Here’s How You Can Keep Learning in Tech WHILE Working Full Time!

Introduction:

I’ve always had belief that continuous learning is integral to success within a career in tech. Yes tech does change and there’s so much to keep up with but that just means things are innovating, improving and there’s plenty of exciting things to work with.

This week’s blog post shares some good practises on how to keep learning while still working full time.

As always, before we get into this week’s blog post, please make sure to applaud, comment and share with your friends.

Happy Reading!

Methods:

Learning is everywhere and this section just highlights different ways you can learn.

Method 1: Your Job:

Quite simply, this is the best place to learn because you’re working on ‘real work’. There are many great resources (Some listed below) but the fact is that being within an industrial setting with real-world challenges/pressures is the best way to learn.

Let me just clarify that personal projects/ using other resources to absorb as much information is great. I’m just highlighting the fact that these approaches aren’t quite going to simulate working on hundreds of 1000+ line files with 10+ contributors and many different libraries.

Your job is a structured way to use a structured set of tools (Currently C#, .NET Core Web API, AWS, Postman … for me) and learn more by delving deeper into that skillset to implement features, fix bugs and address technical debt.

Method 2: Other People Around the Office:

So I’ve spoken about your job which is the thing you’ll be doing most of the time but let’s just think beyond that.

Firstly, it’s good to network on a wider level: Within your team, you’ve got different software engineers, QA’s, maybe even a PM and it’s always good to gain an insight into what they do.

If you’re a software engineer in the office and you’re interested in the cloud then reach out to the DevOps engineers. See what they do, what tools they work with and how there work is different to yours.

Companies put on loads of different events from presentations to internal hackathons which all are great ways to expand your knowledge further.

Method 3: External Resources:

This one is your standard resources: The internet, YouTube, books …

Don’t neglect your fundamentals.

Even though I’ve landed a job, I’m still looking at Data Structure and Algorithm problems (Working my way through the Neetcode 150).

Method 4: Mentorship (‘Investing in Yourself, Self Development’):

Disclaimer: I’ve never spent money on any of these services.

With that being said, the idea of spending money on mentorship is tempting. Yes there’s so much free information out there but perhaps it’s not the fastest way.

If you find someone, whether in person professionally, or online, that you find inspirational and knowledgeable then perhaps this is the choice for you.

Of course, this is pricy but time really is valuable. Taking this approach gives you access to a wealth of experience from another person. It’s a free opportunity to ask questions, learn and it’s arguably the biggest learning accelerator.

Method 5 (Bonus): Make a Plan:

My bonus tip is just to get organised.

As great as all this sounds, you do need to plan when you’re going to learn (Especially if it’s one of the methods outside of your job).

Work life balance is key, the last thing you want is burnout!

Even if it’s just 1 hour per week then find a time that you can stick to consistently. There’s no point ‘learning’ just once, you’ve got to keep going at a pace that suits yourself.

Conclusion:

This week’s blog post aims to highlight a few different ways to ‘Keep Learning’.

Perhaps you’re aware of a new way to learn? Drop it in the comments and let me know!

Final Things:

As always, thank you for taking the time to read this article!

All my links are here!