On Thursday 13th June 2019, I met TrainingMatchmaker.com founder – Trainer – Chartered Marketer Christine Watson in the lobby of the newly refurbished Ivanhoe Hotel (one of Christine’s training clients) for a coffee and a chat. After a lengthy and engaging discussion, I came out into the Carryduff sunshine with my head swimming with possibilities. I want to enhance my skills and knowledge about the marketing discipline and industry and hope that the courses that I outline below, as part of my brand new learning plan following research on TrainingMatchmaker.com might enable me to do so. I am particularly interested in improving my awareness and abilities in relation to the online and social media aspects of marketing as I believe that these can play a very important role for businesses.
Although I am slightly nervous for what is ahead, I am aware that everything I do in the next month, no matter how good or bad, will be a learning curve. Hopefully, these courses and this practical learning opportunity with Trainer – Chartered Marketer Christine Watson should allow me to put some of those terms that I recognise from my university marketing modules into practice. I am setting a target of 40 hours a week, akin to a full time marketing position, to allow myself to complete relevant courses and learn more about marketing in theory and in practice.
I’m currently checking out courses run by Harvard, MIT and Open University. These are great opportunities to learn about something new from widely acclaimed brands and I fancy having a qualification from Harvard on my CV!
The Google Digital Garage course also seems very relevant to my interests in marketing, with the most up-to-date and in-demand skills, hence I plan to complete this course online. It is free but involves over 100 different video lessons and 27 assessments. Once completed though I will be awarded a certificate to enhance my level of employability in the marketing field.
Hopefully by the end of the month, having completed a number of these courses, I’ll be using them to perform some of the tasks expected of a junior marketer. Moreover I will be entering month two with a ‘To Learn’ plan for the future.
Finally, my key goal is to ensure that I enjoy each learning experience and that these training investments will motivate me to get closer to my overall aim: to secure an exciting job role after my Graduation in Autumn 2021. I want to be inspired to learn new skills in order to develop and enhance future career opportunities in a landscape that has transformed from a career ladder to a career jungle gym.
Marketing Trainee Ellen pictured in Curated Kitchen in Belfast Cathedral Quarter at a training review meeting with Trainer Christine Watson