Gies Business partners with Google to prepare adult learners for career success

To advance its mission of delivering life-changing access to business education, Gies College of Business is partnering with Google to prepare learners in the Google Career Certificate programs with critical business skills like leadership, teamwork, and strategic thinking. Starting today, learners can complete any of the Google Career Certificates, bundled with the Professional Success Skills Certificate from Gies, and receive a dual badge of completion from Google and Gies Business. The Gies components of this badge are asynchronous courses designed and delivered by top faculty at the College – the same faculty who teach in the school’s highly regarded undergraduate and graduate programs including the online MBA (iMBA), online master’s in management (iMSM), and online master’s in accounting (iMSA) programs. It is the first time Google has partnered with any business school to offer such a dual certificate.

“We’re excited to be partnering with Google to expand educational access to learners around the world. Gies College of Business and Google share a common mission to make a life-changing education flexible, affordable, and powerful," said Gies Associate Dean Brooke Elliott, who oversees the strategy of the College's online programs. "This partnership will enable learners to develop real, tangible knowledge and durable, transferable skills so they can achieve their personal and professional goals.”

Elliott and her team have been leading the College’s effort to design and develop discrete paths of micro credentials for lifelong learning, including this latest partnership with Google. Building on the success of its fully online business graduate programs – which now include more than 5,000 students – Gies has developed an ecosystem of credit and noncredit learning opportunities. These new offerings provide a flexible array of credentials ranging from online certificates and skill badges to graduate certificates and iDegrees.

“The way we work is being disrupted in every single industry,” said Elliott. “Today, there are new demands on continuous learning, and a constant need to upskill to ensure that you’re satisfied from a career perspective and that you have the skills necessary to be able to succeed in the jobs that are coming.”

The partnership aims to help job seekers navigate a shifting labor market by equipping them with in-demand skills that are transferable across a range of industries and built to help learners succeed regardless of their level of experience. The Professional Success Skills Certificate program from Gies helps learners develop the following skills: (1) ability to recognize ethical dimensions and dilemmas in organizational decision-making; (2) engage in more creative problem-solving; (3) succeed in a team environment; (4) communicate with other members of the organization; (5) appreciate and exhibit leadership.

“Google is proud to partner with the University of Illinois’ Gies College of Business,” said Lisa Gevelber, Founder, Grow with Google. “We’re thrilled that learners will be able to apply the in-demand skills learned through the Google Career Certificates toward their success in a variety of industries. Adding these invaluable leadership and business skills will ensure they have multiple pathways to a long lasting career.” 

Google Career Certificates are designed and taught by Google employees, and can be completed within three to six months. The Gies Professional Success Skills Certificate includes four noncredit courses for a total of 71 hours of self-paced coursework. No degree or experience required to enroll. Interested individuals can sign up at grow.google/certificates, and they can learn more about Gies Professional Success Skills here.