Signum Magnum College

Hello!

Less than two weeks.

Best regards,
Mac Juli

 

Hello!

Completed the "Google Digital Marketing and E-commerce Professional Certificate" and will take a little break. The crying colleague, see one of the previous posts, made me rethink some of the choices I made in my life, and while this may sound quite dramatic and negative... it really is absolutely not.

More maybe at some point in the future.

Best regards,
Mac Juli

 

Hello!

Completed the "Mindshift" - course on coursera. Great course. Should be mandatory for all students, too...

Best regards,
Mac Juli

 

Hello!

Completed "Preparing to Manage Human Resources" (University of Minnesota). Don't feel too prepared, but passed.

Best regards,
Mac Juli

 

Hello!

I thought I was only required to do the course above. Nuh-huh. I needed to do the whole specialisation. A decent introduction to HR management. I passed (hooray). It was quite good but a little boring because, well, I needed to do something similar before.

Best regards,
Mac Juli

 

It's been great following your SMC studies thus far, @Mac Juli!

As you move closer and closer to completion, what are your plans next? Will you stick with using this for personal knowledge development? Will you try to transfer the credits elsewhere or try to get some kind of 'Credit for Prior Learning'? Will you do some kind of top-up to get an accredited business degree thereafter?

 

Hello!

We will see. Maybe I will do something completely different after that. Math, Engineering or something like that.

Best regards,
Mac Juli

 

Hello!

But first, there are courses I need to pass in the Transknowlogy MBA. I did the "Strategic Management and Innovation" course from Copenhagen Business School and passed. It was, well, a course about Strategic Management. And Innovation. From Copenhagen Business School. And, well, I passed. Decent course with many peer reviews about strategy formulation, strategy implementation and a capstone project in which you needed to elaborate on a real life business case.

Would have much more interesting if I would not have already done a half-dozen strategic management courses. - The Level 7 Award in Strategic Management and Leadership Award (UK, I did it in 2013) was better and harder. But well, as said, the course I just passed was a decent one.

Onwards to ... anything but this blasted "Managerial Economics and Business Analysis Specialization" from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign I dodge since Summer 2024.

Best regards,
Mac Juli

 

Hello!

Forgot to mention I did a chatGPT course on coursera! It was the "Prompt Engineering" specialisation of Vanderbilt University. While two of the three courses were not telling me something I did not know, the chatGPT Advanced Data Analysis course was a hidden gem. GREAT! Recommended to anyone in any role.

Best regards,
Mac Juli

 

Hello!

I am certified C-Trainer in Germany (course was cheap on groupon), so I found the "Intro to Personal Training" (American Council of Exercise) a very good refresher! Oh, did I mention I dodge the "Managerial Economics and Business Analysis Specialization" at all costs?

Best regards,
Mac Juli

 

Tell us a bit more about this C-Trainer certification. What does it certify you to do? Is the training still available? How much does it cost?

 

Hey, why not!

I did it at the HSFA (online). They are still active, but apparently, they do not offer the C-Trainer certification any more. Typically, this is a low tier certification that you know the basics of training science and anatomy. Typically, an aide of a trainer has this (typical roles: "Mac, I drafted a training plan, mind supervising the new guy accordingly?" - "Mac, take care of the warming up of the group, I need to attend a meeting. Will be back in 30 minutes"); the C-Trainer is typically mapped at DQR Level 2, so, it is an entry qualification.

I never used it for these purposes, but I think it is good for self training (boosted my performance on the sports ground) and good for high school biology, too (as my 16yo daughter confirmed - it boosted her grades in the 10th year dramatically).

Just checked it on groupon! These guys still offer the B- and A-Trainer course here: https://www.groupon.de/deals/hamburger-sport-und-fitness-akademie-3. I think the 2.6 stars are drastically underrated; they are much better than this.

 

Hello!

Went on a nice learning spree and did the following specialisations:

Psychology in Everyday Life (American Psychological Association)
Real-World Engineering Management (Advancing Women in Tech)
Remote Leadership for Managers Specialization (UCI)
Management Consulting Specialisation (Emory University)
Business Problem Solving (Howard University)
Certified Business Analysis Professional™ (CBAP®) Specialization (Starweaver)

The last one is IIBA-endorsed and you get 35 PDUs for it. Good one if you have ambitions to do that! - Feel free to ask questions!

Best regards,
Mac Juli

 

Hello!

More spree:

The Science of Change (Kotter, the guy with the pengiuns)
Programa especializado en circuitos eléctricos con SPICE (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)

Best regards,
Mac Juli

 

Neat! I got my PMP in late 2023. Have you found your CBAP useful?

 

Useful for getting some Business Analyst skills. Beyond that, I had no intentions or ambitions to do a CBAP exam or to get certified.
Hey, I am purchasing manager for electronic components - I do that only as a nice add on!

 

Last opportunity to spree until May 31st! I did the following yet, if someone is interested in details, feel free to ask:

Strategic Sales Management Specialisation (Fundação Instituto de Administração)
The Art of Doing Electronics for Everyone (<packt>)
Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) Specialization (<packt>)

Best regards,
Mac Juli

 

Hello!

Ending the coursera stage of the Transknowlogy MBA - not without a certain irony - with "Finding Purpose and Meaning In Life: Living for What Matters Most (University of Michigan)". It was a good and recommendable course and a good (provisional) end to a thrilling journey. I did not make every Transknowlogy MBA core course, but almost and did a lot of interesting (and, seldom: less interesting) additional courses during the last months and I am thankful for the opportunity.

More later.

Best regards,
Mac Juli (who dodged the course who must not be named, see above, "successfully")

 

Hello!

In the meantime, I was given the opportunity to complete the MBA by submitting a "short Business Case Study or Capstone" — between 2,500 and 3,750 words — on a topic of my choice. So, my next steps were:

• Dusting off my old MBA attempt from 2021
  
  
• Wondering how I ever got that one approved
  
  
• Rewriting the entire proposal from scratch

The topic is fraud detection using Benford’s Law!

• Got the proposal approved
  
  
• Hooray!
  
  
• Now working on it

Whew. Compared to the ENEB MC MBA, this is much more intense… More later!

Best regards,
Mac Juli

 

Good luck!