Roland Gent talks about passing his Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing
We caught up with Roland Gent, a Learning People student who recently passed the Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing.
Published on: 7th March 2018
Having completed it in four and a half months, alongside a full-time job he wanted to share his digital marketing learning experience.
How did you find the online training?
“Well first things first – it helped me get a job which has been a massive bonus and has made the training worthwhile. But aside from that obvious gain, the lecture based training with quizzes was really helpful and got the information drilled into me. It seemed to be a good way to learn for me and I found that the fun quizzes are where you really learn things and retain the information. The training was fun and is a topic i’m interested in, so it was an enjoyable experience overall.
“Sometimes it was challenging as I had to really push myself to stay motivated and revise after work however I pushed through and got the qualification which was such a relief. I was really surprised that I passed first time. It took lots of revision, but it all paid off. Sometimes you really do have to force yourself to get home from work and watch the lectures – even if it’s on a topic that you find boring. The diploma is really varied, so there are bits that you like more than others and that’s natural. The challenge is to get through all the videos – I actually watched them all twice in the end, but if you just motivate yourself to get through them all then you’ll be okay.”
Why did you decide on digital marketing?
“I was actually in a role I didn’t enjoy – telesales. It was highly frustrating as I had trained as a journalist and knew a lot about the trade but had somehow ended up in a demotivating telesales job that I really didn’t like. I really wanted to be a journalist, however every job I applied for needed digital marketing skills. It seemed like the industry was really heading towards digital and therefore my journalistic skills were a bit outdated.
“I looked into digital marketing and found that there was a lot of crossover between my skills and those of a digital marketing professional, so I decided to look at what I could do to get into digital marketing. It seemed that the salaries were a lot higher and you could get full time jobs quite easily, which was really the opposite to print journalism which seemed to be a dying trade. The general consensus seemed to be that in order to land one of these roles you needed digital marketing qualifications.”
Did you have any digital marketing experience?
“No – well sort of. I worked in events for a bit so I had an idea of how to promote stuff on facebook but not really anything outside of that. I knew it was what I needed to progress into the career that I wanted though.
“The research I did taught me that I didn’t really need any experience to start the training so I just went for it. I saw it as a great opportunity to enhance my CV and prove that I could have a digital marketing career. I have found that it really has helped me get interviews and push on in my career – and I’ve now landed a new role which positions me nicely for a career in digital marketing.”
Why did you choose to study with Learning People?
“I did my research and the Learning People offered the best value for money and support surrounding the qualifications. The general opinion on review sites was that the Learning People were the best training provider, so I trusted that.
“Also, the customer service when I had my initial consultation was really helpful and easy to understand. I still took a couple of weeks of chatting to the Learning Consultant at the Learning People and researching my other options but eventually I decided that going with the Learning People was the right choice. The fact that the DMI was partnered with them was a big pull as I knew how highly regarded their training was.”
Did you have any reservations about the training?
“Finance was a big one to be honest, however it turned out that i didn’t need to worry. I had a monthly payment plan which i’ve now nearly paid off. It was definitely worth the money as i’m now in a new role and have a qualification to my name that no one can take from me.
“The other major worry I had was online learning – it was totally new to me. However, I just planned out what I was going to do and stuck to that schedule and it was fine. I actually enjoyed the flexibility and the fact that I could work alongside my training – I couldn’t have done it any other way. I was also worried that I might not find a job after the training but having completed the training and got a job, that wasn’t something I needed to worry about.”
Any advice for digital marketing students?
“Try and get ahead and practise as much as you can as this will really help you further down the line. I would also say that using the mentor support as much as possible is a definite recommendation. They’re there to help you so use it as much as possible. Once you know your exam date the best thing you can do is make a plan and figure out how you’re going to revise. That will help you stick to your revision and eventually pass.
“My confidence massively increased as I worked through the training and by the end of it I was confident enough to go for new jobs that I wouldn’t have dreamt of applying to before. So my advice would be get stuck in and don’t put off your studying.”