Choose Your Best Path for Learning, Training, and Certifications

One of the unique advantages of technical careers is the normalization of continuous learning. Learning new skills actually changes and shapes your brain in positive ways. As we mentioned in the Preface of this book, employers of this era expect their employees to constantly re-skill themselves. This puts developers at an advantage because ongoing learning, training, and certifications are the hallmarks of developers. While we know this to be true, there is always this tension between formal, informal, and self-taught learning processes. In this context, certifications appear as a crucial way to validate those learnings. This chapter will discuss how to merge and benefit from all the learning possibilities that are available for developers. Therefore, we’ve included the following main topics in the agenda of this chapter:

• Deriving maximum benefit from formal learning
• Expanding your opportunities through...

Deriving maximum benefit from formal learning

While formal learning is not the only method to gain technical skills, it can provide a valuable base of knowledge or addition to existing knowledge. In order to derive the maximum benefit from formal learning, you must be conscious and consistent. Sometimes, formal learning is undertaken as a requirement to move on to the next step, whether that be a degree or a position. When you approach learning in this way, it is easy to lose sight of why you are taking the time to learn the topic or skill. This is not what you want to do. Here are a few things we suggest:

• Approach every learning experience by first clarifying and understanding why you are investing your time and money (or someone else’s money, if your employer is paying the costs).
• Next, be clear about what you want your learning outcomes to be through this formal learning experience, and keep your mind focused on this outcome throughout the educational experience...

Expanding your possibilities through informal learning

In Heather’s two decades of experience working with some of the top developers around the world, approximately half of the developers I have worked with have been self-taught, meaning that they have not completed formal learning to acquire their development skills.

Whether you have acquired your skills through formal learning or not, there is a significant role to play in informal learning. You will expand your career possibilities through informal learning.

There are many forms that informal learning can take. While there are a myriad of online audio and/or video options available, there are also books (or e-books or audiobooks) and the often-overlooked informal learning option of pair programming. There are also books published by Packt on pair programming. Informal learning has the advantages of being affordable, accessible, and self-paced. You must still keep at the top of your mind the motivation for your learning...

Self-learning – be independent by learning how to learn

While it is important to share your knowledge, it is just as important to be independent in your learning. Part of the excitement in a technical development role is that technologies evolve and change constantly. In order to succeed, then, you must learn how to learn. You need to learn how to adapt to the expectation that you will need to acquire new skills, and those are most often expected to be acquired by employees independently, in their own time.

Once you have identified the way you prefer to learn, self-learning (or learning how to learn) becomes second nature. It is an intrinsic part of the way you perform in your development role. You incorporate learning new skills into your everyday routine and habits. Making learning a habit takes time, practice, and commitment. When you establish the idea that self-learning will be part of your routine, identify the way you learn best, and commit to dedicating time for learning...

Acquiring and benefiting from certifications

Certifications can communicate and verify your expertise with certain technologies. They can differentiate you from others with similar credentials and experience and they can instill confidence in your skills and knowledge. The benefits of certification will vary depending on your role, location, and experience level. There are no disadvantages to certifications, but their value will vary depending on these factors.

For example, if you are an entry-level junior developer, a certification can help to supplement formal and informal learning. You may not yet have work experience to prove your expertise and skills, but certifications can be a way to supplement your education and verify your knowledge.

The value of certifications will also vary depending on the reputation of the certifying institution. The more well-known a certifying institution is and the higher its influence, the more value will be conveyed with the certification. For...

Combining several learning possibilities

As you evolve through your career and learning pathway, you will need to combine all of the methods we have discussed in this chapter to achieve career growth. You will undoubtedly have some formal learning, some informal learning, and certifications, and along the way, you will acquire the ability to learn. Working as a software developer in the industry, you will very quickly learn that the expectations for continuous learning and improvement are real. It can be overwhelming if you have not designed a strategy to approach how you will learn. Remember to evaluate how you learn and why you are learning the skills you have identified. Be purposeful in your approach to your learning. Attempt to combine some elements of all of these methodologies to learn.

Continuous learning and development can also be expensive. Your employer can often be a resource for these expenses as part of your ongoing employee training and development budget. All too...

Interview

Mala Gupta

Q: Can you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about who you are?

A: I work as a developer advocate with JetBrains. I have written a couple of books on Java, mostly on Java certifications. One was on the new features of Java. I’m a Java Champion, and I also lead two communities: one is the Delhi Java User Group, and the other one is Women Who Code Delhi. Thanks for the opportunity to let me talk about my journey.

Q: Thank you so much. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got started in your career and how you got involved with technology?

A: I did my undergraduate course in computer science. The story of why I am a developer goes way back to when I was in class six. That was when I started learning coding at my school, and I immediately knew that it was the career that I wanted to see myself in, so I pursued it. I did coding at school for a couple of years, and then I did my undergraduate course in computer science. That’...

Summary

We have learned that, to advance your technical career, learning is the key to your success. The skills that you have learned in this chapter include how to derive maximum benefit from formal learning, how to grow your options through informal learning, how to be independent by learning how to learn, how to acquire and benefit from certification, and how to apply it all towards career growth.

If you apply these skills to your learning path, you will be one of the employees who are not only skilled and expert in their current role but also ready to take on the next high-profile assignment, promotion, or new role. When these opportunities come along, you do not want to be scrambling to acquire the necessary skills; you want to be the individual who is ready with the skills needed to tackle the next step in your career path and journey.

In the next chapter, now that we have mastered learning, we will show you how to optimize your social network. Your social network can be...