Personal / Professional Development training?

[Careful]

My company is having a Personal Development initiative, and paying for personal and professional improvement courses. I’m mostly interested in courses that can improve my salary bracket. What courses have you taken that you’d recommend? Extra points if I get a certificate at the end!

 

[MacGruber22]

I’m mostly interested in courses that can improve my salary bracket

I would recommend abandoning that thought, and taking advantage of courses with topics that you are passionate about.

"It is imperative Cunth doesn't get his hands on those codes."

 

[IRstuff]

The stuff that you're passionate about, if compatible with your company, will drive you into the slots you'd want.

Doing stuff just for money is basically prostitution, and most prostitutes would probably say that they hate their "job."

TTFN
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[JedClampett]

Careful is being a bit inarticulate. We all try to make more money by improving ourself within our company. He's just putting it in the most direct way.
If you want to improve your salary by training, figure out what your company values (production; technical expertise; marketing; etc.) and get trained in that. The payoff will not be immediate, but it will add arrows to your quiver.

 

[Careful]

Honestly, there not much to get passionate about in my current position, and I can think of little I've done since I got here that I'd add to a resume. The engineering department is in rough shape with little organization, few to no operational systems in place, and little co-operation from other departments. I'm trying not to jump ship because my top-level boss is a good guy who gave me a position when I'd been out of work for an extended period, and kept me on after a serious oversight when I was learning the ropes, so I'd like to pay him back by hanging in there and creating a better department. Besides which I don't want to be seen as a job hopper.

I think one best out comes for me, and the department, would be to find learning opportunities on organizing the department and developing ways to work with other departments in the plant (Program Management is an uphill battle because no one else cares about program actions their managers or supervisors don't assign to them, and those managers and supervisors aren't evaluated on program results). If I can demonstrate those skills I could advance into a management position, get a higher salary, and have some feeling of accomplishment for this position, but I'm not the only one with that train of thought.

How much weight to programs like these carry?:

http://web.mit.edu/professional/short-programs/certificates.html

http://training.sae.org/academies/acad09/

http://www.amanet.org/training/semi...nsibility-Step-up-Skills-for-Nonmanagers.aspx

Thanks

 

[KENAT]

Hmm, given your situation I suggest practicing some hardcore quid pro quo /favors for favors/ or whatever you want to call it.

I.e - get people to help you because they owe you one not because it's on their yearly goals or their manager told them to.

This means you need to do a bunch of nice things for various folks, with the risk some may not pay off. Who in other departments can you help? When someone does help you how can you turn the balance of favorhood back to you? e.g. if a bunch of people help you out on a high profile project maybe you lay on a lunch for them all - that way the favor is back in their court.

Develop personal relationships with folks in all kinds of departments and roles, even if they may not be in a position to help you in the immediate future you can build good will. Bob may never be in a position to help you directly, but might tell their buddy Sue how nice and helpful you are so that when you ask Sue for a favor she helps you out...

Depending how far you're willing to take it play up other types of relationship e.g. if there are some women co workers a good bit older than you maybe you can get them to be a bit motherly toward you and help you out on that basis - to avoid being sexist I will say you can take the same approach with men getting them to be fatherly. Even if the age gap is smaller you may be able to play on big brother/sister like relationships.

I'm hesitant to suggest flirting to get the help you need but if needs must and your moral compass allows it well that's up to you. Just think about the morals of that one and the potential for 'harmless' flirting to be misconstrued and lead to embarrassing/awkward situations or even accusations of sexual harassment.

I will now sit back and await the accusations of toying with peoples emotions, abusing relationships or even perhaps being Machiavellian.

Or perhaps, this is what my soon to be former boss meant when he said I had people skills - which I didn't really take as a compliment.

Then I'd take company funded classes in something I found interesting.

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[MacGyverS2000]

Not sure if I should LPS Ken's post for stating the reality of the situation, or flag it for suggesting such things

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[RobertHale]

The engineering department is in rough shape with little organization, few to no operational systems in place, and little co-operation from other departments.

That statement sounds like an opportunity. Many can thrive in order, but bringing order out of chaos is the mark of a leader and an asset. Those last two management centered seem like something that can give you some more tools in your toolbox to take a hand in reshaping your engineering department into something that is orderly, efficient, and productive. That is something that will improve your company and put on your resume. Just my two cents.

 

[tickle]

Here we go, here are my 2 cents. It may be considered that you have poor insight in to your own deficiencies if you need to ask a forum which self development courses to go on. If that is the case, there is no surprise that the engineering department is in such a poor state and regarded as having little worth (I am reading between the lines).

You do not need to go on a course for self development, there is enough on google, youtube, linkedin, eng-tips etc to give you an understanding and you should be doing this in your own time. I suggest the following areas for investigation: Sales (internal and external customers), how to manage, how to manage your manager, staff engagement, time keeping, delegation, report writing, the list goes on. I enjoy watching Simon Sinek on Youtube

 

[MacGruber22]

I agree with Robert, that it *could* be an opportunity, but it would take a lot of tenacity and dedication.

...If that is the case, there is no surprise that the engineering department is in such a poor state and regarded as having little worth

Come on - that is a bit harsh on Careful not knowing his/her experience level, etc.

Although, I do agree that there is a wealth of free or cheap resources on the internet. Remember, Careful said his/her company is paying for it - you never say no to that, and it by no means precludes he/she from using the internet resources while taking advantage of company-based programs.

"It is imperative Cunth doesn't get his hands on those codes."

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Here we go, here are my 2 cents. It may be considered that you have poor insight in to your own deficiencies if you need to ask a forum which self development courses to go on. If that is the case, there is no surprise that the engineering department is in such a poor state and regarded as having little worth (I am reading between the lines).

I'll skip the harsh commentary on this one...

But perhaps the question should be read in a slightly different light, such as "What courses did the rest of you find helpful in your own career development?" (which, honestly, seems pretty close to the original question in the first place). It's a fair question. If we knew how to solve all of our problems, we'd be rich. While we all can't necessarily provide industry-specific courses, there are plenty of generic courses that would be helpful (e.g., suggesting Toast Masters to someone who has difficulty speaking in front of audiences).

Unfortunately, I do not have any suggestions for the OP, but I felt the need to add my own two cents to that reply...

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[Careful]

Tickle, I apologize for not being clearer (although MacGyver seemed to understand my post easily enough), I'll try to be more succinct.

I am not a manager at my company (I don't have management knowledge).

I want to become a manager at my company.

I have an opportunity to have courses paid for by my company (a chance to gain management knowledge.

I want to take a Good management course, and avoid Bad management course (I want gain as much management knowledge as I can in a single course).

I asked members of eng-tips.com to recommend Good management course (or other courses), and I would even appreciate warnings about Bad management courses so I could avoid them.

I can't make it any clearer than that. Again, my apologies for confusing you.

I am curious though, has putting "I watch Simon Sinek on Youtube" on your resume gotten you a lot of interviews?

 

[JNieman]

There's a balance to be maintained between possessing skills, and being a "certificate collector". If you start throwing a dozen lists of certificates on your resume, you may not be getting the perception you intended. Just like someone with 5 or 6 university degrees may be seen as unable to professionally perform, and can only excel in academic environments, depending on where they are applying for work. Someone who fills their resume with individual PDH courses, or simple certificates that are achieved after a 3-hour seminar, or a 1-credit-hour course at a local university... it can appear negatively instead of positively.

Experience is what gets you interviews. Proclamations of quantifiable achievements.

I don't know any structural engineers that put their PDH course list on their resume, but rather would list actual design projects that express their specialties.

_________________________________________
NX8.0, Solidworks 2014, AutoCAD, Enovia V5

 

[IRstuff]

"I want to become a manager at my company"

OK, this is NEW information, and casts a completely different light on your original question.

One thing you should start with is to see what qualifications your company is looking for.

TTFN
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Need help writing a question or understanding a reply? forum1529


Of course I can. I can do anything. I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
There is a homework forum hosted by engineering.com:

http://www.engineering.com/AskForum/aff/32.aspx

 

[Careful]

That statement sounds like an opportunity. Many can thrive in order, but bringing order out of chaos is the mark of a leader and an asset. Those last two management centered seem like something that can give you some more tools in your toolbox to take a hand in reshaping your engineering department into something that is orderly, efficient, and productive. That is something that will improve your company and put on your resume. Just my two cents.

My thoughts exactly. I noticed the MIT link didn't specificly highlight the management course they offer, but they have a good offering as well. I'm hoping someone who's taken one will be able to provide first hand experience.

 

[GregLocock]

Of the short non-technical courses I have ever done the single most useful was Presentation Skills, a workshop that forced us to stand in front of an audience and talk. It was purely about the physical process, and was led by an actor. (Basically how to turn stage fright and mumbling into energy). I've done a few other courses on presenting but to me that one was the key, if only because it ignored content and powerpoint.

On a slightly more technical side you might want to look at 6 sigma, or parts thereof. Much of the six sigma material is mutton dressed as lamb, but in my experience they have managed to tie it together quite nicely and created a framework that managers find believable and useful. It's a bit monkey see, monkey do, but if you actually use the stuff in projects I think it hangs together.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[MacGruber22]

Becoming a "power user" of particular software you use is also super valuable to a company. It also boosts your confidence when people in the office rely on your software expertise.

"It is imperative Cunth doesn't get his hands on those codes."

 

[lacajun]

Why not get an advanced degree in engineering management? Then get certified through ASEM.

Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC