How Online Learning Can Help You Grow Professionally (and Personally)

Have you ever been told that online learning is your ticket to professional success? How often have you taken this claim to heart? Here, we’re sharing four inspiring stories from GoSkills learners. 

What is growth? 

First things first: what’s the essence of professional and personal growth? Do they intersect or stand alone? Let’s unpack both types of growth.

Professional growth

To grow professionally doesn’t just mean climbing the well-known corporate ladder—it’s a journey that zigzags through varied paths and tempos. At its core, we’re talking about continuously sharpening one’s resume skills, enriching knowledge, and embracing hands-on experiences. The outcomes of such practices may include landing your dream job, excelling swiftly in a newfound role, or starting a new venture. Each trajectory is unique and involves change, and at the heart of every transformation is learning.

Personal growth

Put simply, personal development is all about enhancing oneself to meet diverse life goals—from relationships to better work performance to greater fulfillment. This kind of development, however, isn’t detached from professional growth. As we pursue our career milestones, we may often unearth strengths and improve weaknesses that can impact other areas of our lives. For instance, perfecting your communication skills at your workplace can translate into more meaningful relationships outside the boardroom. And if we flip the script, growing personally can fast-track our professional success. Whether it's the resilience cultivated during personal challenges or empathy nurtured in close relationships, these attributes can become game-changers in our careers.

4 ways online learning supports growth

Now, what you’ve been waiting for: the success stories of four of our learners. Let’s see what professional and personal growth look like when online learning intervenes.

1. Landing your dream job

Kylia C. is a data specialist who recently joined her dream company—a top advisory tax and assurance firm with a strong international presence. She attributed this milestone to honing her Excel skills with our courses!

Developing new Excel Skills was something I had been working on for the past couple of years. I was finally able to succeed with GoSkills.

What Kylia cherished most about this journey was that, through online learning, she could progress at her own pace, free from any hurry. That echoes what we mentioned about professional development: it meanders through various routes and speeds. 

With GoSkills’ bite-sized and gamified approach, adapting to these unique journeys becomes a simpler and more enjoyable experience.

2. Succeding quickly in a new role

Edgar Carias is a team leader at a company that provides outsourced business services and virtual assistance to small and medium-sized organizations worldwide.

He came across GoSkills through his work. As part of a job role transition, he decided to learn new skills while further honing existing ones.

I started taking the Excel courses and absolutely enjoyed going through the advanced lessons.

Then, Edgar spotted all our Lean Six Sigma courses, sparking his curiosity. He shared, "I finally learned about the methodology [Lean Six Sigma] and how it heavily relies on statistical methods to pave the way for new and improved processes. As an engineer, I was delighted with these mathematical analyses. Also, I’ve been enjoying the accompanying courses, like Statistical Process Control."

Learning with GoSkills broadened Edgar’s horizons and taught him that he could learn whenever he needed, no matter where he was.

3. Multi-tasking effectively

Brandy Lawson runs a women’s ministry, and her mission is to support women who struggle with infertility and child loss. She also volunteers at two different organizations every week, and works full-time.

On top of her work responsibilities, she has the biggest yet most rewarding task: being a proud mom. 

You might ask yourself: how does she manage to do so many things and still set aside time for online education? Brandy told us that GoSkills changed her learning experience:

Working toward my Lean Six Sigma certifications was one of the most exciting challenges. I’ve taken other courses before, but I loved that with GoSkills, I can go at my own pace and easily recap any part I struggled with. I also loved having plenty of study material to ensure I understood all the information.

By allowing her some flexibility and staying consistent with her learning journey, Brandy earned certifications not only in Lean Six Sigma, but also in Microsoft Word and Excel. According to her, “this opened a whole new world of possibilities.”

4. Turning adversity into opportunity

James Arwa is a self-employed developer who suffered a stroke a couple of years ago and has been recovering since. Because he had to stop working, he found himself with plenty of time to learn.

I am temporarily unable to work, so all I do is learn, learn, and learn. Getting to try GoSkills courses has been exhilarating for me!

James has completed over 40 of our courses in multiple categories, such as Microsoft Excel, Design, Soft Skills, Leadership & Management, Development, and Microsoft Office. He says, "Learning with GoSkills has made me more confident about my future and strengthened my ability to perceive different opportunities. It has broadened my horizons."

Despite being unable to work, James didn’t prevent himself from learning something new. Can we call this professional growth? The answer is a loud YES!

Wrapping up

We hope you were inspired by these diverse stories of personal and professional success, and the pivotal role online learning played in them. At GoSkills, we want to help you embrace transformative growth on your terms. Explore our courses and open the doors to life-changing experiences as Kylia, Edgar, Brandy, and James did.