From crafting content and plotting social posts, to prettifying pages and analysing ad spend, our Marketing team are always showcasing the best of Cloud Assess. Today, we’re excited to introduce you to one of the team members who works behind the scenes.
SEO Content Writer, Lara Gordon, is a name you may often come across on our blog and social pages. She’s a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to marketing, supporting our team with carefully crafted blog posts and image templates to complement them. We took some time to interview her, and here’s what we found out:
1. Tell us about your role at Cloud Assess.
I help to show Cloud Assess off in the best light. I spend a lot of time researching topics related to adult learning and writing about them. I also optimise our existing articles, making sure the content in them is still relevant and can easily be found on platforms like Google. And when I need a bit of a break from that, I have some fun creating image templates that we can use in those blogs to highlight important points.
2. What inspires you about workplace training and the VET sector?
I love the way the world is shifting to being skill-focused!
When I did my degree, it wasn’t in marketing, but English and journalism. Way back in the day, that would have closed a lot of doors for me—if I couldn’t find a job as a journalist or a lecturer, I would have likely become a stay-at-home wife. But with the way the world has shifted, there’s a recognition that the skills I learned in journalism—research, critical thinking, creative writing—are more valuable than the degree itself.
Over the 14 years I’ve been working in marketing, I’ve built on and expanded those to include graphic design and search engine optimisation. Working with talented colleagues and mentors and enrolling in workplace training courses has helped me do that, which gives me a great perspective on how it can help others!
3. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?
I am truly rubbish at cooking. As I always tell people, I don’t cook, I burn. If I could overcome my ADHD brain that moves onto the next task while the last one is still busy (seeing me walk away from an oven and forget something’s in it), that would be great!
4. What’s your favourite saying?
“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” — Martin Luther King
5. What’s your favourite activity?
That’s a really tough one! I’m always happiest when I’m reading or playing a board game (and Monopoly doesn’t count!) I’m also a hoarder of books and board games with hundreds of each in my home. I like to say there’s a big difference between a bookworm and a book dragon—one devours, one hoards—and I’m definitely the latter.
6. Other than Cloud Assess (of course) what’s your favourite app and why?
The NYT Games app. Crosswords, puzzles and word games keep my mind active. It also tends to run in my family, if that’s even a thing! My grandfather loved doing crosswords with my mom, my mom loves doing them with me, and if I ever have children, I’ll probably love doing crosswords with them.
7. Tell us something that might surprise us about you!
I wrote and published a children’s book! It’s one of my top achievements, even though it hasn’t taken off or made me any money. It’s called ‘What On Earth Am I?’ and is about a child who’s been reading too many stories and doesn’t know what kind of creature they are anymore—just that they’re not a dragon, pirate, werewolf or ghost.
8. What is Online Assessment to you?
Online assessment is a way of continually improving and progressing. It’s a measure of how much knowledge you’ve absorbed and how your skills have progressed. It’s online quizzes and tests, one-on-one meetings and performance reviews that compare where you were a week, month or year ago, and where you are now. It’s about how much you remember and how you’re putting the lessons you’ve learned to use in your role.
9. What’s your favourite feature in Cloud Assess?
The free course library. There are so many different, valuable training courses in there across various subjects. I’ve only enrolled in a few so far, but they’ve definitely helped me with areas like time management and change management. No matter what field you’re in, there’s going to be a course to help you progress.
10. What’s the best thing about working for Cloud Assess?
The people. Everyone at Cloud Assess is passionate about what they do, and they thrive on collaboration. It makes working here a pleasure.
