The Learning Never Stops

Check out my earlier articles on how I invest my savings.

My Hot Take on Personal Finance

Dressing Well

Keeping Comfortable While Traveling

Companies’ budgets for employee training have dwindled since the 2009 recession. There are those mandatory courses, but courses that cater to developing and refining professional skills may be in short supply. So, I have been using my savings to invest in my professional development. I have completed several online courses and programs as well as professional development seminars and each one has added value.

In a connected world, my go-to for learning is online. I have found a wide variety of online courses that are self-directed and tailored to those looking to brush up on some of the latest business trends, theories, and techniques. Others have a specific focus on how to improve presentation skills, offering step-by-step guides or best practices on making presentations effective communication tools. Others still aim to change a way of thinking or of doing things. For example, in my sales positions, my approach has been proactive: seek to understand customer pain points so I can implement a solution. I have long been interested in looking for more concrete ways to mitigate problems from happening in the first place. That's where the Google UX Design Professional Certificate comes in. I am learning about user experience (UX) design and how to improve everyday interactions between businesses and their customers. My suggested places to start searching for potential online courses include LinkedIn Learning and Coursera.

I have also joined associations. Early in my career I joined the Sales Professionals of Ottawa, a forum for Ottawa area sales professionals to network, exchange ideas, and share best practices. Unfortunately, this organization no longer exists, but what I want to convey is through my membership, I had access to courses and seminars hosted by leading sales professionals. As this also coincided with my early career, I was able to learn how to network and try out different sales techniques. I made sure to take full advantage of the membership and joined as the Secretary on the Board of Directors where I got my first taste of management and the skills required to attain such a position and succeed at it.

I have also begun exploring professional certificate programs offered by universities targeted to those in the middle of their careers looking to pivot in a new direction or build more specialized knowledge. This has led me to look at programs on emerging and disruptive technologies. Not only is society moving in the direction of relying more on technology to do everyday things, but the pandemic has demonstrated how the necessity to adapt leads to technological innovation. My goal in pursuing such a program is two-fold: to keep up to date on how the technologies affect my own line of work to forecast future trends while looking for tools to make current processes more efficient.

Finally, I invest in good old-fashioned books. When I am stuck on a problem, I try to find 3 books on that topic to fully understand the problem and different perspectives on how I can solve it. Conversely, reading books also allows me to challenge my thinking and examine my decisions and those that I will one day need to make. I take full advantage of my local library when I am doing my initial read, but I make a point of always buying those books that stand out to build my own mini-reference library. 

Writing this post has made me reflect on the variety of ways I have invested in my professional learning and how it remains an ongoing process. There will always be new things to learn and new ways of learning. This makes me excited for the future and keeps me motivated.