As documented by, Miguel Angel Jimenez Garcia.
I know there are countless success stories about professionals who started out in the mailroom and worked their way up to the executive suite, but these have become increasingly rare. Today, even the brightest, most driven professionals must acquire certain formal skills in order to meet their goals. I always believed I had great insights and ambitions larger than just my job description, but I often felt like my ideas fell on deaf ears.
I realized I needed to learn some new hard skills to leverage my innate abilities and drive in order to grow into my full potential. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time or flexibility to attend in-person classes while also working full-time and taking care of my children.
After a couple of unsatisfying roles, I was hired as a product owner in ThermoFisher Scientific’s Carlsbad, CA office. That’s where I was exposed to the agile process, which led me to Simplilearn’s Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP®) training program. After becoming certified, I felt I was much better equipped to communicate my ideas and work seamlessly with my colleagues.
Overall it was a really good experience. After taking my PMI certification course, and subsequent certification, I saw a lot of differences in my career.
One of the main differences was that my training and certification resulted in my ideas and input being taken seriously and led to positive impacts throughout my organization. This training helped me take my already sharp mind and determination to the next level.
The Challenge: Launching a Satisfying Career
I began my career working as a call center agent at a young age, pursuing my undergraduate degree in computer science. Empowered by my new degree and ready to take on more responsibility, I took a job as a business analyst with a telecommunications company. My position consisted of generating estimates based on analysis reports, but what I really wanted to do was create a product, enhance customer experience, and develop tangible solutions.
I’ve always been an innovator and an “ideas guy” at heart, but the rank and file reality of the job didn’t match my ambitions or abilities. The boundaries and limitations put in place at my place of employment left my ideas routinely ignored. Once I realized that the job wasn’t the right fit, I looked around for more suitable employment.
That’s when I landed at another telecommunications company but in a different role, managing teams and contributing to the development of the products. It was much closer to what I really wanted to do, but the organization was not particularly innovative, didn’t embrace new processes, and—as a result—failed to provide the space I needed to realize my true potential.
Finally, I was hired as a product owner with ThermoFisher, where the team had been adapting agile methods and other forward-thinking ideas. Here, I attended work-related meetups focused on agile technologies for the purpose of increasing team productivity and enhancing customer satisfaction. From these meetings, I decided I wanted to learn practical techniques for planning and estimating the cost of the project using agile methods. That’s when one of my friends suggested that I pursue a project management certification through Simplilearn.
The Simplilearn Solution: Turning Ambition Into Action with a Project Management Certification
As a working father, I wanted to advance my career and learn the tools that would help me find continued success with an employer, but I needed something that worked with my schedule. I checked out a wide range of online certification programs in my price range, but found the curriculum and format of Simplilearn’s Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP®) course to be the best fit for my needs.
With its unique combination of instructor-led lessons and self-paced videos, in addition to real-life case studies and simulation exams, I believed it would be the ideal solution. I was even able to pass the exam on my first try after completing the course materials. I made sure to spread the word about Simplilearn to my colleagues, encouraging them to continuously develop their skills to remain ahead of the curve.
I had such a positive experience with the program that I followed it up with Simplilearn’s Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification training program. The combination of these two certifications has amplified my professional versatility, raised my profile within my organization, and did wonders for my career in countless other ways. In short, adding the right skills to my toolkit enabled me to unleash my true potential.