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Upgrading Your Skills

posted by Frank Stevens 6:38 AM
Saturday, April 18, 2009

Upgrading Your Skills

In today’s economy, upgrading your skills in order to maintain job security or to be able to go out on your own makes sense. This is doubly true for the construction industry. Not only are construction companies struggling and laying off laborers left and right, but the market for new construction and renovation has tanked. Homeowners are choosing to wait out the economic crisis before spending money on a new home or significant improvements to their existing home.

This leaves construction industry workers at a crossroads. Do they wait for the inevitable pink slip as the unemployment rate rises or do they leave the industry and strike out in a new direction? Savvy employees are recognizing a third option: upgrading their skills and becoming a contractor.

In many states, contracting is a regulated profession. Contractors must be licensed and insured to make sure that meet safety and business practice standards. Becoming a licensed contractor requires different exams in various states, all of which need studying prior to the exam. This can pose a problem for those already working in the industry. Many do not have the time or the structure to study on their own and risk failing and having to repeat the exams.

Online study courses for the contractor’s exams have become a popular alternative in the past few years. Online study courses allow the student to study and review the material at his or her own pace and get a feel for how difficult the contractor’s exams are going to be.

One of the most successful online study course providers is Peerless Institute (peerlessinstitute.com). Peerless offers study courses for the Florida and California contractors licensing exams. A variety of courses and formats are available from self-paced CD-ROM to online seminars. All aspects of the exam are covered from project management to contract administration to law and business.

What makes the Peerless Institute materials really stand out is the wealth of practice questions included. A student can learn the material in a course or online but practice questions help the student to focus on what is likely to be asked on the exam itself and gives them a feel for how difficult it is.

Investing the money in Peerless’ online courses is made even easier by the company’s guarantee. The Peerless guarantee states that if a student does not pass the contractors exam the first time, he or she may take the course again free for the next exam. Peerless reports that the first-time success rate of its students hovers around 95% whereas the overall pass rate for all exam-takers is less than 50%. Taking the online courses increases the probability that you will pass the first time and be able to be out in your profession making money faster.

Becoming a licensed contractor can be a difficult process but having an expert course of study that fits into your own schedule can ensure that you have the tools you need to pass the first time.

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