Learning can happen in a range of situations and doesn’t necessarily need to involve formal training. Working in IT in an educational setting provides a huge range of opportunities to learn and develop new skills as well as gain experience of putting those new skills into action. While informal, learning through on the job helps with
- Understanding the context of your role and how to apply your skills in that context
- Building relationships with your co-workers through learning from their real-world experiences
- Providing immediate feedback on how you’re developing your knowledge and skills
But what counts as on-the-job learning? Below are some suggestions that you might come across that can aid you in developing your specific IT expertise or broader core skills.
- Observing important meetings either internal or across the institution
- Job shadowing a colleague
- Being shown how to use an application by a colleague
- Engaging in job-related online communities
- Participating in workshops not related to day-to-day job role
- Representing your team in cross-institutional groups
- Researching a new technology or approach to IT services
- Sharing your learning with your team or department
- Presenting to Committees on behalf of your team or department
- Providing cover for senior members of the department
- Leading an internal team project
- Presenting on behalf of your team or department at an external event
- Delivering a challenging or new work project or event
- Leading a cross-institutional group
