STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

avalon21 · BCBG

Training at your job?

pollyjean23 · Marc Jacobs

The college at which I work has a professional development department. It's okay. I would love much more, but at least we have one. In addition to training sessions, staff can take one free class per semester.

kenzie · Chanel

My company offers a ton of training- about 40 different classes, from product training to project management to MS Office and other software training. And once a year in the fall, they offer a 9-week conversational German class because our international headquarters are in Germany and most employees have to go there at some point. I'll be taking this class this fall because I'll probably be going to Germany in early '08.

And if my company doesn't offer a class on site, they'll pay to send their employees to go to off-site training. I'm also doing this and going to an advanced Photoshop seminar this fall.

Kelly · Hermes

No! I even have to sneak watching instructional DVDs about adobe products at work (we use photoshop & illustrator and I always want to learn more). Last week a woman wanted to go to a seminar about photoshop and she had to take a vacation day to do it, and they wouldn't pay for it for her, either. It makes me so mad - it's like they're trying to stunt us!

luckylily · Gucci

I work for a fairly small (7 staff) non-profit conservation organization. Given our minimal operating budget, my boss and our Board do their best to encourage us to do trainings in our field.

pollyjean23 · Marc Jacobs

kenzie wrote:

My company offers a ton of training- about 40 different classes, from product training to project management to MS Office and other software training. And once a year in the fall, they offer a 9-week conversational German class because our international headquarters are in Germany and most employees have to go there at some point. I'll be taking this class this fall because I'll probably be going to Germany in early '08.

And if my company doesn't offer a class on site, they'll pay to send their employees to go to off-site training. I'm also doing this and going to an advanced Photoshop seminar this fall.

Very nice, Kenzie. I guess that's the difference between the corporate world and the post-secondary education world, eh?

Suasoria · Chanel

Unfortunately, I'm it (we're a small biz). I do the best I can and so does everyone else in helping new people get adjusted. There is a hosted software system we use, and they have training every two weeks, so that at least is out of our hands.

kenzie · Chanel

pollyjean23 wrote:

kenzie wrote:

My company offers a ton of training- about 40 different classes, from product training to project management to MS Office and other software training. And once a year in the fall, they offer a 9-week conversational German class because our international headquarters are in Germany and most employees have to go there at some point. I'll be taking this class this fall because I'll probably be going to Germany in early '08.

And if my company doesn't offer a class on site, they'll pay to send their employees to go to off-site training. I'm also doing this and going to an advanced Photoshop seminar this fall.

Very nice, Kenzie. I guess that's the difference between the corporate world and the post-secondary education world, eh?

Yeah, I guess so. smile

But I should add that my company doesn't feel 'corporate.' We're still a privately owned company, versus publicly traded, so that keeps things in check. And just today, the president of the US subsidiary was at the cutting board in our department's printing room, cutting things that someone was printing for him. And he also knows exactly who I am and I what I do, despite the fact that I have minimal contact with him and there are 500 other employees on our site.

It's definitely a unique company with a ton of really great perks (Starbucks coffee, free juice, workout facility, a paid week off between Christmas and New Year's without having to use vacation time, etc, etc, etc). After my last company, I hardly know what to do with myself!

avalon21 · BCBG

Wow Kenzie! That sounds awesome! You are offered a lot of great benefits! Do you ever do team leadership or fun types of seminars? The one I did was so much fun! I think I liked it so much because I could relate the teachings to my job but it wasn't too work related. http://www.moversandshakespeares.com/
ttara123- I can't believe that further education that directly relates to your job isn't given or even thought about. Can you ask them for additional training and explain to them why it will help you on the job? It doesn't sound like it from your story about your co-worker but maybe it is worth a try?

Kelly · Hermes

avalon21 wrote:
ttara123- I can't believe that further education that directly relates to your job isn't given or even thought about. Can you ask them for additional training and explain to them why it will help you on the job? It doesn't sound like it from your story about your co-worker but maybe it is worth a try?

Well, I kind of got some. I was over at my parents' house and my mom was showing me some catalog she got from the local university with classes that they offer to the public (like community education classes, you can't get college credit for them or anything) and I said I wanted to take a business writing class, since my new position has a lot more writing (I was an English minor, but I know things are a lot different in the media/business world and I don't feel confident in it). My dad was there, and he's one of the owners of my company so he just gave me the company card to charge the class and said that he'd just inform everyone else that I was allowed to do it. He didn't really ask any questions, though, and I'm positive that if I was a "regular" employee I'd have a hard time convincing them to let me do it...but because I work for the family company it's easier to get special "favors." Still, that woman I was talking about who had to take a vacation day is my aunt, his sister, so maybe I just have to catch them on a good day!