Alexa Jorgenson is a QC Design School Student Ambassador. She is currently enrolled in the Interior Decorating, Professional Organizing, Staging for Designers, and Virtual Design courses. Read Alexa’s Ambassador Feature here!
”The only way to do great work is to love what you do.
-Steve Jobs
I’d like to share my professional design story with you, in the hopes that it might inspire you to start your own journey! I found my way into professional design through another occupation first, which was real estate. Spending so much time inside the clients’ spaces made me discover that it was the interior of these beautiful homes that attracted me to the profession.
That’s when I realized that the part of real estate I loved best was actually the home design aspect! It was no surprise that this was where I most excelled, too. As Steve Jobs indicates, I did my best work in the area I loved most: design. With that, I decided to switch career paths and work to become an interior design associate.
A Look Into My Career Goals
Design is an exciting field to be in because there are so many attainable goals you can achieve. The beauty of design is that there’s never a “wrong” answer – it just depends on who you’re working with! Every professional has their own unique design style, just like every client has their own taste.
Currently, my career goals are to expand my knowledge in home design, cultivate my network, and build my client base. I feel lucky to have found QC Design School. Their training and wide variety of classes are helping me achieve these goals. Plus, having access to a helpful and connected online community is a major bonus!
Why I Chose to Train Online
As I discovered my passion for design, I knew that I wanted to get professional training. So, I started weighing my options. After researching many schools – both online and in-person – I discovered QC Design School. I quickly realized that this was the school I wanted to enroll with and I’ll admit, it was an easy choice!
QC Design School offers quality classes at an affordable price. Moreover, QC’s certification courses are completely online and self-paced. As soon as I discovered QC Design School, I was easily able to sign up for classes and start right away.
The best part is that everything can be done on my own time! I’m already a very busy person. On top of graduating from college and starting a full-time job as a design associate, there’s also been a global pandemic to think about.
Luckily, QC Design School’s learning environment is very convenient and flexible. I could pursue my training whenever my agenda allowed it. If you’re also someone with a busy schedule, take it from me: enrolling with QC will be the smartest decision you can make!
Enrolling with QC Design School
So far, I have enrolled in QC Design School’s Interior Decorating, Staging for Designers, Professional Organizing, and Virtual Design Training courses. Once I’ve finished all of these, there are still more QC classes that I would love to take!
Interior Decorating and Staging for Designers
When I first I enrolled, I chose the Interior Decorating and Staging for Designers programs. I started with these courses because I wanted more knowledge as a real estate agent. Now that I’m immersed in my training, I’ve found that the courses have definitely reiterated for me that home design is my true passion!
Fun fact: there was a special promotion being offered that month that allowed me to sign up for two classes for the price of just one. QC is ALWAYS offering awesome promotions like this!
Professional Organizing and Virtual Design
I’m enjoying my classes at QC Design School so much that I was actually gifted a third course – Professional Organizing – from my family this past Christmas. The Professional Organizing Course was on my Wishlist for so long! I’ve always found peace of mind when everything is conveniently placed away. I would love to be able to offer that same peace of mind to others.
In practically every industry, businesses value organization. My newfound knowledge from this particular course has already been noticed by my fellow designers and associates at work!
Finally, I enrolled in the Virtual Design Training mini course. Thanks to QC Design School’s monthly promotional offers, I was able to get this course for FREE when enrolling in my Professional Organizing program.
Virtual design training is essential for all designers, especially during a pandemic and lockdowns. Since completing this course, I have officially become certified in virtual home design!
My Experience with QC Design School So Far
As you can probably tell, I have greatly enjoyed my experience so far with QC Design School! The assignments and materials are applicable to real life, the real industry professional tutors give helpful feedback, and the online community is well-connected.
I’m currently halfway done my Interior Decorating Course and have already applied so much of what I’ve learned to my career as a design associate. As part of this course, I’ve learned about:
- The interior decorating process;
- Working with color;
- Various design styles;
- Design history;
- Working with textiles;
- Design materials;
- Selecting wall and window treatments;
- Lighting;
- Accessorizing;
- Space planning
- And furniture selection.
The units in this course started by delving deep into the foundations of design and decorating. This knowledge has guided me all the way through since then. It’s allowed me to thoroughly understand all of the subsequent lessons I’ve been learning throughout the program.
Additional Perks of My Training
The assignments included in QC Design School’s courses offer variety. Some are hands-on assignments; others, self-studies or quizzes. The material is provided in different formats, too. As part of your course, QC gives you lesson books to read and engaging videos to watch. A nice bonus is that you’ll also receive customizable templates that you can use in your real-life career!
The units are very easy to follow and provide students with practical knowledge that’s relevant in the real world. So far, my favorite assignment has been the Practice Goal Statement Assignment. I enjoyed selecting a room in my own home that I could then redesign. Writing out the project scope and desired outcome was also excellent practice for when I’m working with actual clients in the future.
Throughout this course, I have learned so many valuable lessons. I now know how to properly utilize color, design with textiles, and work with clients. My training has also allowed me to gain a better understanding of working with clients’ unique design styles.
The feedback I’ve been receiving from my tutor, Ivy Ellerby, has been extremely helpful, too. I am SO thankful for Ivy and all of her feedback! She’s been so nice and personable. Not only will she tell me where I’ve excelled in my assignments – she’ll also tell me where I need to improve.
As I am diving into my career as a design associate, I am excited to continue learning more about professional design in my QC Design School courses!
Why I Recommend QC Design School (In a Nutshell)
If you’re considering a career in design, I highly recommend enrolling with QC Design School! Whether you want to use design to start your own business, or simply learn something new, QC offers excellent certification courses… and the nicest virtual community.
Relating it all back to Steve Jobs’ quote: I love what I do. If you have a passion in this field, I hope you get started today with QC Design School and love what you do, too!
If you enjoyed reading this article, please leave a comment below! And as always, feel free to connect with me in the Virtual Classroom on Facebook!