Achieving work-life balance as a working professional can be challenging. Adding professional development opportunities on top of your full-time job and personal life can be even more daunting.
Luckily, online learning enables you to fit education into your existing schedule without sacrificing quality.
Here’s a primer on online learning, four ways it benefits working adults, common concerns about it, and how to select the best online course for you.
What Is Online Learning?
Online learning is the delivery of educational content through digital channels. Beyond replacing in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s gained significant traction as a way to build knowledge and skills with added flexibility.
Depending on the course you enroll in, your experience can vary based on:
- Class size
- Cost
- Length
- Instructor credibility
- Opportunities for peer interaction
- How engaging and actionable the content is
For example, Harvard Business School Online offers a portfolio of certificate courses in six subject areas taught by HBS faculty. With added social interaction and real-world business examples, they’re designed to deliver an edge-of-your-seat learning experience.
Online learning can be particularly attractive if you’re a working adult aiming to level up your business skills on a busy schedule. Here are four benefits you can gain by taking an online course.
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DOWNLOAD NOW4 Benefits of Online Learning for Professionals
1. Promotes Work-Life Balance
Balancing work, home responsibilities, professional development, social activities, and rest is difficult but critical. A demanding job coupled with caretaking responsibilities and appointments can make it nearly impossible to fit in classes with set schedules.
Many online courses, such as those HBS Online offers, are self-paced with deadlines, enabling you to fit learning into your schedule however best. That could mean completing lessons in the morning before work or finishing assignments after your children have gone to bed.
For Mike Gleichman, director of product management at Aetna, it meant fitting Financial Accounting and Organizational Leadership coursework in with his job, two young kids, and passion for playing the drums.
“I’d taken some online courses for product management, but the HBS Online courses were very different—far more engaging,” Gleichman says. “You’re not just watching videos. It was great to have a week to finish the work so I could fit it in without taking time off.”
Where in-person learning requires you to be in a physical place at a set time, online learning allows you to customize your education to your shifting schedule—allowing for greater work-life balance.
2. Bolsters Your Skill Set and Resume for New Roles and Promotions
Online education’s flexibility doesn’t come at the cost of its quality. Taking a course can help prepare you to advance your career—within your organization or elsewhere.
If you aspire to become a manager or an organizational leader, a course in leadership or management can provide skills that enable you to:
- Develop your personal leadership style
- Manage the conditions that drive team performance
- Make strategic decisions
- Influence processes and culture to bring out the best in your employees
Abby Katz, a senior marketing manager at Mavrck, took Leadership Principles to prepare for leading a team for the first time.
"I found the content of the course to be extremely informative and applicable to the real challenges of being a leader,” Katz says. “I loved the frameworks and the case study model of the course, and I thought the course was very manageable on top of a full-time job."
An online course can also hone or complement your skills in strategy, finance and accounting, and business in society. Whether you want to level up within your industry or switch fields, you can gain skills while working full time.
3. Position You for a Salary or Bonus Increase
An online course can not only provide new skills and career opportunities but also increase your earning potential.
In a survey by City Square Associates, 42 percent of HBS Online learners said their course helped boost their salary, with an average raise of $17,000. Additionally, nearly 20 percent said their certificate helped increase their bonus by $14,000 on average.
Taking an online course on a topic you want to grow in can show your manager you’re committed to professional development and, after you’ve completed the course, that you have the skills to take on more responsibility.
4. Connects You to Other Driven Professionals
An often-overlooked benefit of taking an online course is that it can connect you to other professionals committed to lifelong learning.
While not all online courses offer the chance to engage with peers, many do. Make it a point to explore your course’s options for engaging before, during, and after its completion.
The HBS Online Community is a global network of professionals passionate about lifelong learning. It has 34 geography-based Chapters that enable members to connect in person and digitally.
Building connections with fellow online learners can provide support, motivation, and inspiration as you take your course. It can also give you a network of business professionals you can reach out to for advice on business problems, job opportunities, and friendship.
Related: Why an Online Learning Community Is Important to Your Success
Common Concerns About Online Learning for Working Adults
If you’re concerned about whether an online course is the right choice, consider the following actions you can take.
If you’re worried about the program’s time commitment…
Create a visualization of your weekly schedule, blocking off time for work and standing commitments. Where could you fit a course into your schedule? Without needing to travel or be in class at a specific time, you can incorporate it wherever best.
Once you’ve determined when you have time to study each week, compare that against the course—for instance, Business Strategy requires five to six hours per week for seven weeks. Does your availability match up with the course’s requirements? If so, block those times on your calendar for your education.
If the course doesn’t fit your schedule, consider one with shorter time requirements, rearrange other commitments, or plan to reassess at a later date.
If you’re worried about the program’s cost…
Explore whether your employer offers reimbursement for professional development. If so, present to your manager why the course would benefit you and your team.
Communicate how having those skills would be an asset to your organization. For instance, taking a management course can enable you to bring out your employees’ best work, resulting in greater efficiency and achieved goals.
If you’re worried about whether employers take online courses seriously…
Explore the course’s outcomes data and whether learners were able to obtain promotions, raises, or career changes after completing it. For instance, in a survey of HBS Online learners, 36 percent made a career change, and 31 percent got a promotion. One respondent wrote, “I received a lot of job offers via my network who were aware of my HBS Online courses. At the end, I had a salary increase of 30 percent.”
When listing an online course on your resume, note the skills you gained through it, and be prepared to elaborate on them. Employers may not know what applicable skills you’ve earned just by reading the course name.
If your course yields positive outcomes and you’re clear about the skills you acquire, you’ll find that employers can and do take online courses seriously.
If you’re worried whether the program will be worth it…
Research the course’s return on investment. For example, HBS Online courses provide an average ten-times return on investment.
Think of the opportunities your newly gained skills can present. If those opportunities align with your goals, the course could be worth your time.
How to Find the Best Online Program for You
The best online program for working adults is one that aligns with your professional goals and personal circumstances.
Take stock of your goals, availability, and what you value in an online course, then explore options to find the best fit for you.
Do you want to build the skills to become a stronger business professional? Explore our catalog of online business courses and download our free e-book to learn how business essentials can help advance your career.
