Content Producer for LinkedIn
By Lauren Keller, English Intern
After graduation, Amy Holguin was not sure what she wanted to do with her life. She was sure, however, that her job at the time, running payroll for a restaurant in human resources, was not her passion and that she needed a change. After discovering the world of e-learning, Amy quickly started to excel at content production, and has been successfully producing online courses for the last four years. She credits studying English for providing her with the necessary skills to produce online content. Amy started pursuing a degree in English after transferring to California State University Channel Islands in 2011. She started out as a psychology major but eventually realized a different interest. After noticing that all her electives were English courses, Amy decided that becoming an English major was the right path for her.
Amy was raised in Thousand Oaks, California and was attracted to CSU Channel Islands for the location and the reasonable price. Her favorite course that she took was ENGL 337: Literature of the Environment with Dr. Brad Monsma. In this course, students read works from a variety of different writers so that they can gain a better understanding of the planet and its needs. Amy enjoyed this class the most because it combined two things she loves – nature and reading. She liked that the class introduced her to new works and authors that she would not have sought out on her own. She says that the class was mostly made up of students studying environmental science, and that it boosted her confidence to be able to share her perspectives on literature with non-English majors.
In 2014, Amy graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature. After leaving her job in human resources, she briefly worked at a company called DailyOM, where she was introduced to e-learning and content production. Currently, Amy is a content producer for LinkedIn, where she has been working full-time since July 2021. Specifically, Amy works for a division called LinkedIn Learning at their campus based in Carpinteria, California. LinkedIn Learning has three libraries of learning content, including business, creative, and technology. Amy works in the technology library, which produces educational content on programming, security, setting up cloud storage, and more. Most of her job centers around project management and instructional design in the production of different courses. Amy works with subject matter experts who write and present content to make sure that everything makes sense and that the content works for the intended audience. She describes herself as the “first learner”, saying that she gets “paid to learn.” Amy goes through scripts and revises slides to ensure that everything looks and sounds the way it should.
When asked about her favorite part of her job, Amy says that she loves getting to build relationships with instructors and subject matter experts. She enjoys being able to have conversations with so many intelligent and high-level people. Amy also says that she has always been interested in education and likes that her job allows her to be involved in learning and instruction. Amy believes that studying English has helped her in her career by improving her editing and communication skills. Since much of her job is spent revising scripts, being able to edit for clarity, grammar, punctuation, and structure is essential. She also spends a large amount of time in meetings with instructors, making the mastery of communication immensely important. Amy says that being an English major taught her how to coordinate her ideas: “Being able to organize my thoughts has helped me in every aspect of my job.” She feels that the skills developed while studying English have been extremely useful in her career and are abilities that can be applied in any field.
Amy’s advice to current and potential English students is to take full advantage of all the resources that Channel Islands has to offer. She says that some students tend to go to their classes then leave campus right away. She encourages students to spend more time on campus utilizing resources, making friends, and participating in extracurriculars. Even for online students, Channel Islands offers many virtual tools and activities that can help them to make the most of their college experience. Lastly, Amy urges students to appreciate the natural beauty of the university and involve themselves in the campus culture: “It is a beautiful campus and an awesome place to be, so spend as much time there as possible and enjoy it as much as you can.”
Email: amy.holguin.howell@gmail.com