Anyone here taken the AJP courses through GIA?
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Snicklefritz
Brilliant_Rock
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I'm taking the online courses now. I've completed Diamond Essentials, am almost done with Colored Stone Essentials, and will start Jewelry Essentials in a couple weeks. So far, I've found them pretty interesting, but am not overly stimulated by the power point presentation format. I've never really done distance education (always liked the in-classroom experience), but that's not really an option for me. I would say that before taking the classes I was familiar with a lot the concepts I've been learning about, but the classes have added more depth of detail and context to my knowledge.
I wouldn't say the classes are overly challenging. You have three months to complete each course. There are typically 8 power point assignments (about 30 slides each) per class, with a 15pt quiz after each assignment. I believe you can take each quiz up to 3 times. I can't remember what the minimum passing grade is. Once you've completed the assignments there's a 50pt exam to complete the course.
Do you have any specific questions about the courses? I'd be glad to take a shot at answering them!
I wouldn't say the classes are overly challenging. You have three months to complete each course. There are typically 8 power point assignments (about 30 slides each) per class, with a 15pt quiz after each assignment. I believe you can take each quiz up to 3 times. I can't remember what the minimum passing grade is. Once you've completed the assignments there's a 50pt exam to complete the course.
Do you have any specific questions about the courses? I'd be glad to take a shot at answering them!
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Thanks, snicklefritz! I'm glad to hear you are enjoying them. I too enjoy the classroom experience, but I believe the AJP is only offered through distance learning anyway.
In the course description it made it sound like there was a lot of instruction on how to make a sales pitch; have you found that to be the case? Or is it actually about the jewelry?
In the course description it made it sound like there was a lot of instruction on how to make a sales pitch; have you found that to be the case? Or is it actually about the jewelry?
Snicklefritz
Brilliant_Rock
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I would say most of the information is about jewelry/stones and the industry/trade as a whole, and that they incorporate how to use and present this information in a sales presentation. A few assignments do directly address sales strategies such as managing "objections", and turning "features" into "benefits". The sales advice is nicely filtered into the course but is certainly not overwhelming. I'm learning a lot about stones, jewelry, treatments, synthetics and simulants, gem mining and cutting, gem history, regulations, etc.
Snicklefritz
Brilliant_Rock
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Well, I literally JUST started working part time (10hrs/wk) as a sales person at a jewelry store. So will be changing my designation to trade member soon. Just need to figure out how first. 
So far, it seems all the online courses start on a Monday, and you can pretty much choose any Monday you want.
One cool thing is that once you've completed even one course, you qualify to be a member of the GIA Alumni Association, and get invited to events sponsored by your local chapter.Such as this one I'm attending tonight: http://moguildags.eventbrite.com/
So far, it seems all the online courses start on a Monday, and you can pretty much choose any Monday you want.
One cool thing is that once you've completed even one course, you qualify to be a member of the GIA Alumni Association, and get invited to events sponsored by your local chapter.Such as this one I'm attending tonight: http://moguildags.eventbrite.com/
What a timely thread for me too!
I have always loved jewellery. I could spend hours looking at it in real life and on the computer. In my recent search and joyous acquisition of a lovely diamond I have become totally obsessed, and I'm giving very serious thought to doing some GIA courses with a view toward a second career in the business. I'm planning to retire from my f/t job in about 6 years, but I'll still be relatively young, and I'll want to work at something. I think it should be something I'm passionate about. I would love to hear from anyone else who has taken this, or any other diploma courses at GIA, particuarly via distance education.
I have always loved jewellery. I could spend hours looking at it in real life and on the computer. In my recent search and joyous acquisition of a lovely diamond I have become totally obsessed, and I'm giving very serious thought to doing some GIA courses with a view toward a second career in the business. I'm planning to retire from my f/t job in about 6 years, but I'll still be relatively young, and I'll want to work at something. I think it should be something I'm passionate about. I would love to hear from anyone else who has taken this, or any other diploma courses at GIA, particuarly via distance education.
MichelleCarmen
Super_Ideal_Rock
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Hi,
I was going to enroll for the 9/3 start date, but too many things came up so IIRC, the next sign-up is in Feb and by then I might be working more hours (plus, I have kids, so I might post-pone it for a while longer). (ETA - I just read above that you can sign up any time? I must have spaced that part...I have the GIA class catalogs and thought it was only certain times you could sign up...)
If you've never done any online classes before, you can always test out one on coursera.org. Even though it won't apply to the GIA, obviously, it will provide you with an idea of what it's like organizing your current life around an online class. I've taken two classes they took up more time than I anticipated.
Good luck!
I was going to enroll for the 9/3 start date, but too many things came up so IIRC, the next sign-up is in Feb and by then I might be working more hours (plus, I have kids, so I might post-pone it for a while longer). (ETA - I just read above that you can sign up any time? I must have spaced that part...I have the GIA class catalogs and thought it was only certain times you could sign up...)
If you've never done any online classes before, you can always test out one on coursera.org. Even though it won't apply to the GIA, obviously, it will provide you with an idea of what it's like organizing your current life around an online class. I've taken two classes they took up more time than I anticipated.
Good luck!
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MC|1378505826|3515935 said:
I just looked, and you can choose a start date range, and then it will tell you when the next course starts. The next class for Diamond Essentials starts the 23rd of Sept, then the next one on the 30th I think.
My kids are both in elementary school all day now, so if I decide to do it I should have some time since I'm not otherwise working at the moment.
MichelleCarmen
Super_Ideal_Rock
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ecf8503|1378506462|3515939 said:
Sounds like a good time to start up for you. My older son just went into middle school and I panicked between that and starting up work again and also, during one of the coursera classes I took, I caught the flu and missed a week of videos and work and I couldn't catch up.
I was looking at the colored gemstone essentials that wasn't very much money - $165 or something like that.
Anyway, might as well try one out or do a coursera class, like I did, as a test run. They're free and there are a ton of fun topics...I just picked one that was a bit overboard - Astrobiology - lol!
gemmyblond
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Hi - I did the GIA AJP several years ago. Enjoyed it, learned a few things, but it was pretty much an overview and high-level. If you've been interested in (much less passionate about) jewelry for any length of time, or read a lot on this forum, you'll likely already be familiar with much of it.
The reading and homework was straightforward, and the quizzes were multiple-choice and not difficult if you did them promptly after finishing each chapter's reading (or at least, that's what worked for me). I enjoyed it and didn't stress over it. The 'sales' part of the coursework wasn't very much of it and was also well-integrated into the whole curriculum, I thought.
I didn't do it because I necessarily wanted to get into jewelry sales; I really did it out of interest and to learn something new about my favorite subject (and also, it was a time in my life when it worked well for me to do it).
Let me know if you have other questions. (Bear in mind, though, I did it about 5 years ago, so I may be a little out of date.) Go for it!
The reading and homework was straightforward, and the quizzes were multiple-choice and not difficult if you did them promptly after finishing each chapter's reading (or at least, that's what worked for me). I enjoyed it and didn't stress over it. The 'sales' part of the coursework wasn't very much of it and was also well-integrated into the whole curriculum, I thought.
I didn't do it because I necessarily wanted to get into jewelry sales; I really did it out of interest and to learn something new about my favorite subject (and also, it was a time in my life when it worked well for me to do it).
Let me know if you have other questions. (Bear in mind, though, I did it about 5 years ago, so I may be a little out of date.) Go for it!
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