July 20, 2011 at 7:47 am
blandry (7/20/2011)
Now, ok, companies pay for training - its their loss - but I spent over 4,000 of my own dollars (many years ago) to be an XBase (FoxPro, dBase...) expert, and now? Thats ALL gone. So is my 4,000+ dollars! And what did I get for that? A nice certificate or two - suitable for framing, or indeed, for starting the barbeque with (they burn very nicely...)Want to know where the real "Stupid" is? Its in all of us who pay through the nose for training that will be out of date within a couple years. Now THAT is stupid!!!
So what? When I went to college my computer programming courses were based on APL and FORTRAN and the programs run on an IBM360. Just because I spend the time and money going to college I can't expect that same technology to exist 30 years later.
I believe it is an individuals responsibility to stay up to speed on the latest technology in their chosen field. If an employer is willing to pay for some courses for me along the way that is icing on the cake; an indication that I work for a pretty good employer who values me and my personal professional development. Is the employer obligated to do so? NO. I was hired for my expertise to do a specific job and the employer has a right to assume I will continue to be able to perform at that level if he is to continue to pay me.
Unfortunately the mentality in this country has evolved to a point where employees are led to believe that it is the employer's (or the the government's) responsibility to retrain them if their job goes away because technology or markets have changed. That's a very sad state of dependency which seems geared more toward treating people as victims instead of individuals capable of determining their own successes or failures.
The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival.
July 20, 2011 at 7:50 am
When it comes to technology training, I've always trained myself. I attend monthly user group meetings and local day events, and I earned my certifications by studying exam prep books and paying for the tests out of pocket.
For company sponsored training, I think it's actually more important for the database and application to be documented and for senior DBA's to maintain operations guides. Not only can a new hire learn from these about the technology, but it's delivered in a more structured and topical way. In a crisis, the solution doesn't always come from someone with a vast amount of general technical knowledge, but rather from someone with a firm understanding about the more proprietary aspects of the system architencture and how the processes work.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
July 20, 2011 at 7:56 am
In Canada there's a law that companies are obligated to invest 1% of the salaries back into training. I've seen a tone of positives come out of that over the years.
Of course I don't count on that to stay up to date. I do that myself by hanging around here.
July 20, 2011 at 8:00 am
Ninja's_RGR'us
In Canada there's a law that companies are obligated to invest 1% of the salaries back into training. I've seen a tone of positives come out of that over the years.Of course I don't count on that to stay up to date. I do that myself by hanging around here.
I think if you do not stay up to date then you become "OUT OF DATE!"
July 20, 2011 at 8:05 am
Ian Massi (7/20/2011)
So I found a 3 day course that went over the new features. . . .The cost was in the ballpark of a week's salary and my employer agreed to cover the cost before I booked it.
Actually, the cost was the price of the training plus 3 days of your salary.
July 20, 2011 at 8:40 am
I appreciate this article, Steve, as it's something I have faced for the last 3 years. No training, no conferences, etc. However, in my situation it isn't so much the IT management who are against it; they're all for it. My manager would love to send each of his direct reports to some training. The problem is upper management who are dead set against it. The phrased used by upper management is, "just be thankful you've got a job". Given the fact that at the end of June we had a 25% RIF, you bet I'm thankful to still be employed. Up to that point I have been trying to do the job of 2 people; now it's going to be more like 2 1/4, maybe 2 1/2 people.
Kindest Regards, Rod Connect with me on LinkedIn.
July 20, 2011 at 8:45 am
This is a great topic and there's lots of good comments. My feeling is that training should be a partnership between an employee and their employer. The employee should be responsible for keeping their own skills up to date. But I'd think it would be in a firms' best interest to continue to train employees, especially when they begin to implement new technologies or platforms. If you, as a company, decide you're going to build a data warehouse, would you trust the design and maintenance of it to someone with no formal training?
July 20, 2011 at 8:47 am
Rod at work (7/20/2011)
I appreciate this article, Steve, as it's something I have faced for the last 3 years. No training, no conferences, etc. However, in my situation it isn't so much the IT management who are against it; they're all for it. My manager would love to send each of his direct reports to some training. The problem is upper management who are dead set against it. The phrased used by upper management is, "just be thankful you've got a job". Given the fact that at the end of June we had a 25% RIF, you bet I'm thankful to still be employed. Up to that point I have been trying to do the job of 2 people; now it's going to be more like 2 1/4, maybe 2 1/2 people.
I'd rather be the guy who trains himself than I would be one of the guys who are always complaining to management about a lack of training, especially if the company's top priority is cutting payroll costs.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
July 20, 2011 at 8:55 am
Rod at work (7/20/2011)
I appreciate this article, Steve, as it's something I have faced for the last 3 years. No training, no conferences, etc. However, in my situation it isn't so much the IT management who are against it; they're all for it. My manager would love to send each of his direct reports to some training. The problem is upper management who are dead set against it. The phrased used by upper management is, "just be thankful you've got a job". Given the fact that at the end of June we had a 25% RIF, you bet I'm thankful to still be employed. Up to that point I have been trying to do the job of 2 people; now it's going to be more like 2 1/4, maybe 2 1/2 people.
We've had bad economy up here too but I always had calls coming in for jobs (and I wasn't advertising). And no people don't know "who I am" in the real world.
I'm sure you could find something better if you really wanted to and were patient about it.
July 20, 2011 at 8:59 am
Ninja's_RGR'us (7/20/2011)
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Rod at work (7/20/2011)
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I appreciate this article, Steve, as it's something I have faced for the last 3 years. No training, no conferences, etc. However, in my situation it isn't so much the IT management who are against it; they're all for it. My manager would love to send each of his direct reports to some training. The problem is upper management who are dead set against it. The phrased used by upper management is, "just be thankful you've got a job". Given the fact that at the end of June we had a 25% RIF, you bet I'm thankful to still be employed. Up to that point I have been trying to do the job of 2 people; now it's going to be more like 2 1/4, maybe 2 1/2 people.
We've had bad economy up here too but I always had calls coming in for jobs (and I wasn't advertising). And no people don't know "who I am" in the real world.
I'm sure you could find something better if you really wanted to and were patient about it.
You know they could really fix that problem by elminating the excess bagage(A.K.A-Upper management)! A lot of companies have to many chiefs running a round and not enough indians!
July 20, 2011 at 9:04 am
bopeavy (7/20/2011)
Ninja's_RGR'us (7/20/2011)
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Rod at work (7/20/2011)
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I appreciate this article, Steve, as it's something I have faced for the last 3 years. No training, no conferences, etc. However, in my situation it isn't so much the IT management who are against it; they're all for it. My manager would love to send each of his direct reports to some training. The problem is upper management who are dead set against it. The phrased used by upper management is, "just be thankful you've got a job". Given the fact that at the end of June we had a 25% RIF, you bet I'm thankful to still be employed. Up to that point I have been trying to do the job of 2 people; now it's going to be more like 2 1/4, maybe 2 1/2 people.
We've had bad economy up here too but I always had calls coming in for jobs (and I wasn't advertising). And no people don't know "who I am" in the real world.
I'm sure you could find something better if you really wanted to and were patient about it.
You know they could really fix that problem by elminating the excess bagage(A.K.A-Upper management)! A lot of companies have to many chiefs running a round and not enough indians!
Seen that too often in my consulting career. 5 people in a meeting to decide on a color of a warning on a report... what a waste. 😀
July 20, 2011 at 9:35 am
I really like that picture... well, the left side of it anyway.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning
July 20, 2011 at 9:40 am
"Training" is dead - for IT jobs anyway. Training, as in getting somebody up to speed on a routine repeatable task like, say, machining an engine valve, is a 20th-century concept oriented toward assembly-line work, and a complete waste of money in the 21st century IT shop where the goal is to get ALL such repeatable tasks as automated as possible.
The only investment in employee smarts that makes sense today is not "training" but rather "education." That is, getting us employees to the point where we're self-training, and willing/able to look at a problem, analyze it, and automate it. That is, to figure out:
- what can be pared away or done once and never/rarely touched again,
- what necessary, repetitious tasks can be factored out and coded up, and
- what choices will always require a brain in the loop, and how/who should decide.
This kind of education is, to be brutally honest, FAR beyond the capability of most business organizations. Maybe Google or Amazon could swing it, but I wouldn't bet my career on it.
The days when a company could expect to profit/survive by getting people "trained up" on maintenance procedures every couple of years... those days are long gone. Those of us who want long, satisfying IT careers are best advised to get motivated and figure out how to self-educate (if your schooling didn't already give you that), because anybody willing to take you by the hand and lead you to all the skills/tools you need, isn't going to be profitable enough to keep doing it very long.
Sorry.
July 20, 2011 at 9:41 am
Grant Fritchey (7/20/2011)
I really like that picture... well, the left side of it anyway.
Hey Grant, where can I buy it? 😉
July 20, 2011 at 9:44 am
anelson 66875 (7/20/2011)
"Training" is dead - for IT jobs anyway. Training, as in getting somebody up to speed on a routine repeatable task like, say, machining an engine valve, is a 20th-century concept oriented toward assembly-line work, and a complete waste of money in the 21st century IT shop where the goal is to get ALL such repeatable tasks as automated as possible.The only investment in employee smarts that makes sense today is not "training" but rather "education." That is, getting us employees to the point where we're self-training, and willing/able to look at a problem, analyze it, and automate it. That is, to figure out:
- what can be pared away or done once and never/rarely touched again,
- what necessary, repetitious tasks can be factored out and coded up, and
- what choices will always require a brain in the loop, and how/who should decide.
This kind of education is, to be brutally honest, FAR beyond the capability of most business organizations. Maybe Google or Amazon could swing it, but I wouldn't bet my career on it.
The days when a company could expect to profit/survive by getting people "trained up" on maintenance procedures every couple of years... those days are long gone. Those of us who want long, satisfying IT careers are best advised to get motivated and figure out how to self-educate (if your schooling didn't already give you that), because anybody willing to take you by the hand and lead you to all the skills/tools you need, isn't going to be profitable enough to keep doing it very long.
Sorry.
Very well stated Sir.
The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival.
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