Jody Dixon is a lifelong learner who took advantage of her employer’s professional development benefits to upskill in project management. Her hard work paid off as she is now an Assistant Director, a promotion she advocated for after completing Pathstream’s Asana Project Management Certificate.
Conducting a professional audit to determine what’s next in her career
“As a graduate student, I took advantage of every opportunity to audit classes. It was auditing that inspired me to make a personal commitment to upskill and learn to build my career. I am also a mentor and believe professional development is an important value to teach. Then, the pandemic happened, and I began reflecting on what I wanted out of life. So I decided to do a self-audit. I asked myself what skills do I have. What skills do I want to learn? Do I want to continue to grow in my career? And what kept sticking out to me was the term project management. I used it regularly in my roles and liked the idea of growth within project management.”
The power of employer investment in employee education
When asked what motivated her to look into her employer’s professional development benefits, Jody said:
“Employers who invest in a learning mindset to maximize their employees’ potential tend to have happier employees. Happier people produce better results, are more innovative, and show up daily to help a company meet its goals. An employer’s investment in employee education is an investment in their employees’ futures and the business.
I worked as a Project Coordinator in the education sector. My organization sets apart a certain amount for each employee for the fiscal year for professional development. When I shared the Asana Project Management Certificate program with them, it was easy for me to tap into my professional benefits. My role aligned very well with the certificate, and the skills I would gain would be valuable to my organization.”
Online learning during a pandemic
When many institutions taught online, Jody took Pathstream’s Asana Project Management Certificate at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Pathstream stood out because of its user-friendly interface, engaging and interactive content, and personalized support. Even during her travels, she could easily access the learning materials and stay on track. She said:
“I looked forward to upcoming lessons and thought the exercises were excellent. I constantly reference previous projects and labs because the templates were very useful. I worked in project management, but many technical terms were foreign. I loved that the program lessons covered the project management basics and helped you build a strong foundation. By the end of the program, I saw myself as a project manager.”
Using her new project management skills to earn a promotion
Jody accessed the plethora of resources available to Pathstream learners, such as scheduling career coaching sessions, watching workshops on YouTube, and more. What she learned served her well in her annual review.
“The previous year, I set a goal to learn more about project management by taking a course. During this review, I communicated what I had accomplished over the year. Then, I requested a title change reflecting my work’s breadth and a raise. The career workshops helped me advocate for myself during the review, and I received a promotion and raise. The career guidance coaches provided was extremely valuable.”
Jody’s final piece of advice: Use your education benefits to build your professional brand
“Take advantage of your employer’s education benefits. You’re going to be valued for how you will be able to help your company realize its mission and goals. But at the same time, you also need to build your brand. You have a personal brand; there is worth attached to you, notwithstanding your title. So it’s your responsibility to continue consistently adding to your worth.”
Gain new skills and get promoted.
Are you ready to get that promotion you’ve been working towards? Or are you looking to transition to a new role in your organization? Either way, Pathstream has you covered. We can help you utilize your employer benefits program to improve your career. Pathstream works with leading universities like NYU and Harvard to offer the certificates below:
- Tableau Data Analytics Certificate
- Asana Project Management Certificate
- Salesforce Administrator Career Certificate
- Facebook Digital Marketing Certificate
We also offer more programs through select employers. Contact us today to find out if your employer covers our programs’ costs and access your course catalog.
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