This post is written by Frances Michelle C. Nubla, Research Associate, Ateneo Social Science Research Centre, Ateneo de Naga University.

  • The problem: How can we carve out time for career development while also working full-time?
  • Why it matters: Setting and achieving professional goals is a must in a highly competitive and fast-paced society.
  • The solution: There are informal opportunities available for us to acquire knowledge and skills. We only have to learn how to find these opportunities in informal settings.

Setting and achieving professional goals is a must in a highly competitive and fast-paced society. It is also vital for changing careers, moving up the company ladder, adapting to new responsibilities, and beating stagnation. As a teacher and a researcher, this means keeping abreast of new theories, discourses, software, and data collection and teaching methods, and becoming more efficient and effective in writing. But how can we carve out time for career development while also working full-time?

In the university where I work, we receive a lot of support for professional development. Aside from the regular sets of training in the university, we also receive funding for certificate training should we decide to attend training offered by different organisations. Funding for further education was also made available to me both by the university and a scholarship granting institution. These were instrumental in helping me complete my MA in Sociology.

Various courses and lectures are also widely available for free online. These are accessible through our phones or laptop and are also effective alternatives to face-to-face learning.

What I like about attending these types of formal training is that the training institutions and organisations are the ones in charge of what I need to enhance my skills as their training comes in module packages or courses. The downside, however, is that it can be expensive for those whose budget is limited and, in the case of taking graduate studies, the demand for time is high. And while I always gain new knowledge and skills in certificate training, these are not always immediately useful in my work.

More informal means

Other than formal training, another way to pursue career development is through the informal means of learning by doing and this method is relevant, practical, time-efficient, and inexpensive. Learning-by-doing is learning from direct experiences in contrast to learning by watching others perform, and reading or listening to instructions or lectures. Learning-by-doing is available in the workplace either by helping our colleagues or taking on a task assigned by our superior. In my case, it was by assisting my colleague that I became familiar with the complex process of conducting public opinion polling, a regular research activity of the scholars assigned in our office. Conducting public opinion polling requires several preparations and expertise in crafting poll questions, data processing, and statistical analysis and reporting. Engaging deeply in the public opinion polling activity taught me new things, helped me improve on what I learned in the previous round, and offered me an array of experiences that allowed me to better understand the process. Not only because I was able to experience the process first-hand but also because I got to have a mentor who answers my questions, this made the task relevant, the training practical and inexpensive, and the learning process time-efficient.

Learning-by-doing is learning from direct experiences in contrast to learning by watching others perform, and reading or listening to instructions or lectures.

Learning-by-doing is also not limited to the availability of a task. Sometimes, it can be done by taking a challenge head-on. For instance, it took me several proposal submissions before I had one accepted for funding. In the process I only did not become better in problematisation and proposal writing; I also gained additional knowledge on a specific subject area from reading, got exposed to different ways of organising a research team depending on the research design, and realised the importance of research support. The latter served as an inspiration to our proposed ADNU progRAMa project, a training workshop on research administration and management, which was granted funding by the Commission on Higher Education.

Stop, collaborate and listen

Collaboration is also a great way in which I achieved a broader perspective on topics. But what is unique about working collaboratively is I get to observe the distinct ways a colleague works. Be it in the way they deliver a message, keep notes, organise files, or manage their time.

These are just some of the practical tips I can share on how I achieve professional development vis-à-vis my existing responsibilities at work. Formal training is not the only way to achieve our professional goals, there are many informal opportunities available for us to acquire knowledge and skills. This track allows us to learn relevant and practical knowledge and skills for free while making efficient use of our time. We only have to learn how to find these needles in a haystack.

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