available through the small-business community. According to AARP, 15 percent of people age 45 to 74 work for themselves and another 13

percent would like to transition to self-employment in the near future. The Small Business Association has a list of resources for connecting with mentors via government-sponsored

organizations (like the Women’s Business Network and SCORE), trade associations and government contractors. You’ll find it here. READ FIND BALANCE Achieve more balance in your life by

alleviating negative stress and adding positive stress. Skills aren’t necessarily something you need to spend a lifetime in the classroom to learn; you can build a solid working knowledge of

many new endeavors simply by reading old-fashioned books and subscribing to publications devoted to your area of interest. Go to the library or browse bookstores (online and offline) and

newsstands. To dig a little deeper, try taking a one-on-one tutorial through QuickBooks.com. VOLUNTEER IN YOUR NEW FIELD Instead of volunteering for a project that makes use of your current

talents and experience, offer your services for a volunteer experience that will allow you to learn and practice new skills. For example, you could become a trained tax-aid through the AARP

Foundation Tax-Aide program (offered in conjunction with the IRS). Or, if you’re passionate about early childhood education, you could volunteer at an organization like Jumpstart, which

trains you to teach language and literacy skills to preschool children in low-income neighborhoods. “As you’re looking for volunteer opportunities, you should vet them and try to see if the

organization you’re serving offers any training or best practices for becoming a mentor, tutor or a particular kind of coach,” says Marci Alboher, a vice president at Encore.org, a nonprofit

that taps the skills and experience of those in midlife and beyond to improve the world. “And since you’ll be going through training—and because you’ll be using the actual skills—it is the

best way to test-drive to see if it could be a new line of work for you.” Another option, suggested by prominent career consultant Rich Feller: Get appointed to a community, government or

service board to expand your social capital, connect your skills to current issues and demonstrate your value to peers who have contacts. Volunteer boards are intensive labs to update and

test your skills on real-time issues. Also, Feller says, you can research an organization’s needs (what problems are they trying to solve?) for free online. Then prepare a written proposal

about how you can commit a certain amount of hours or weeks as a free consultant. Caiaimage/Sam Edwards/Getty Images GET YOUR COMPANY TO PAY According to the Society for Human Resource

Management, in 2014 more than half of companies offered tuition assistance. That number was down a little from the last time it was measured (in 2012) but it’s still significant, and it

benefits the company as well as the employee: A recent study of Cigna employees showed that for each $1 invested in tuition reimbursement the company’s bottom line improved by $1.29. You

don’t necessarily have to be enrolled in a degree or certificate program in order to qualify for tuition assistance; call your benefits manager and ask what’s available. If you work for a

small company, ask your supervisor or the head of the company directly. (My employees have on occasion asked for training in things they wanted to learn—in part for the job, in part for

themselves—and when I’ve been able to, I’ve helped. While your small company is probably not going to pay for your MBA, a course or two may be in the realm of possibility.) I hate clichés

but this one bears repeating: It never hurts to ask. REACH OUT TO LOCAL INCUBATORS/ACCELERATORS Finally, you don’t have to live in Silicon Valley to be near a local startup incubator or

accelerator program. (Never heard of these? They are organizations that help startup companies get their ideas off the ground by providing mentoring, contacts and, sometimes, capital and

infrastructure.) Understand that these are rigorous programs that can require 100 percent of your time, energy and focus while you’re in them and that the application process can be daunting

as well. As you search for nearby incubators —Google the words “incubator” or “accelerator” and your city and state or check this state-by-state listing—carefully research what they

specialize in, talk to alumni about what they got out of the program and how to craft your pitch and make sure all the members of your team are in sync with this idea. Keep in mind, as you

ponder which courses will make you most marketable, that the payoff you’ll get from taking these courses will go way beyond learning new skills. Beigle-Bryant, who turns 59 in July, says she

continues to encounter ageism in the workplace, and that her time on Codecademy has done more than improve her technical knowledge; it also gives her confidence. “The biggest takeaway for

me is how much better it made me feel as a person to go out in the job market again,” she says. “It gave me a sense that I was doing things that were more respected. It gave me a sense of

taking control of my own life.” _With Kelly Hultgren_