14 March 2008 159 views No Comment Print This Post  Email This Post

I’m a big believer in education as a relatively fast way to advance in your career. I’m not just talking about earning a higher degree like a masters or a doctorate, either. Those aren’t available for in every career field, and even if they are for your work, they can be prohibitively expensive in both time and money. Instead, I’ve been thinking along the lines of small changes that can be made that might have some pretty big effects.

• Learn by doing: The best computer programmers are not the guys with fancy certifications on their resumes. Instead, they are the people that sat down at a computer and just started trying to program. They may have had a book or two for guidance, but they learned by doing.
• Take a class: I know I just dismissed higher education, but taking one class every so often can expose you to new ideas and knowledge. You don’t even need to sign up at the local college — community centers offer certain classes, as do professional organizations.
• Keep up to date: I took a journalism class in college where the first task of every class was to discuss current events and how different media had covered them — not because the class was focused on current events, but because the professor wanted us to know what topics certain newspapers covered, their formats and other sorts of details that make it easier for a journalist to do her job. Consider learning more about the ins and outs of your field — read trade magazines, join professional organizations and improve your knowledge of what other companies are doing.
• Read: Reading may be the easiest and fastest way to get a quick boost to what you know. Personally, I can learn more by reading a book and then practicing what I’ve read (learn by doing, again) than any other way.

The thing to remember about a lot of these options is that you aren’t going to get any advancement in the workplace unless you apply the knowledge — show your supervisor that you’re making the effort to learn material and become a better employee. You may have opportunities to use some of your new knowledge on the side, as well, in freelancing, consulting or building your own business. It all comes down to using the information that you’ve worked so hard to use. Step up on a project, use a new approach, it’s up to you to make your learning relevant to your work.