As a corporate trainer, Brad Langebartels has long understood the importance of continuing education. In his job, he connects professionals with educational resources that can help them expand their career horizons and accomplish their goals. He describes himself as naturally curious, with a passion for teaching and learning. That passion is what motivated Langebartels to start researching graduate school opportunities.
“Before I started my graduate program, I’d wanted a master’s for a long time,” Langebartels said. “I stepped into my job in the corporate training world without a lot of formal training – so I was always curious about getting more of an educational background in corporate training. But I also wanted to expand my horizons a bit and get an extra skillset that I could use in my career.”
Langebartels started looking at graduate programs that were dual modality – meaning they covered corporate training and another discipline. He also wanted a program that was fully online so he could continue working while getting his degree. He eventually found Purdue’s online Master of Science in Corporate Training and Communication and realized the program fit all his needs.
“I’m actually a fifth generation Purdue graduate – a lot of people in my family went to Purdue, so it was the logical choice,” Langebartels said. “I also liked the communication focus – in my job communication is a crucial skill and something I use every day, so being able to add formal communication skills to my resume is ideal.”
Purdue wasn’t Langebartels’ first experience with studying online – he started another online master’s program ten years ago, but he couldn’t get into it. The material wasn’t engaging, the structure of the program wasn't clear, and Langebartels couldn’t justify the time investment. Now that he was older and farther along in his career, he hoped for a better experience.
“Online programs weren’t as high-quality a decade ago as they are now,” Langebartels said. “I could tell from Purdue’s website that they had put a lot of thought into this program, and it was well-developed.”
At Purdue, Langebartels found an online learning experience that was accessible, approachable, and useful to his career. All his online classes were structured similarly, so navigating the courses and completing assignments was simple. Once he completed one course, the rest came more easily. He also found the content to be highly relevant to his career.
“I would learn about something related to corporate communication in class during the evening, and then the very next day I would be using it in my job,” Langebartels said. “I took a class on communicating corporate values in various contexts, and I was able to use some of the strategies and solutions we discussed in my job.”
Over the course of his graduate program, Langebartels was working full-time. He even switched careers in the middle of his studies, transitioning from a role focused more on corporate training to a role focused more on instructional design. For Langebartels, the career switch signaled that the skills he was learning from Purdue were moving him in the right direction.
“When I started my program one of my long-term goals was to get into the instructional design field, so the fact that I was able to do that before the program ended was amazing,” Langebartels said. “I really enjoy creating training content and being an educator, and my classes made me feel confident in that role.”
Langebartels graduated from Purdue’s program in August 2023, and he’s already thinking about how he can utilize his degree in the future. After getting his master’s, he feels like he has the educational background he needs to step into leadership positions.
“I’d like to move into the executive level eventually,” Langebartels said. From his perspective, getting a master’s was an important step towards opening his career horizons and establishing himself in a growing industry.
To learn more about Purdue’s master’s in corporate training and communication, please visit the program’s webpage.