Are online courses worth it?
If you have been in the job market at any time during 2020, you know that it’s extremely competitive. When I signed up to do my online web design course in 2019 I had no idea it would land me in such a tough spot.
Upon finishing the program I felt a huge wave of uncertainty hit me on where to even start. Should I continue to grow my skills specifically in design, or would it be more beneficial to add other skills to widen my base and increase my usefulness? As someone who loves to learn, I felt I would make good use of my energy if I went for the latter. When I saw my community was offering a grant for Udacity’s tech courses to enrich our small town I jumped in and joined the Digital Marketing Course.
I had already had some interest in Digital Marketing after meeting and interviewing a thought leader in the field, Alif Hux, for my Podcast Shatter & Rise. I thought it would give me more insight into how I, as a designer, could make better design decisions that would help the business as well as the user. At no time in life have I felt having more knowledge would be negative.
My brief 10–week intro course to digital marketing was just a taste of what a digital marketer does to help bridge customer and product. I was excited to see some crossover between UX research and digital marketing, especially when it came to identifying the customer and their needs.
After completing the course and earning my certificate, I had to option to continue on to apply for a scholarship into the nano degree program. At the time, I was working with a startup as a Director of Marketing. It felt like the nano degree would be the next step to gaining as much insight into my new endeavor, so I applied and was accepted.
Now that I’ve been submerged into the nano degree program, I can see that digital marketing is not for me. I’ve been able to learn some very interesting insights into why certain business decisions are made, and how they see users, but I much prefer the design side of things.
I plan to try and continue with my nano degree, but I see I have no passion for it. In essence, I tried something new and figured out it wasn’t for me. The beauty is, I’m not enrolled in a four-year degree. I’m not stuck. I really think the options available online for education are vastly undervalued. If you don’t know exactly which path to take next, or you have a curiosity about a certain field, you are much better off trying some online courses first before investing everything into a full degree. I highly suggest giving Udacity’s courses a browse and trying something new!
