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Welcome to episode 6 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_), two VMware Solutions Engineers who are hoping to bring you the IT career advice that we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode, we discuss the topic of skills and product training: Why, How, What, and When.

Original recording date: 2018-01-18

Topics

2:20 – Why

• Why you need it and should want it
  • Best practices consistently change as technology changes
  • Standing still in the technology industry is not an option
  • Completion and sense of accomplishment
• Why the company needs you to have it
  • Technology outsourcers need new expertise to remain relevant to customers
  • You need it to support changing of internal software / hardware
• Why the presence / lack of a training plan can affect job / company selection
  • Smaller companies may not have this
  • Regulatory compliance based on industry may require employee training plans
  • Do potential employers have training plans for employees?  Ask during the interview process.
  • Are employee training plans important to management?

11:02 – How

• How to deliver it
  • Find your learning style first.
  • Complexity of subject may require multiple delivery methods or different delivery methods to maximum effectiveness.
  • Listen to the parallel between solving Calculus problems and solving technology problems.
• How to get it approved budgeted
  • Free training exists, but is it enough?
  • Classroom training and remote training have different costs.
  • Does training come up as part of the project plan, and if so, can you justify it?

22:30 – What

• What you need training on
  • John’s recommendation is divide by requirements – past, present, future
    • Consider future needs of your current employer vs. future employer needs
  • Make it something interesting to you if possible
  • There are various depths of training
    • How deep do you need it?
    • How technical do you need to get?
  • Benefits of a training plan
    • Put it in writing
    • Outline of trainings to complete in order based on priority
    • Do you need an accountability partner?
    • What’s in John’s training plan?

35:00 – When

• When do you start training?
  • Start Now?
• When do you allocate time for training on a daily / weekly basis?
  • Using company time vs. personal time
  • Protecting your training time while at work
  • Dedicate your lunch hour to training?