Continuing Education

[calguy07]

Hi,

I currently work in electric power/utilities and wish to stay and progress in the industry. Since I've left school I've actually lost skills as I don't use those software analysis programs anymore. I know this is expected but at least I also expected that I'd replace them with other skills that are actually useful. I currently do design work but its more along the lines of drafting/design/modification of wiring diagrams/cable lists/etc. for facilities. This is not enough for me. During my last performance review, we talked and documented about the fact that I wasn't challenged during the yr and that I wanted more. Nine months have passed and its pretty obvious they have no intention of giving me anything new/different.

I have no problem paying for my own courses if that's what it will take but of course to do that I have to know that it will be worth it in the end. I've seen a few courses offered in my city in the coming months but its hard to tell if they're worth it. In your opinion are those one/two day courses/seminars worth it? If not these then is there anything else out there I can take on my own to progress on my own since my company has no desire to help me in this? If I'll be paying for this myself I'd like to know that I can at least have something to take into a next job or something else.

Thanks.

 

[IRstuff]

A one, or two, day course, while concentrated and very specific will usually only barely begin to touch on any subject being taught. However, in most cases, the course material is also limited to a few specific topics.

A good benchmark is to consider that a typical college course might contain a minimum of around 90 lecture hours and about the same amount (or more) of homework time. So, even a week-long course will only get you part of the way there, particularly if there's little or no homework.

That's not to say that they're not useful and educational, but you have to be aware that when you're done with that course, you go back to an environment that doesn't exercise that gained knowledge.

Have you looked at what higher level technical jobs there are at your current workplace? What are the requirements for those jobs? That might provide a more targeted and directly applicable course of study.

Does your company allow for educational reimbursement? Perhaps getting an advanced degree might be useful and fulfilling.

TTFN

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