Benedicta, 27, is a personal banker and sales team manager from Ghana. Here she shares how she raised money to fund her studies at university, why she’s proud of graduating and progressing at work and how FutureLearn helped her to stand out and continues to improve her skills and personal development.
“I work on contracts as a Personal Banker and Sales Team manager in a bank. In my spare time, I love to travel and read books. I love the beach and I am madly in love with paintings. I also write poems once in a while when I am inspired. Mostly, I want to improve myself and be better than I was each new day.
One of the most defining moments in my life is graduating from university. What really stands out about it is that none of my siblings had been to the university so I am the first. One major difficulty was funding my education through university, especially in my final year. I studied hard so that I could teach my friends who were in evening school, I got some money from them as payment since they did not have time to study full-time and due to them combining work with school, they had challenges concentrating in class. I also became a sales agent for a recognised brand, PZ Cussons, to sell and distribute their products to shops and students on campus. This fetched me some more money so that I could pay my registration fees. In the midst of this difficulty, I was able to graduate with a First Class Honors. It has been quite a journey but I have enjoyed it all along.
As for FutureLearn, a friend introduced me. At first, I thought it was too good to be true, to have the chance to study a range of courses online for free. This was way back in the year 2014, but when I logged on, I realised that it was not a joke.
FutureLearn has made me stand out among my work peers, the majority of whom are not really concerned with studying online or reading about anything that will add value to their current work.
I am very proud of working hard enough to be promoted to a team manager in my organisation. The portfolio I have managed so far, the targets I have achieved and the contacts I have been able to make.
My motivations for taking courses on FutureLearn are to improve my career prospects, learn new skills and also for my personal development. I now want to further my education. An MBA is my next step and I would love to do it as soon as I can afford to pay for my education.”
Inspired by Benedicta’s story?
Take a look at the courses that helped her:
How to Succeed at: Interviews
Numeracy Skills for Employability and the Workplace
“Being out of work for so long can be very frustrating and disheartening. The FutureLearn courses were very impressive, well put together and from reputable universities with up to date tips and latest trends. I attended 3 interviews after completing the courses and they went a lot better than the previous ones”.
Rachel is a Business Development Administrator from St Austell, Cornwall. In her spare time she also works on a voluntary basis for two learning institutions, one of which educates criminals, and is Editor of her parish magazine. She discovered FutureLearn through members of a book club she attends.
“Several of the women regularly spoke about amazing courses they were studying and spoke very highly of the FutureLearn site. I checked it out and signed up immediately. I find studying so satisfying and rewarding. Learning is fun and I was impressed with the variety of courses available”.
Rachel initially joined FutureLearn for fun and to feed her passion for learning but was made redundant in September 2015 and found it very difficult to find a job.
“I have a very high IQ but a car accident affected my ability to retain certain information and perhaps knocked my confidence in job interviews”.
Rachel completed 9 courses before signing up to How to Succeed at Writing Applications and How to Succeed at Interviews by The University of Sheffield. She also purchased a certificate for Logical and Critical Thinking, “I thought it might help in a job environment”.
“Being out of work for so long can be very frustrating and disheartening. I attended 26 interviews with no success and could not understand why. I found the Job Centre’s application and interview advice dated and it did not seem to help me. The FutureLearn courses were very impressive, well put together and from reputable universities with up to date tips and latest trends. I attended 3 interviews after completing the courses and they went a lot better than the previous ones”.
Rachel found that FutureLearn allowed her to learn and study in a way that suited her, “my favourite thing about the FutureLearn platform is that I could go at my own pace and do it at home, for free, with good advice from tutors”.
