Q I AM 45 years old with a GCE O-level certificate and a diploma in secretarial studies. I have been a secretary for more than 20 years.

I am currently working in a statutory board, and have been with its biomedical sciences division for five years.

I intend to take up courses and obtain better qualifications so I will have more options later.

I am not sure which diploma to pursue: business administration or human resource (HR) management.

As the course fees aren't cheap, I am hesitant and I have questions on how having an additional diploma or degree will help me, bearing in mind that I have no working experience in the human resources arena.

My current salary is $4,000 and I have financial commitments.

A IN EVERY profession, you need to look at long- term career planning early at the onset of your profession career climb and identify suitable career transition milestones.

When you reach the age of 40, strategic steps in career management are essential.

Clearly, you want to secure your future, and you are wondering if a diploma or degree is the best way to go. Currently, you have financial commitments and taking expensive courses to further your career might mean painful sacrifices.

There could be other ways to secure your future. You might wish to consider some of the following strategies:

Identify your transferable skills. Do you have experience in customer service, project management, event organising, counselling, coaching or administration? Do you have language or writing skills?

Identify new options. See if there is a different role in your existing organisation or a new organisation where you can apply your transferable skills effectively.

During performance reviews, seek out opportunities to apply your transferable skills to new job platforms.

If you have been given a suitable opening to assist in the HR department for a change, then take the chance to find out whether the diploma in HR would be relevant to you in the long term. Ask for some sponsorship from the company, if they treasure your current contribution as a secretary and as possibly an apprentice administrator in HR.

In managing any career transition or growth, you need to know where your interests lie. Map out your current key competencies and transfer those skills to a new work context to stay relevant.

In today's changing career landscape, being a lifelong learner encompasses reading widely, attending short seminars and workshops and, ultimately, refiring one's passion towards life, in order to remain vibrant, dynamic and 'employable'.

Networking is an important career skill. Sharpen your professional image as part of the task of reinventing yourself.

I once knew a secretary who took 'a road less travelled' as an HR entrepreneur 20 years ago. I was that secretary. The only failure in life is in 'not trying'. Never let the past define where you want to go.

Christine Sim
Senior associate director
KCS Executive Recruitment Services

Advice provided in this column is not meant as a substitute for comprehensive professional advice. E-mail questions to a1admin@sph.com.sg.

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