During your last years of high school, it’s likely you’ll be confronted with two choices in regards to further education: vocational education and higher education. While higher education, also known as tertiary education, is the more common path to go down, vocational education and training is a good alternative if you find that academia isn’t your strong suit.

Some people believe that those who choose vocational training will mean that you’re less likely to find a high-paying job. This is incorrect. For students, vocational training is a way to find a job that can offer an income just as high as any university graduate position - sometimes ever higher. However, this obviously depends on which area you decide to go in. In fact, the labour market shows that there is a high demand for technicians and people in the trade, since most high school graduates go towards higher education institutions. In contrast, the number of people who go into vocational training has remained steady for the past twenty years.

The courses in vocational training are generally shorter than university courses. Typically, associate degrees take about two years full-time. It can even take as little as a year to complete. Because of this, vocational students spend less money on their education than university students, who spend four years on a bachelor’s degree on average.

These courses also provide you with onsite training, which will give you the experience employers crave. A common complaint among university graduates is that they can’t find jobs because they don’t have any experience yet. With vocational training, you don’t have to worry about that! In fact, you can get started right away as soon as you get your job. No on-the-job training required. Because of this, students who complete a vocational course have higher chances of getting a job compared to university graduates.