Look for classes relevant to your work and stage of professional development. In order to have an advanced course in neonatal intensive care make sense, you would need to be a nurse trained in the daily operations of a neonatal intensive care unit.
Take the appropriate, preliminary continuing education courses if you want to get to advanced or specialty levels of professional training. For example, if you are a neonatal ICU nurse, you may need a course on care of a premature baby before you can become certified in intubated feeding of a severe preemie.
Ask your supervisor or human resources department about your company or firm's policy on paying for or reimbursing continuing education courses. In health care, law, finance, education and architecture fields, where continuing education is required to maintain professional licenses, employers often pay for continuing education. However, it may be that your employer requires someone to be with the organization for a certain length of time before they qualify. Some organizations also are also specific about which topics of continuing education they reimburse.
Discuss your career ambitions and desire to participate in professional development courses with your supervisor if you are trying to participate in a company-sponsored course. Many organizations bring professional development in-house or hire a consultant to deliver seminars on company time. Because of costs and productivity losses, many organizations make these open only to select individuals. Advocate for yourself if you want to become one of those people.
Contact the continuing education provider about your interest in taking their course. Many courses are open only to professionals in particular, relevant fields. Sometimes, upon request, they will allow someone in another field to join. For example, a course on autism geared toward health care professionals might allow a teacher, counselor or an attorney attend.