3 Ways My Life Changed Because of Purdue Global

I was a multimedia producer, and I’d gotten about as far as I thought I could go in my company and in that role. Attending Purdue Global created an opportunity for me to transition from a career in multimedia into a career in instructional design. There’s some overlap between the two, but I really didn’t have the work experience or the academic background to be able to make the move.

I directly benefited from my Purdue Global degree in so many ways, but here are three ways my life is completely different as a result of earning that degree.

1. I got to explore a new interest in a moment of uncertainty.

I was a multimedia producer at my company when I started designing training and instruction, and I really liked those projects. Then the pandemic hit, we all went home, and we weren’t sure what the future was going to hold.

I saw an opportunity to make my resume more attractive, especially if I’d gone about as far as I could on my current career track. I thought if I want to try something else, maybe this is the opportunity to do it.

I was a little hesitant, though. I received my undergraduate degree back in the ’90s, before online learning. How would I navigate that? But Purdue Global has a great orientation program where they walk you through the learning management system. I left that training seminar feeling like I was ready.

2. My target company created a job for me.

For a while, I’d been talking with a training agency I wanted to work for, and my Purdue Global degree convinced them to hire me. They knew I was pursuing my master’s, so they ended up creating a position for me just so they could bring me on board because they knew what I was trying to do.

I graduated in November 2021, and by 2023, I’d taken a position as a lead multimedia designer. It’s with a group of people I enjoy working with, and it allows me to do some things I simply would not have been able to do in my other job.

It has afforded me more responsibilities and a different path. I can now moderate sessions at conferences. I can participate in print campaigns, not just on the video side of things. It’s given me an opportunity to lead several training workshops. I never would have been called upon to do that in my previous position.

But it not only expanded my role and responsibilities — it paid me a higher salary with better benefits. And I have windows in my office!

3. I am moving forward with an invaluable network and practical skill set.

The professors I met, the contacts I made with classmates — I’m still in touch with quite a few of them. We keep in contact with each other, sharing job opportunities, news and resources, or just notes on social media. The networking aspect of Purdue Global has paid huge dividends both for me and the people I’m connected to.

And I’ve graduated with a well-rounded approach to my work because it was important to the professors that when we left, there wouldn’t be anything we don’t know or can’t handle related to our field. They’re thorough. I never felt like anything I was learning was knowledge I was never going to use. It’s all practical.

In fact, I just finished a project that directly tied to principles I learned in my instructional design classes with Purdue Global. Without the skill set I gained in my classes, I don’t know if I would have had the perspective I needed to do my job.

Without Purdue Global, I would have been on the outside looking in. I use the principles I learned in my master’s program every day. I find myself reciting them and putting them into practice all the time in my job.

So if you’ve had that voice in your head that suggests you should go back to school — whether it’s to better yourself, enhance your resume, get a different job or get just a little closer to where you want to be in life, it’s a voice worth listening to. Purdue Global can help you get there.

Grow Your Career With Purdue Global

Purdue Global’s instructional design master’s program focuses on the design, development and evaluation of instructional materials and programs within different learning environments — including corporate, nonprofit, government and military education and training. Learn more about the online master’s degree in instructional design, and request information today.