So, you've slugged away at your job for a few years and your role and responsibilities haven't changed. No one seeks your input and most important meetings and work happen around you without you being involved. Where and how do you kick your career back in gear?

For many CWAers, the choice often is the CWA/NETT Academy, an online resource that has become the best source of professional grade courses for CWA members. They will find the very best curriculum available today, taught by instructors who are experts in the field and also expert teachers, making learning the material quite easy.

The classes are available at www.cwanett.org [ http://www.cwanett.org ]. All a member needs to do is log on and create identifications for themselves and their family and, quick as you like, lifelong learning begins.

"I'm currently enrolled in my fifth course at CWA/NETT Academy for career advancement. But the salary isn't the only thing. I get a great deal of personal satisfaction each time I complete a course," Trell Parks, a senior technician and Local 2222 member, said.

CWA created the academy because workplace and technological change, especially in communications and media fields, is constant. The union wants to strengthen CWA members' employment security and spur career advancement through the best technical training around. It is designed exclusively for CWA members and their families and operated on a not-for-profit basis.

Local 59051's Mara Becker, a news editor at KOIN-TV in Portland, OR, wanted to learn Final Cut Pro, the industry standard editing software, so she took training at two different times. First a 10-week course at a local Community College, which left her more confused than confident; she then took a CWA/NETT weekend course.

"I learned so much more in the weekend course that when I came back to work I asked for fill-in editing work from 'news,'" Becker said. "That type of work steadily increased and my skills and confidence soared. I am now a full time ENG Editor. That weekend class from CWA/NETT started it all, and provided me with the opportunity and motivation I needed to help launch a new career."

One of the most popular areas on CWA/NETT is Lynda.com where members will find training in hundreds of the latest software programs from web ware to Excel, and everything between. Subscriptions to Lynda.com usually cost about $250 a year but, through a special arrangement with CWA/NETT, it is free not just for CWA members but for their families, too.

"Through CWA/NETT I was able to get my convergence technology certification by taking only five courses instead of the 11 or so the company's program requires," Russ Ostrom, an AT&T Certified Network Technician and Local 4034 member, said. "With CWA/NETT, I take the courses right in my living room on my own computer, in my free time. With my schedule – I have a 9-year-old son – I wouldn't have been able to do it any other way."

Read more about the program and features of CWA/NETT's NEW "Virtual Online Campus" at www.cwanett.org [ http://www.cwanett.org ].