Meet Christian

Christian Schrader is a Contact Center Team Lead at a large financial firm, working specifically within the startup business unit of Medicare Services. He manages a dynamic team of 18 customer service representatives dedicated to providing a positive experience for clients navigating their Medicare journey.

“I’m the person managing the entire client experience from start to finish,” Christian shared. “Our goal is to provide a positive experience to clients as they reach out to us regarding their Medicare needs.”

Motivated to become a stronger and more efficient leader

Christian’s role is challenging, but his career ambitions extend further. He wanted to understand project management better and hone his leadership skills. That’s when he found Pathstream.

“My company is fantastic. They offer education benefits that cover expenses for schooling and certifications,” Christian said. “So I took the Project Manager Certificate through Pathstream, which was fully online. It started in January and just finished up about last month. My organization is an Agile-focused company. So for me, it was extremely beneficial to take this program.”

Christian searched through his employer’s curated catalog of educational opportunities for project management courses. He chose the Project Management Certificate because it extensively covered Agile methods and was entirely funded through his education benefits.

The Experience with Pathstream’s Project Management Certificate

Christian’s experience with the Pathstream program was truly impactful. It gave him practical project management know-how and dived deep into the methodologies he needed to excel in his role. The hands-on labs, especially using Asana, were really helpful. Christian applied his new project management skills immediately on the job. 

“The labs were beneficial because they offered a hands-on experience within Asana. When we introduced JIRA and agile and more Kanban boards into my team, I was able to say, ‘I have experience with this already.’ My experience, thanks to the certificate, meant I could contribute from day one. This didn’t just increase my efficiency, but also enabled me to assist my colleagues and team as we onboarded new project management platforms.”

The support from career coaches further supplemented his learning. Christian highlighted the role of his coach, who offered timely guidance and motivation throughout the course.

“My career coach was beneficial. He would check in every two weeks, then once a month. He had tremendous insight and was fantastic in every way possible to encourage me to grow.” 

Applying new skills at work 

Equipped with his new skills, Christian could apply a more efficient approach to his role, especially when onboarding new members to his team. His training programs improved, the onboarding process sped up, and his team members transitioned into their new roles seamlessly. 

“I found building a new employee onboarding program difficult in my previous roles. After taking the Pathstream Project Management Certificate, it became simple. I learned how to plan a project, break things down, delegate better, and define roles. Rather than the training taking one month, we knocked it down to 4-5 days. This meant our new hires to perform their duties efficiently from the start.”

Looking Ahead

Since completing the certificate program, Christian feels better positioned for promotions and advancement at his company. He plans to use the skills he’s gained to continue growing with his employer. He also sees the value in sharing his learning journey and encourages his team members to pursue certifications with Guild and Pathstream.

“It’s crucial for employers to offer educational benefits. By investing in their employees’ learning, companies can astronomically increase retention rates because everyone aspires to grow professionally and learn continually.”

Christian’s journey with Pathstream helped him become a better leader and do his job more effectively. His success story shows how continuous learning and development can empower professionals to exceed their potential and reach new career heights.