After leaving secondary school, Rachel went straight into employment without thinking about higher education until her employer suggested a degree could help her progress in her career. She’s now about to begin her last year studying Business Management fully online at RGU while juggling a full-time job!
She shares her experience in this blog, including how online learning has benefitted her.
Can you tell us more about you and your background?
My name is Rachel and I’m about to begin my Honour’s year to gain a degree in Business Management. In secondary school, I never had a “dream job” as such and was honestly a little unsure of what I wanted to do, so university never really occurred to me despite receiving good grades.
Covid 19 hit whilst I was still in secondary school and so once we were in lockdown, I never returned to education, instead choosing to begin working full time to make money whilst I decided what career route I wanted to go down. Since then, I’ve progressed through different roles within the same workplace which has led me to my current position as a Planner within supply chain.
Why did you choose the online Business Management course?
The decision to study Business Management transpired from a manager’s suggestion to study alongside working to support my career growth. They highlighted that my career trajectory would advance faster and be stronger with a degree as well as relevant experience.
RGU became the obvious option because they offer a Business Management course which is marketed towards people who are in full-time employment and wish to take the next step in progressing their career. Due to my work experience, I was able to begin the degree at second year level, which I was slightly apprehensive about considering I hadn’t been in education for a few years. Because the course was completely online, I was also worried that I wouldn’t be able to engage as much as with in-person learning. However, I’ve had a very good experience of online learning!
How have you benefitted from online learning?
The flexibility to engage with the learning materials at a time that’s convenient to me, the fact all live sessions are recorded if I can’t make them, and that all the lecturers have been brilliant on coming back to me with my many questions have all contributed to my positive experience throughout my first year of studying. It’s also a boost that most books and sources are available online within the RGU Library and the academic writing classes that the library holds online too have proved so helpful in increasing my confidence when writing my assignments.
Although it took me a while to find the balance, I’ve found working full-time and studying to be not as bad as I initially thought. It’s not easy juggling both but like I say, the learning materials are there for you to access when it suits you!
What have been the highlights of your course so far?
I’ve genuinely enjoyed all the modules so far, and I think that’s because this degree is so applicable to my industry. Getting to apply my learnings within my workplace and recognising links which were not apparent to me before has been a big incentive for me. Throughout the year, I’ve found my ability to perform in my job role strengthening.
It’s also been lovely to interact with the other students and see how they perceive the learnings from their workplace, as well as being able to connect with like-minded individuals who are in the same position where they possibly found the idea daunting and are now going into their Honour’s year too!
Anything else to add?
I’m highly driven to succeed in my career and I believe that the knowledge and experience I’ve gained and will continue to gain throughout my Honour’s year at RGU will give me a solid academic foundation to nourish further learning and enable me to purse future career aspirations. I’m even considering returning to pursue a master’s degree down the line!
I would genuinely say, if you are thinking about studying Business Management at RGU, to go for it! I’m so glad I did!
Rachel Shepherd
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Studying Business Management online after 25 years of work
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