Stuart Marshall | Project Management Student Testimonial

We catch up with Learning People graduate Stuart Marshall who changed career from contact centre Team Leader to Project Management professional… 

 

 

 

Tell us why you enquired with Learning People

I was leaving my previous role of team leader in a contact centre and wanted to start a new career that would ultimately set me up for the rest of my life.

When I was looking back at my career, the one thing that I enjoyed the most was my involvement in projects, which in turn led me to looking into project management courses and qualifications.

I found Learning People online and when I read all about the courses you offered and looked at the reviews online and testimonials on the blog it became apparent very quickly that Learning People were the ones that I wanted to obtain the qualifications with to set me up for the rest of my career.

 

Were there any specific skills you were looking to gain or develop by enrolling with Learning People?

I wanted to learn more about the different methodologies and techniques that I could use when being involved in projects, as well as looking to improve my own social skills that I had developed throughout my previous roles as team leader. Using all of the online tools helped me massively in developing my social skills as well as continuously improving my knowledge of the actual project management industry.

 

Was there a particular reason you chose to enrol with Learning People, and did you speak to any other educators or training providers?

Learning People were the ones who straight away came across as a well run organisation with excellent outcomes – not just from the project management courses, but all of the courses provided.

 

Tell us what the career consultation phone call was like for you

Yes, within the first few minutes of the consultation, I remember thinking that Learning People were the ones I wanted me to do the course with.

My Career Consultant immediately understood my background and that I was looking for a change in my career. We went through all the relevant courses and the support that would help me become a project manager – and that would help me set myself up for the rest of my career.

 

Tell us about your experience of learning online using our system and the associated tools

I’d not learned online before, but before I even started doing the training I received a phone call from StudentCare to show me what the course program actually looked like, as well as guidance on how to use it – which I found to be extremely helpful. It meant that when I started the first module, I knew where I needed to go to get the resources that I needed, as well as knowing how to start and save my progress.

 

Were you able to gain support from our StudentCare™ team when you needed it?

Yes. Whenever I needed any assistance, or if I had any queries, either with the course or any of the exams, I found it easy to reach out and they were very quick in responding.

 

Did you utilise any of the course mentoring – if so, how did it help you?

I did reach out to my tutor a couple of times for my initial queries. However, I found that the way in which the courses were laid out meant that I was able to understand the information without having to constantly keep asking questions.

 

How did you get on with the practice exams / test preparation / projects?

The test preparation tool was very useful. It not only provided me with the knowledge of knowing what the exam structure would be, it also showed me any areas of the course that I needed a refresher on.

Having that knowledge of the exam structure with the questions and topics to expect really helped me focus on what I needed to understand and learn more about.

 

 

 

 

Did you attend any of our Live Online Classrooms for your courses?

I did receive the invite emails, but didn’t actually attend any of the classes. I’d already learned so much from the way that the courses were set up that I didn’t feel it necessary to attend them, but it was nice to know they were there if I needed them.

 

Tell us about your experience of working with our Career Services team, and what did you find most useful?

I found the team extremely helpful, especially with understanding what I was looking for in terms of landing a new role. From the very first phone call that I had with Rachel, I found that she was extremely understanding of what it was that I wanted to do. She assisted me on a weekly basis through the different stages of my learning journey.

My weekly conversations with Rachel helped me improve my CV, my covering letters and my LinkedIn page. She also helped me with all of my interviews and has been a hugely kind and influential person in me successfully obtaining a new job.

 

Tell us about your new job

I start on Monday as a project management technician, working with Caterpillar. I’ll be working very closely with the project management team and the project coordinators, assisting them with both the construction and engineering projects throughout the year.

 

How did enrolling with Learning People affect your career?

Enrolling with Learning People has helped me obtain my first project management opportunity as a project management technician for Caterpillar.

 

What has been the best part of your Learning People experience?

Right from the very first consultation that I had, I felt that I would receive the support I needed when I needed it.

Having the ability to reach out if I had any queries was key in making me feel confident about the training. It was the same with reaching out to Career Services for help with my CV or interview preparation, I found that Rachel would always be there and was able to provide me with the support that I needed.

 

What advice would you give to somebody who is thinking about enrolling with Learning People?

I think if anyone is wanting to improve their skill set and gain a new qualification, or even wants a complete career change, I would strongly encourage them to book a consultation.