Why we give every new starter £1000
£1000. That’s how much everyone at iTech Media gets to spend annually on learning and development.
I remember when applying for the job, this perk felt too good to be true. I wondered what people spent it on, if they spent it at all. It seemed hard to believe they could offer this to every employee — from day one!
One year on, I can confirm that our learning and development budget is the real deal. We are continuously encouraged to invest in our futures, grow our skill sets and work on weaknesses. Since starting, I have taken coding courses (to varied success), learned how to be a better listener, read about the importance of typography and listened to content strategy podcasts.
Our scheme works so well because every fortnight we have a whole day set aside just for training. That means every two weeks we can focus on courses, books, podcasts and articles. Having both the time carved out and the budget set aside, it’s clear how much development means to the company. No surprises that ‘Grow Every Day’ is one of our core values.
I’ve rounded up some of the most popular resources from the past year. Hopefully, they can inspire you to learn a new skill or read up on a new subject area. Comment your top recommendations below! Any of these sound familiar?
Audible
“I use Audible with my headphones on when I go for a 20–30 minute walk during the working day or whilst cooking dinner. Over the past 6 weeks I have listened to ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear, ‘Happy Sexy Millionaire’ by Steven Bartlett, and ‘Shoe Dog’ by Phil Knight. I pick books that give me a headspace lift during the day. They offer a little inspiration, tips and tricks to continually improve, plus best practices. I learn more when listening rather than reading. The multitasking aspect of audiobooks also works well for me.”
Sam Biddlecombe, Delivery Lead
London Writers’ Salon
“I’ve used my budget to buy membership to the London Writers’ Salon. It’s a writer’s club that offers weekly writing sessions, critique workshops, and events with numerous authors. The weekly sessions have helped me cultivate better writing habits, to the point I managed to finally defeat procrastination and finish the first draft to my book. Also, I’ve made so many connections with other writers who have shared their expertise and helped me find more writing opportunities. The membership has been worth every penny!”
- Kirsten Amor, Content Editor
Scrimba
“I’ve used my training budget to buy an annual subscription to Scrimba, a front-end development learning platform. I’m brushing up on my Vue skills, as I’ve just joined iTech from more of a React background. It’s a great little platform, it combines video tutorials with a code editor all in the same window, which really helps with focus. If you’re new (or old!) to development I’d definitely recommend giving it a go, as they also provide free courses of similar quality.
- Annika Clarke, Engineering Manager
Natives: Race and Class in the Ruin of Empire by Akala
“Last year I used my Sunlight budget to buy Akala’s Natives. It combines his own experiences with historical, social, and political issues to highlight the complexity around race and class dynamics in Britain today. Natives is an articulate and compelling read, and highlights how pervasive racism remains in society today. Given these weren’t topics discussed in school, it was an eye-opener for me and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone wanting to understand how racism continues to influence our institutions and systems.”
- Kirsten Amor, Content Editor
DataCamp
“For the second year, I’ve used my Sunlight budget for an annual membership with DataCamp. It’s an online learning platform that provides courses where you can learn and practice skills for Data Science. It offers both Skill Tracks to acquire new skill fast and Career Tracks to get a broader knowledge in the data science field. I’m currently learning Python and R thanks to their method that combines a mix of short videos recorded by data experts and interactive exercises. I’m gaining the skills I need to become a versatile researcher able to conduct both qualitative and quantitative research. The price is very affordable for the number of courses and resources it offers, and the quality is high.”
- Andrea Fiorini, UX Researcher
Comment your top recommendations below! 👇🏼
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