For professionals who are required to earn continuing education credits year after year, it can become easy to default to choosing CPE courses that require the least amount of money, energy, and effort, in order to complete them as quickly as possible. While this approach to acquiring CPE is certainly understandable, it’s not always in your best interest in the long run.

To make the most of your time and finances, make sure the CPE courses you choose are of true value to you and your career. Taking the time to seek out and complete high-value webinars and on-demand courses is an investment that can often pay dividends in your future career far beyond the time and monetary commitments initially required. 

High value doesn’t necessarily mean high cost, however. Both free and paid CPE courses can offer great value when you know what to look for in a professional education course. Here are three ways to get the best value out of your CPE.

1. Free webinars are great for introductions and refreshers.

Because free webinars are often limited in time and scope, they usually provide the best value for learning introductory information, teaching a micro lesson on a very specific topic, or offering a quick review. These free courses are valuable because not only do they earn fast and affordable CPE, but they can also help you better ascertain further learning you want to do on that subject in order to fill in knowledge gaps or expand your expertise on a specific topic.

2. It pays to find high-quality courses for the topics that are most applicable to your current job or career goals.

The purpose of CPE is to help professionals stay up-to-date with their knowledge and skills, as well as prepare them for the next step in their careers. To invest in your future career, don’t waste your time on CPE courses that are irrelevant to your professional field, even if they offer easy credit. Instead, make the most of the time you spend acquiring CPE by purposefully choosing courses taught by expert instructors that are relevant to your current position and skill level and that offer content pertinent to your career goals.

3. Don’t be afraid to invest in your future self.

As a busy professional, it’s certainly possible, and often very tempting, to multitask while a free webinar plays in the background to earn the required CPE. After all, time is money, right? But the time you spend now to find and complete high-quality professional education courses is often far more valuable in the long run than any short-term to-do list gains.

One of the best ways to quickly and easily find high-value professional education courses is to sign up for a subscription package with a CPE provider that offers a large catalog of on-demand courses. This is a great way to minimize the effort it takes to find the most relevant courses and maximize your financial value. CPE Compare makes it easy to find a CPE platform that best fits your needs.