How much do you invest in training for your job?
How much do you invest in training for your job?
(OP)
How much effort outside of work do you all dedicate toward training yourself to be better at your job? This means both time and money.
How much of that is paid for by your company vs out of your own pocket?
I know I haven't stopped learning, but I often wonder if my skills are falling behind the rest of the professional community. Sometimes it feels like work is oversimplified to the point that I'm not ready for the few times a year I have to do something highly engineered.
-Eric
How much of that is paid for by your company vs out of your own pocket?
I know I haven't stopped learning, but I often wonder if my skills are falling behind the rest of the professional community. Sometimes it feels like work is oversimplified to the point that I'm not ready for the few times a year I have to do something highly engineered.
-Eric





RE: How much do you invest in training for your job?
Anything that costs money (RAM training, membership in local SEA, NCSEA conference) is paid for by my employer.
I am starting M.S. program in the fall (largely funded by employer)
RE: How much do you invest in training for your job?
Aaron A. Spearin
ASQ CSSBB
Engineering Six-S'$
www.Engineering6ss.com
"The only constant in life is change." -Bruce Lee
RE: How much do you invest in training for your job?
I also maintain my own memberships within professional societies and receive their publications (either print or online). I subscribe to a variety of trade magazines that gives me a cross section of the technologies I may need to deal with. It can be easy to become swamped by these so I limit the number of them and primarily skim for articles of interest.
These forums have proven to be a valuable source of information as well. There are many helpful participants. I also participate in a self-formed working group within my technical discipline where I work. We talk over current projects, new technologies, equipment needs, etc.
You may not be able to keep all your skills constantly sharp but as long as you can maintain the foundation of those skills, you can pick up what you need again.
Regards,
RE: How much do you invest in training for your job?
Another thing, continuing education does not have to be just in your field of employment. Don't ignore the arts and history or any other technologies. When you check out of this life, no one is going to care about what you did for your employer.
RE: How much do you invest in training for your job?
If you have access, many equipment manufacturers have excellent courses that only cost you T&E expenses.
Professional societies usually have annual conferences with exhibits (that are generally the most valuable part, and they give you stuff) and presentations. I've found these to be really useful.
Books are a passion of mine and I've always spent too much of the budget on new ones. When I worked for a large company I bought about half of the books myself (I left the other half in my office when I retired). Now I buy them all myself.
I budget $20k/year on training and new books. That might be higher than a lot of companies but I find that if I don't spend that much I don't get enough back.
David