Recently I encountered a web team who had little to no familiarity with WordPress, Gutenberg, visual design rules, or recent tools used by the website community within their industry. This was both shocking and frustrating. It was uncomfortable to have to train “experts in their field” on the latest tools, styles, and security measures used by the webmasters of their industry. This made me wonder why they were behind in their industry and frustrated to learn that they were behind because they expected any additional training needed to be handed to them on a silver platter. I explained that I do independent continuing education (CE) because technology and trends move so fast that in order to keep up, I do independent research, take online tutorials, etc. This concept seemed foreign to them – taking their own personal time to refine and update the skills they are paid to be trained professionals at!? The audacity of my suggestion!

I am a huge advocate for education… Well, let’s face it, I’m a BIG NERD. But while some people see CE on their own time as company theft of their personal time and space, I see it as an investment in yourself. Much like going to college – it is a price we pay to learn tools and trades that help us stand out in a competitive market. Frankly, it’s even better than college because you can do it from home and many online tutorials are free! Plus there is the added bonus of learning to use tools that help make your work faster and more efficient – and that alone repays you for the time spent learning with CE.

Remember friends, as the old saying goes, work smart not hard!