Continuing education focuses on offering training alternatives to those who have already finished or are about to finish their higher education. The objective is to broaden the knowledge acquired and improve professional skills. 




Being in constant learning and improving skills is one of the professional attitudes that companies of the future seek the most; In addition, on a personal and social level it also offers multiple advantages. Do you want to know what they are? Keep reading!

Continuing education: the future of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

This is the reality of the professional world as we know it today: continuous learning and training are a priority, not an alternative. Gone are the days when a few professional skills allowed us to do the same job for 20 years.  

During the Second Industrial Revolution, this is how companies worked: at the beginning of the last century, electricity and technological advances improved assembly lines and mass production, giving priority to automation and mechanized work. 

At the end of the 20th century, the Internet changed the rules of the game: computing and Big Data optimized processes and became a priority for companies, which now required more trained professionals and incontinuous training . 

Currently, the Fourth Revolution is no longer industrial, but digital: intelligent systematization predominates over mechanization, including other elements that are already present in our daily and work lives although we cannot see them with the naked eye, for example:

  • Internet of things : the IoT ( Internet of Things ), refers to physical objects interconnected through sensors and intelligent software, designed to exchange data with other devices.
  • Collaborative robotics : Businesses no longer run on automated programs but on collaborative, systems that rely on virtual reality and artificial intelligence.
  • Cyber-physical systems : they are the evolution of robotics, and refer to the integration of systems designed to control a physical process, interacting with other systems and with people at the same time, receiving feedback and adapting to changes in real time.
  • Industries 4.0 : the company Deloitte considers that version 4.0 is "the promise of a new revolution that combines advanced techniques of production and operations with intelligent technologies that will be integrated into organizations, people and assets."

The exponential growth of technology has placed professionals in a privileged position in history, but, at the same time, it has given them a great responsibility: to maintain continuous training to live up to the expectations demanded by the current job market. . 

Training vs continuing education: What is the difference?  

We should not confuse continuing education with continuing training, since both concepts have great differences: continuing education refers to the process by which a professional updates, improves, and perfects their professional skills, while training focuses on skill training . to improve performance in an activity within a project or company. 

In a work environment as competitive as the one we live in now, the optimization and acquisition of knowledge is one of the most requested requirements within companies. In fact, the Human Capital areas dedicate more time than before to training personnel with dynamic profiles, that is, who know how to quickly adapt to constantly changing environments. 

To get a more objective idea, let's define some of the differences between education and training:

Continuous training 

It is an inductive and behavioral process: it focuses on stimulating the professional so that they obtain practical knowledge , linked to a specific area and can develop skills and abilities directly related to a field of work or the needs of a company.

  • It arises from the needs of the labor sector and not the professional.
  • The learning objectives are limited to the needs of the company.
  • The training periods are usually short and the learning objectives can change depending also on the needs of the company.
  • Training is also directly related to profitability: its results are measured by the benefits (mainly economic) it produces.

continuing education 

The educational process is more complex than the training process, since it not only seeks to train the person for a specific task. Education is continuous training, and seeks to broaden capacities and abilities in an integral way .

  • It arises from shared needs between the labor sector, the company and the person.
  • The learning objectives are not limited to the interests or needs of a company, but of the person, who can "self-educate" independently. 
  • Training is part of continuing education, but not the other way around.
  • For continuing education, professional development and growth is as important as profitability: its results are measured by the socioeconomic benefits that both the person and the company can obtain.

As we can see, continuing education, in addition to training, tends to train and develop the person in all aspects of their personal and professional life, among other advantages. 

5 advantages of continuing education in professional life

In recent years, many higher education institutions are designing intelligent learning systems so that future graduates, as well as those who are already actively working, can continue with their professional training process, as well as restructure their knowledge and skills.   

According to the newspaper La Vanguardia, the labor trend indicates that by 2025, updating skills (or reskilling) will be a priority, since more than 40% of current basic skills will be obsolete "and 50% of all employees will need retrain." 

Although there are many advantages to constantly updating your professional life, there are some that are worth exploring in depth: 

1. Greater competitiveness 

It is the most important advantage if we take into account that being competitive can make a difference and make a true professional stand out from the other candidates, since the preparation they require today cannot be linear, but global and comprehensive.  

It is not a question of studying and learning everything, but of being able to detect those knowledge and skills that are in greatest demand, knowing which ones will be valid in the coming years and, furthermore, that they have a high degree of profitability.

2. Adaptation to change 

Darwin already said it more than a hundred years ago:  Adaptation is not just a job competency, and it is not determined by skills either, but rather by the ability to understand the environment and perform in it organically, naturally. 


In this sense, continuing education is the best way to adapt to change: acquiring knowledge and knowing how to manipulate data are two essential resources to adapt to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The speed with which technology configures work organization systems implies always being attentive and willing to learn new things.

3. Better income

What better motivation than the economic incentive. The Better Life organization points out that "having a good education greatly improves the probability of finding a job and earning enough money to achieve a good quality of life."

No one claims that continuing education will create millionaires overnight, but what is a fact is that professionals who do not stop studying have many more options and possibilities to carry out an activity that they like, that requires little effort. and, above all, that it is well paid.  

This is a good time to point out that continuing education is not only an opportunity to stand out and compete in the world of work, it is also an investment that can start to offer benefits in the short term, which will bring some additional benefits:

  • Expand your chances of getting a better job
  • Have professional authority to negotiate higher salaries
  • Quote the professional profile as a valuable candidate for their skills 
  • Access better continuing education options

4. Expand the network of professional contacts

Professionals with similar interests tend to form groups and networks to become stronger. The same is true for people who continually prepare: contact points become support resources. 

The concept of contact networks is very old and generates enormous benefits, which is why LinkedIn ensures that a person with a wide network of contacts is up to 80% more likely to be hired in their preferred area. 

Continuing education allows like-minded people to meet in spaces —physical or virtual— where they will not only learn important things, but also be able to share their tastes and interests and, of course, exchange contacts that could be very useful in the future.

5. Explore other career opportunities

Remember that, unlike training, continuing education is much more open and focused on both the interests of the professional and the company. This has an enormous advantage, since the learning acquired also opens the possibility for the person to improve their skills in other areas. 

Even at the end of the last century, the belief that the best thing a professional could do was to specialize in an area and stay in the same job for many years to generate seniority was widely accepted. 

We know that the opposite is currently the case and that the best alternative is not only to improve skills, but to expand them to other fields of knowledge, cover other areas and be considered for a much broader labor sector. 

Today, Higher Education institutions are joining this labor trend that requires graduates and professionals who pursue continuing education through courses, diplomas, and master's degrees. 

Would you like to offer resources and programs designed to strengthen continuing education and expand your portfolio of educational services? Come closer to our Learning Solutions and discover first-hand the most innovative in digital and personalized learning experiences for university students and graduates.