OJT

[hoytster]

OK, here's another subject, that's akin to the "OK to go work out?" topic.

How about taking the time for professional development, while at work?

Years past, people on this board have bragged about their self-training activity. I vaguely recall that somebody read a tech book per week. Impressive, and depressing, for me.

I can't do that. Between a longish workday, an hour-each-way commute, domestic chores at home in the evening, and being pretty tired and lazy during the last hour or two before going to sleep -- I get very little done on weekday evenings. I'm lucky to read a few pages in the book of the moment. Weekends are better, but there are too many demands on my time. I can take several months to get through a tech book. More likely, I never penetrate it further than 10-30%.

SO, what has worked for me at intervals in the past, is dedicated the first hour of the work day to professional development. I'm going to march through this book, a hour each day, first thing in the morning, before I get caught up in the fervor of the day's development, before I get tired and sleepy.

Again, however, I have the feeling that it's inappropriately appropriating my employer's time. I do not have permission to take that hour per day. My sense, based on experience to date, is that my supervisor would not approve of the idea, if I asked. "Right now we have a slipping deadline to get XYZ done..." -- which is a pretty good point.

On the other hand, I would be working on skills that ARE directly related to my work. In theory, this job is going to have me doing C# and ASP.NET. I don't know ASP.NET at all, and I better learn, to be useful here beyond my current PowerBuilder project.

It's on-the-job training, just at my initiative instead of my boss's.

What are your sentiments about simply taking the time to learn skills that will be useful in your current job, later? Does it matter, whether you're FTE (like me) or working by the hour?

- Hoytster

[TRexx]

I bill my client for all hours I spend doing things he asked me to do. No more. No less.  Billing for time spent doing something else, even if it may in some way benefit the client,  is stealing.

[katyt]

Well, my tasks is setup by my client, basically it says which tasks can be billed. One of the tasks is training. This is the time you spend on, say learning the framework the product is based on, or digging deep into a third party control, or learning a new language the project is using.

[David Cressey]

I was once asked by a client to learn and evaluate Data Architect (part of Power Designer from Sybase) with the clock running.  Man, was that fun!

The client got what they wanted,  an evaluation of the benefits they might derive from using DA on future products.  I got to learn something that was not just a new tool for me, but a whole new class of tools.

[I D Shukhov]

The first thing in the morning idea is okay if you have the discipline to stick with it.

The real problem, I find, is staying focused on studying -- no matter what the time or whatever the place.  At work, the excuse is that there is a deadline. At home, something else has to get done, or I'm doing something on the Internet.


I think a study group on this board would help.

[Rastus P Shagnasty]

Quote:What are your sentiments about simply taking the time to learn skills that will be useful in your current job, later? Does it matter, whether you're FTE (like me) or working by the hour?

As a FTE I would do it.  As an hourly type I wouldn't.  FTE are expected to work over at times, I always felt the employer could donate to the cause from time to time as well.
Hourly the expectations are different.

[TRexx]

Most places I've worked at not only allowed professional development by their FTEs, they encouraged it. A few even mandated a certain number of hours per year in formal education, on company time. (of course they expected you to get your work done as well   )

And most places have a reasonable budget for training materials. Even my current client which is shedding jobs at a frantic pace can usually find the money to buy books or other courseware.  

What amazes me is the small number of people that avail themselves of these opportunities.

[Jim in Chicago]

Most programming gigs tend to be boring with periods of down time.  You can use that time to "ahem" brush up on skills that can help your current employer.