'YouTube University' - Career education at your fingertips

Glenford Smith, Career Writer

Derek Bok, former president of Harvard University, famously said: "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."

If education means a university degree, to you, then Bok is right about it being expensive. After all, an undergrad student at the University of the West Indies can expect to pay between $500,000 and $1 million, or more per year in fees alone, depending on the programme of study.

Despite having paid this high cost, countless graduates have been unable to find jobs. Among those who have found employment, many have had to settle for relatively low-paying jobs, just to survive and make ends meet. Those without a university degree are finding it even harder.

Increasingly, all three categories above are being forced to consider how they can create self-employment. This requires mastery of a skill or gaining specialised knowledge, and the ability to market oneself effectively. This is the kind of education which self-help pioneer Napoleon Hill described in his 1937 classic Think and Grow Rich.

Said Hill: "An educated person is not necessarily one who has an abundance of knowledge. Rather, he or she knows where to get knowledge when needed, and how to organise that knowledge into definite plans of action ... to acquire any desire."

That's where the Internet - YouTube specifically - comes in.

YouTube, owned by the world's leading search engine, Google, has become a first stop for learning, worldwide. It's the world's online university - which I think of as YouTube University or YTU.

Beyond watching music videos and movies, YouTube can help you advance your career significantly. And here's the best part: it's free. Well, almost free. There's a small tuition you'll have to pay. The cost is your desire to learn and the discipline to spend time doing so.

If you're unemployed, there are dozens of videos with tips on résumé writing, networking, self-motivation, and creating self-employment, for instance. You can also become an expert in doing job interviews, researching a target company, or marketing yourself.

Innovative individuals have also been using YTU to learn a trade or master a skill. Yes, you can actually learn the skills of being a plumber, mechanic, electrician, salesperson, public speaker, pianist, dressmaker, or website designer on YouTube.

If you're already employed, or in business, YTU enrolment is imperative. From time management to hiring to leadership to running an effective meeting, YouTube can teach you. Of course, you'll need to discern between authentic, reliable sources and unqualified, if well-intentioned ones.

Here's another exciting development on YouTube: top American universities like MIT, Princeton, Yale, and Harvard have made their course lectures available on YouTube. Visit the MIT OpenCourseWare channel or YaleCourses channel for instance. You won't get a degree, but you'll benefit from the same knowledge Ivy League students pay for.

Let's be clear, a university degree is valuable. The fact, however, is that many who recognise the need for a university education cannot afford it. Also, career success in today's challenging world of work requires knowledge not covered at university.

YTU has the knowledge you need - right there at your fingertips, for free. Just enrol.

Glenford Smith is a motivational speaker and success strategist. He is the author of From Problems to Power and co-author of Profile of Excellence.Email glenfordsmith@yahoo.com.