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Meet a Keypather: Nicole Bernadowitsch

Keypath Education US — Mon, 18 Apr 2022 17:21:19 +0000

Meet a Keypather: Nicole Bernadowitsch Keypath Education US Mon, 04/18/2022 - 11:21

What is your role at Keypath, and what does a day in your life at Keypath look like?

I’m a Team Lead with the Student Success Department, and I have been at Keypath for three years. The number one priority on the Student Success team is to make sure that our students are supported. Student Success Advisors support students throughout their program, from the first day of class all the way through to graduation. We reach out to students regularly to see if there’s anything we can support them with or any resources we can share.

My role changes from day to day. I help to drive metrics, encourage culture, and set team goals. Some days I’ll plan social events for our team. On other days I’ll listen to my team’s calls and fill out evaluations. I do train with my team in Canada and the Student Success teams in the US and UK, so I get to meet all the new people and train them, which is something that I really enjoy.

What is the most important skill for someone in the Student Success team?

I don’t know if this is a skill, but the most important attribute of a person is kindness. We never want our students to feel like they’re just a number, so it is so important to be kind and understanding. Students often come to us because they’re going through a hard time – they’ve just had a crisis, or they’re struggling with their class, or they got a bad mark and they’re upset, or they can’t pay their tuition. And I think we have to take that moment to hear them and to be understanding. For some of our students, this might be the only bit of support they get during the day, because I know a lot of them have very strenuous jobs.

It’s really important to be kind within our own team as well. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, I talked to my teammates more than I talked to pretty much anybody else, and it was so nice to not feel isolated and to have so many kind people around me. We could all use more kindness in the world.

Out of Keypath’s four core values (be inventive, be collaborative, be a lifelong learner, be committed), which resonates with you most and why?

I have always strongly identified with being a lifelong learner. I am very much a self-professed nerd. I’ve always loved school. I finished my Masters Degree when I was 22 but I didn’t know what I wanted to do for work because I was reluctant to commit to a job that was stagnant where I felt like I couldn’t grow. What I love about Keypath is that there is always a new challenge.

Since joining Keypath I’ve gotten new roles, I’ve learnt new things, and I’ve taken on so many projects. Some projects I’ve asked for, some I’ve created myself, and some projects other people have created for me. I’ve grown so much in the last three years because I have been gently led outside my comfort zone, which encouraged me to learn a bunch of new skills. Math is not a strength of mine, but I’m learning forecasting, and everyone’s been very supportive and given me great advice. Thanks to their support I’m really getting the hang of it.

I’ve made huge strides in the last year. I’ve been learning about business and discovering that I’m actually interested in this side of things. I really appreciate that I’ve been given so many opportunities because I can look back on all the skills that I’ve developed and all the new interests that I have discovered.

How has Keypath aided your professional development or growth as a person?

Keypath was my first job out of school. I finished my Masters in August of 2018 and I started here in October, which was the most amazing thing. My first role was as a Student Success Advisor. I was very nervous because this was my first foray into the professional world, but by talking to students every day I was able to step out of my shell and become confident in my role.

A year later, I became a Senior Student Success Advisor. This was a really great opportunity because I got to know the global team better: I got to interact with people in the UK and the US, and I also got to meet so many more advisors, some of whom became my mentors and helped me to grow. They shared advice and perspectives that I had never considered, which really helped me to find my own voice. After about a year of being a Senior SSA, I became a Team Lead, and that’s what I do now.

I’ve been in my current role for a year at this point and I am really enjoying it. I love that each role has its own challenges and has taught me a new skill set. The Senior SSA role let me be creative in coming up with team initiatives, and the Team Lead role has encouraged my organizational skills and allowed me to learn more about the business side of the company. It’s been a really exciting adventure, and it’s helped me to grow in a way that I never thought I would. I’ve been discovering sides of myself that I didn’t know I had and interests that I didn’t know I wanted to pursue.

I have become a lot more confident with each role over the years and more willing to try new things because there are so many people here to catch you if you fall. Even if you do make a mistake, no one is going to hold it against you. Keypath is a very safe and supportive space for growth and development.

How does your role help our students succeed?

I work with a lot of students who have familial obligations, and a lot of students who have started their careers but want to make a change. These students are balancing work and family with school, so we’re their cheerleaders. I would say it’s one of the most important things we do. Our Undergraduate Students are often looking at between five and eight years to complete their undergraduate program. Even for Graduate Students, a Masters degree will typically take over two years to complete. It’s easy for students to become disheartened after one or two classes and feel like they’re still going to be studying for a long time.

I hear this all the time from Undergraduate Students: “I’ve been here two years. I don’t feel like I’m making any progress. I’m not even at my halfway point. What do I do?” And we are here to encourage them, cheer them on, remind them of the goal, and put things into perspective. They might not be getting much support otherwise, so it’s really important for students to know that there is someone in their corner. We can also provide resources that the student might not know about to help them to be successful.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Keypath?

Definitely the people. The people here have been so amazing. I’ve had so many mentors, even from different departments and different roles, who have taught me so much. And my team members have become friends. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I still got to talk to my team every day, and I’ve seen people have babies and get married. It’s been such a nice, comfortable space to get to know people, and I think it really is the people that make Keypath so great. I love being surrounded by people who really care about me as a person and want to foster my growth. I know they’re invested in me, and I think that’s rare to find. It makes me feel very lucky and grateful.

What would you tell someone who is considering a role at Keypath?

You should apply! We have a Social Committee that plans fun events for us, and we have a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee that’s committed to making everybody feel safe and welcome. I’m on both committees, and I’ve really enjoyed getting involved in this way. I’m also part of the Global Collaboration Club, and my last global partner was in Australia. The opportunity to be on these committees, and the fact that these committees exist, speaks to how much Keypath cares about us as people.

We also have a lot of fun at Keypath. We play games, we had a foosball tournament, we have costume contests, we went trick-or-treating around at people’s desks one year, we had a lip sync battle, we had a giant Jenga tournament against our CEO (which we lost), just to name a few of my favourite memories. For your mental health, I think it’s important to work at a company where having fun is encouraged and people want to be there. I am very lucky to have found a place at Keypath.

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Meet a Keypather: Chelsea Niehaus

Keypath Education US — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 14:19:52 +0000

Meet a Keypather: Chelsea Niehaus Keypath Education US Fri, 12/17/2021 - 07:19

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How long have you been at Keypath, and what is your role?

I’ve been working at Keypath for close to four years, and I am a Student Success Advisor

What does a typical day look like for someone in your role?

I work with students after they’ve started their first week of classes. I’ll reach out to them throughout the program, check in on them, and make sure classes are going well. My role is to get them engaged and keep them motivated in their classes.

We see ourselves as both a guidance counselor, if they need to talk or vent, and a middleman or advocate. We’re there to point them in the right direction. If they need to get in touch with placement services, we’re going to put them in touch. If they need financial aid, we’ll try and get them those resources. If they’re having problems connecting with professors, we’ll help them. And we give them general time management and study resources, too.

We try to provide anything that is going to help them succeed in their program. All of us are passionate about seeing these students graduate: we know that they’re living busy lives – they’re working, and they have families – and so we want to try and help them to be as successful as possible!

What is your background?

I have a master’s degree in communication, and I was teaching while I was doing my master’s. That helps a lot because I can put myself in the shoes of the professor and the student. I also worked in sales for a while, so I have customer service experience and I know how to really listen to the student and provide the best solution for them.

I’ve only been on the Student Success Team for about four months. Before that, I was an Enrollment Advisor for three years, and I decided to make the switch to Student Success because I enjoyed those tough conversations with students and helping them stay in the program. When those conversations come up – when they say I don’t know if I can do it and I’m thinking about dropping out – I like helping them talk through it and building their self-esteem back up.

With my colleagues, it’s mainly higher education experience. I think that’s the best thing about Student Success: we all have experience of working in higher education and being a student. That really helps all of us to come together and provide the best service for the student.

How would you describe the culture of your team?

The culture of my team, honestly, is fun! It’s really supportive. We have a team of six now, so it’s grown a little bit. The job is fast-paced, and what’s nice is that we are always keeping each other motivated. It’s not your traditional workplace: the culture is huge at Keypath.

I think people stay for the people. When you’re on this team and you’re having a tough day, you can say I need a quick pick-me-up or can someone talk for a minute. Everyone comes together to lift each other up. The culture is let’s do this together – you’re not working on your own.

What is the most important skill someone in your job needs?

The ability to understand the student is huge. We work with students who have no experience with online education and students that have only taken online classes, opposed to an entire degree program. It is our job to meet the student where they are at and provide the best solution. We are constantly adapting to our student’s communication styles to ensure they are successful in the program and graduate! We must understand who the student is, and what their needs are, to best provide for them.

How has Keypath aided your professional development or growth as a person?

You can come into Keypath in one role and there are so many opportunities. I came in thinking that I was only qualified for one role, and then I started exploring and talking to other people. If you say you’re interested in another role, your managers are going to open those doors and connect you with people. This is such a collaborative environment. If you’re curious, they want you to learn and they want you to ask questions.

That’s what is so wonderful about growth at Keypath. They get to know you on a personal basis, and they learn about your long-term goals, whether at Keypath or elsewhere, and they want to help you be the best person you can be through your professional growth. I admire that because they’ve really helped me with my confidence at work, and outside of work, by trusting me with so much.

How does your role help our students succeed?

We are their biggest cheerleaders. It’s nice when students have someone they can call or email or text and say: “I did really well, and I know you’re going to be proud of me!” And it’s so important that they have someone they can share the highs and the lows with. We have students that call us when they’ve had stressful days, are crying, and lost motivation to study but it is our role to remind students why they started their program and why the work they’ll be doing once they graduate is so important. Students do not always receive that encouragement from others in their personal lives.

What’s your favorite thing about working at Keypath?

There’s so much. I’ve had so many opportunities. It’s a tie between the people and the opportunity to get involved and really make a difference. I’m part of the Diversity and Inclusion Club, a community leader of the Global Collaboration Club and a member of the Social team at Keypath. This involvement gives me so much meaning in my role and I feel like I’m really making a difference, not only in Keypath but also by sharing what I’m learning from my co-workers with my friends and family. I love being a part of those clubs. I’m growing as a person and I’m helping Keypath grow, too.

What would you tell someone who is considering a role at Keypath?

Keypath is fun, challenging, and rewarding. We are so motivated because Keypath rewards us, whether that’s by offering a flexible schedule, mental health days, or time off at Christmas. The flexibility keeps us all motivated and decreases work stress. Also, our managers are very approachable. If something comes up at the last minute, they are so understanding and they’re always thinking of new initiatives to keep us engaged in our work. They’re always telling us to go take a walk or drink some water. I think that’s so important to share. We celebrate everybody at Keypath.

If you're interested in learning more about Life at Keypath and want to join our team, check out our open roles here.

Meet a Keypather: Jessica Chan

courtney.mobilia — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 23:01:19 +0000

Meet a Keypather: Jessica Chan courtney.mobilia Wed, 12/08/2021 - 16:01

What is your role at Keypath, and what does a day in your life here at work look like?

I am the Admissions Manager for Sunway University, our first partnership in Asia - which is exciting in itself! My primary role focuses on student recruitment. The student is our utmost priority, as their success is our success.

My team ensures we’re always giving the best advice to enquiring students, ensuring the programme allows them to gain the mandatory skillsets and knowledge required to excel in their chosen industry.

Constant communication with our university partner is essential to ensure that student eligibility is checked in time and returned within the stipulated time frame.

You're one of our first employees in Asia. How did you find out about Keypath, how was the onboarding process, and what are you most excited about for Keypath in Asia?

Keypath was relatively new to me and I first heard about it when I was searching online for careers. Once I visited the Keypath website, I was able to get a better understanding of the great things that Keypath stands for.

I loved the idea of joining a team where the goal is to ensure great engagement in a student's learning journey.

The onboarding was extremely well organised. Besides knowing the system and processes, it included the opportunity to meet the leaders from various functions, which helped further build my understanding of the company's structure and each leader and team's role in making the company succeed.

What is the most crucial skill someone in your job needs?

I would say that excellent listening skills are imperative. This ultimately allows us to understand the needs of the students while simultaneously providing the proper guidance in achieving their future goals. We see education as more than receiving a certificate, it is about preparing our students to gain the knowledge and skills to become set up for success in their careers and life.

How does your role help our students succeed?

The Admissions team is the first point of contact from enquiry to enrolment. The role of our Student Enrolment Advisors varies; essentially, our overall objective is to provide our students with knowledge about our programmes and empower them to choose to study at a postgraduate level. We are the point of contact for application enquiries, questions about how to manage the work/life/study balance and which programme is most suitable in addressing their professional goals.

Out of Keypath's four core values, which resonates with you most and why?

I see the four core values as interrelated, actually. As a leader, we act differently in every situation. I sometimes need to be inventive, with creative ideas to bring the business to a new breakthrough. Collaboration within our business functions is crucial as our people are the key drivers in Keypath. People make the difference and make every plan become a reality.

Continuous learning helps me grow both personally and professionally, enabling me to perform my job more effectively and be committed to the work that gives me the sense of satisfaction to ensure that I contribute to achieving the company goals and objectives.

How has Keypath aided your professional development or growth as a person?

Being in a fast-paced working environment, learning and performing simultaneously requires me to challenge myself in absorbing as much information as possible.

The journey with Keypath has presented me with insights on the importance of learning while managing a diverse team from across borders.

I have come to appreciate the importance of staying ahead and upskilling to increase my relevance and to remain competitive. While soft skills are essential in people management, technical skills are equally crucial to adopting new technology.

Even though having a team from diverse backgrounds and cultures posed challenges, I have learned that these differences can be bridged effectively by building a common goal amongst the team.

The experience gained has built my skills and confidence in communication and team management from remote locations. Despite being with Keypath for only a few months, much has been attained, and I look forward to furthering self-improvement as this journey progresses.

As the saying goes, "Be a better version of yourself today than you were yesterday, aspire to be a better you tomorrow than you are today" – Amy Lee Reynolds.

What's your favourite thing about working at Keypath?

The people here are the critical component of this answer.

When beginning with Keypath, I found that my peers, managers, and directors are very supportive and always available to lend their helping hands. The culture always encourages collaboration and teamwork and, more importantly, provides a safe environment to learn and try new initiatives without the fear of being reprimanded if it becomes a lesson.

Malaysia is the first destination for Keypath in Asia, and I look forward to seeing the growth in partnership opportunities to come. I can't wait to see the student's we can help excel in their current or future roles through online education!

If you're interested in joining our team, you can review our open roles here.

We recently sat down with Jessica Chan, our newest Admissions Manager in Malaysia, to learn more about her experience as the first Keypather on the ground in Asia.

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Meet a Keypather: Ligia Popescu

Keypath Education US — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 17:40:48 +0000

Meet a Keypather: Ligia Popescu Keypath Education US Thu, 08/26/2021 - 11:40

What is your role at Keypath, and what does a day in your life at Keypath look like?

As Senior Marketing Manager, a typical day might include connecting with my channel managers to discuss how we are pacing toward our goals and determine ways to improve the performance and quality of our marketing efforts; meeting with designers, videographers, and copywriters to review creative elements for my next campaign; and listening to insights from admissions and retention advisors about ways to improve the customer experience and new student journey.

How would you describe the culture of the marketing operations team?

Within the marketing operations team, the culture is engaging because marketing leadership invests in us and inspires us to do our best work; nimble because we are always looking for ways to improve our processes, strategies, and approaches; and trusting because we have a strong team with strong working relationships, so there is a lot of trust there.

What is the most important skill someone in your job needs?

My role requires a mix of hard technical skills like project management and soft personal skills like creativity, strategic thinking, and relationship building. But I’d say the most important skill to have is the ability to flex your brain and go from big picture thinking when developing a strategy to paying very close attention to detail during execution.

Out of Keypath’s four core values, which resonates with you most and why? (be inventive, collaborate, lifelong learner, committed)

As a hands-on person who loves to learn and influence others, it is hard for me to choose between lifelong learner and collaboration, I’m lucky that Keypath has provided multiple opportunities for me to learn by collaborating with cross-functional teams. One example is the Referral Tiger Team where I worked with the enrollment and student success teams to determine the best time to ask a student for a referral and then worked with the IT and Email Automation teams to deliver automated referral request emails to them in a more strategic way. Learning opportunities like this are engaging because it allows me to better understand how the work I do directly impacts the lives of our students as well as the future of the company.

How has Keypath aided your professional development or growth as a person?

The culture at Keypath is nurturing because the company truly invests in the growth and development of employees. Keypath leadership recognized my potential as a leader and invested in my growth and leadership development by accepting me into the Keypath Future Leaders program, where I spent six months strengthening my leadership skills and learning what it means to be a leader at Keypath versus any other company.

How does your role help our students succeed?

As a marketing professional who has worked in higher education for over 15 years, I’m always thinking about how to better serve our students and reduce the barriers of potential students. I help our students succeed by helping them choose the right university and program right at the start of their educational journey.

What’s your favorite thing about working at Keypath?

I can’t choose just one! What I love about Keypath is the people, the culture, and the students we serve. The people are welcoming even across departments and continents, the culture is rewarding and collaborative with plenty of opportunities to learn and grow; knowing that I’m helping to educate the future nurses and leaders our world needs is extremely satisfying to me personally.

If you're interested in joining our team, you can review our open roles here.

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Meet a Keypather: Avinash Nair

Keypath Education US — Wed, 16 Jun 2021 16:15:37 +0000

Meet a Keypather: Avinash Nair Keypath Education US Wed, 06/16/2021 - 10:15

What is your role at Keypath, and what does a day in the life of you here at work look like?

I’m a Senior Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialist and am responsible for managing all organic efforts for our university partners.

A look into a typical day of work for an SEO specialist includes:

monitoring the organic keyword rankings,
checking our partner Google Analytics accounts to analyze the sites’ performance,
assisting Content Managers by performing keyword research for partner blogs,
ensuring all the on-page metrics are optimized, and
monitoring the existing A/B tests and setting up new tests to constantly improve the student experience

Once a month, I set aside some time to build links for the partners I am responsible for. My role also includes preparing and sending monthly reports to management highlighting any wins, challenges, and a brief overview of the Organic performance of our partner websites.

I also sit in a weekly Organic Team Cross-Trainings meeting, where all the SEO Specialists meet to discuss any big or small wins and challenges. This meeting also includes training sessions that help to diversify the team’s knowledge on various SEO tools and processes.

What is the most important skill someone in your job needs?

A variety of technical and non-technical skills are required to succeed as an SEO Specialist, but if I had to choose just one, it would be analytical skills. Data analysis is a key part of SEO and being able to analyze the data from tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, AHREFs, or SEMrush is essential for our SEO campaigns to succeed. As an SEO Specialist, we need to have the ability to analyze the key performance indicators of our business (fluctuations in keyword rankings, lead volume, or organic traffic) and determine the strategies to succeed.

How would you describe the Organic team’s culture?

Collaborative is the first word that comes to my mind when I think of my team’s culture. Every team member has their own set of skills and we are always there to help each other when needed. We conduct different knowledge-sharing sessions such as our weekly Organic Team Cross-Trainings meeting I mentioned above, monthly A/B testing meeting, and Periodic Partner Appraisal sessions. During these sessions, we analyze peers’ sites and suggest actionable ideas for improvement which highlight our extremely collaborative and supportive work culture.

Out of Keypath’s four core values, which resonates with you most and why? (be inventive, collaborate, lifelong learner, committed)

Out of Keypath’s company values, I would say I resonate the most with being a lifelong learner. SEO is an ever-evolving industry, and it is extremely important to stay up to date with all the latest news and strategies to succeed. A tactic that might have worked in the past is not guaranteed to work in the future. I believe learning should never stop as any knowledge acquired is only going to help us grow as individuals and make an impact on the growth of our company. I am glad that Keypath understands the potential of its employees and encourages lifelong learning in any way possible.

If you're interested in joining our SEO team, you can review our open roles here.

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