skills that are very useful in my job - Roos van Borrendam

Roos van Borrendam
The Netherlands

"The interaction with other students in the forum helped to see the contents in different perspectives, especially since people from so many different countries were participating in the program."

While working as a CSR & Sustainability Specialist, Roos van Borrendam participated in the online Professional Certificate Program Leadership Essentials for Engineers. Read about her experience.

What was your motivation for enrolling in the program? What benefit will this bring to your day-to-day work, career and/or company?
I am an Industrial Ecologist working as a CSR & Sustainability specialist in a large sporting goods corporation. In this job I often need to coordinate complex projects which involve many internal departments as well as external stakeholders. The “Leadership for Engineers” program offered courses on effective decision making for complex problems, influencing stakeholders and communicating effectively, which all are skills that are very useful in my job.

How would you describe your online learning experience?
I think it is great that the online platform allowed me to continue learning while I was working, regardless of my location. Even though I was based in Japan at the time, I could simply join the course when it suited me and also use the app to go through the content whenever and wherever it was most convenient for me. This enabled me to finish the three courses of the program within the deadline without any problems.

What did you think of the online learning environment?
The online learning environment was very easy to navigate and provided ample information and documentation to understand the contents of each course. The courses also used many videos with transcriptions, which made it more fun to learn the content, especially the parts with role-plays to show different scenarios with stakeholders. This made the messages much clearer and it was easier to understand and remember than simply reading text. Also, the interaction with other students in the forum helped to see the contents in different perspectives, especially since people from so many different countries were participating in the program.

What is your advice to someone who would like to take a similar online course?
Don’t hesitate and just give it a try, it’s really worth your time and effort. When you sign up, it helps to schedule some time in your calendar to log in regularly and follow the course to keep the momentum and make it easier to follow the contents and remember the details.

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