The road less traveled: Online learning

When a Student finishes High School there are two obvious choices for the next path they will take. One being further education and the other being the workforce. The pressure is on to get the right grades, to make the right choices, to ensure you make it in your chosen career.  It is a lot of pressure for a 17 – 18 year old.

When I finished school, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to earn money so I could have fun and go traveling. It wasn’t exactly a career goal but I was dedicated to the cause and traveled and partied in some amazing places all over the world!  I think these days it is called a “Gap Year” mine was more like a “Gap Decade”. 

Many years after high school I was sitting at my desk in my comfy job looking over the London skyline, when I knew that I had to decide what I wanted to do with my life. I had always been passionate about the Internet and I had heard a little bit about Online Marketing so I decided that this was the way forward for me.

I researched universities back home in Sydney but nothing really appealed to me. I eventually stumbled over a Bachelor’s Degree called “Internet Communications”. It was perfect and sounded exactly like what I wanted to do. Unfortunately the course was only being offered in a Perth University and I was going to be on the other side of the country in Sydney.

I was fortunate enough to be connected with Open Universities who facilitate online learning for mature age students just like myself.  I enrolled and kicked off my adventure in university study through an online learning provider.

Since completing my degree a few years ago now, I have been lucky enough to secure my dream role as an Account Manager at LinkedIn. Now on a daily basis I assist Marketers embarking on their journey in Online Marketing on the LinkedIn platform.  

This week I was reminded of just how rewarding online learning can be while attending a workshop to educate employees on other departments within the LinkedIn Business. I was assigned to Lynda.com which is an online platform that has an endless library of courses from professional development to instructional videos on how to set up your Go-Pro. LinkedIn acquired Lynda.com about a year ago and since then I have completed a few courses on my commute to and from work. Completing these courses has helped with building my sales, negotiation and presenting skills and has also helped in my personal life with things like how to manage my personal finances. Spoiler Alert: Stop spending so much money!

Online learning is not easy, it takes a lot of commitment to pry yourself away from life and…… the TV. But for those who do not have the time or are unable to get themselves to university for whatever reason, it is a great option that provides endless opportunity.