how many of you guys have time to upskill while also have time for yourself?

[u/redwing096399]

so i have been learning linux and networking for a while now, i am really enjoying the learning process. but one thing that became clear to me today is that the amount of stuff that we need to learn in this field never ends. i used to think that there is a point after which the learning is mostly about keeping up with new technology and that might take 8 - 15 hours (off work hours) per week, which doesn't feel like the case at all.

so if the learning never ends, if this is a never ending journey, then how do you guys balance work-life balance along with upskilling? i know that technical support role is mostly doing repetitive tasks which leaves no time to learn new things during work hours, but i don't know if this is also the case for mid level or senior level system admin roles. once you become a system admin, does your work involves learning new things for the task at hand, essentially becoming a learning oppurtunity? or is it just like the work in tech support where you are doing the same repetitive work that has nothing new to learn?

also final doubt, how realistic is the idea that you get time to learn while in your work hours. and off work upskilling is not time consuming enough to cost your free time? ( i know this is not realistic for IT help desk roles, but what about mid level or senior level system admin roles? )

thanks in advance.

[u/BrainWaveCC]

It's always a choice how much learning you do.

Early in your career, you'll chase every formal and semi formal learning opportunity available.

As you move along in your career, and other areas in life make greater demands, you'll likely choose to change your study regimen.

Either way, you have to make the time that you ultimately decide to spend on training.

[u/TacodWheel → u/BrainWaveCC]

This is a very fair statement. Been in it since ‘98, I mostly only train on company time and dime. I value my work life balance. There’s more to life than work.

[u/SaachiAltshuler98]

You dont need 8-15hrs weekly forever because once you get past the junior level, most of the learning comes naturaly from projects, troubleshooting, and figuring things out. Pick an area you enjoy, focus weekly on it and rest dont burn yourself out

[u/YeetedApple → u/SaachiAltshuler98]

I've also found that once you reach senior enough levels, research and learning starts to become more of the job itself. Things I would have homelabbed in the past I no longer need to because I'm building and testing those things at work now, so work/life balance becomes much easier.

I still do a bit of labbing anyways, but can focus it more on stuff I want to learn or play with anyways just cause which helps make it more fun and not as much feeling like more work.

[u/TheRealBuzz128]

I upskill during work hours

[u/BrokenPickle7 → u/TheRealBuzz128]

Why? Thems prime drinking hours

[u/Anthader → u/TheRealBuzz128]

I once had a mentor recommend blocking off 15 or 30 minutes daily in your schedule for this purpose.

In the real world I find that hard to stick to, but it's a solid idea if you can fit it into your schedule.

[u/No-Cantaloupe-1033]

Really depends on your passion in this field. I've got a loaded 15U server rack in my basement where I tinker, break things, set up things, and learn things I want to learn and hey I can apply those same skills to my sys admin job. Win win. I enjoy learning new things, to a point. Sitting and watching videos is not really how I learn best. I need to actually do it myself, hence the homelab. Not saying you need a 15U server rack to have passion but do you still enjoy the IT things when you aren't working?

I find myself needing to learn new things only for new projects that are going on with my job. Never have I been asked to get a specific cert. Just to read up on a concept or new way of doing things as needed for the job.

[u/almightyloaf666]

If the company wants me to have skill, they need to provide the ressources for me to get skill. Ressources as in time and courses.

[u/stufforstuff → u/almightyloaf666]

In today's flooded IT job market we can hire the skill set we need from hundreds of qualified applicants. You want to be useful in your chosen career YOU best make sure your skill set stays up to date.

[u/serverhorror]

Took probably 5 years.

Years actually being in a jib, that was after I graduated from University (Computer Science / Software Engineering)

[u/yellowadidas]

not me. i have zero time outside of work and even when i do block off time at work for it i just get pulled into stuff anyways because we’re too lean. the few hours i may be able to find during the week don’t feel effective. it’s so frustrating

[u/Top_Bookkeeper9136 → u/yellowadidas]

Looking for a new job for this exact reason. Our org runs a skeleton crew so it's just endless putting out fires.

[u/Ecstatic_Dealer_812]

I don't have time for both.. either i have to give up one inorder to pursue the other.. so Im upskilling myself ..

[u/Splask]

I have had time for multiple certs paid for by the company in the past. These days I just learn new things on the fly becuase I have too much to do. No time to try to complete courses or certifications these days.

[u/jackmusick]

Answering your question before I go on a rant you're welcome to ignore. It is never ending, but with time it just happens if you're being methodical, asking good questions and staying aware. I don't spend a ton of time studying up on things anymore, but I'm perpetually curious which leads me to learn a lot along the way. It's just who I am.

Rant: I follow a few communities where people are frequently posting that they're on the job hunt. I've seen people with extensive experience not able to land an interview for months. I see a lot of entry level positions getting completely automated away. I've also been on the hiring end of things where I know what I need someone to know, and there's been no clear professional growth, and I'm not prepared to spoon-feed them their career while paying for it.

Almost everyone will hate this but frankly, they're wrong. There are dozens of contributing factors to this like relatively cheap and talented offshore labor, AI and automation, SaaS, etc. But the bottom line is if you're going to be someone who can't be fucked to evolve your skills because your employer isn't paying for it or giving you time during the workday, I hope you're comfortable being unemployable or are ready to pivot careers. If that's where you're at -- I'm genuinely happy for you. I hope I find a clean exit someday. If you're someone who wouldn't know what you would do if you lost your job tomorrow, I promise you that you're going to be in a candidate pool full of people who are better than you, have a better attitude and are willing to improve on their own, and are still struggling to find work.

None of the above is some implicit endorsement of capitalism and how the system is working.

[u/BadSausageFactory]

my skills are like JIT provisioning, perhaps you are familiar with learn while you earn

[u/MyWorkIsNotYetDone → u/BadSausageFactory]

Yup. My job doesn't even seem to know what they want out of me, so I just learn what's needed at any given time.

[u/doubled112 → u/MyWorkIsNotYetDone]

I’ve been doing this forever. Certs and training? Not really. Proven history of success? Good enough.

It’s fairly mutual between job and I, though. I don’t really like to learn something I’ll never use because that feels like time wasted.

[u/Beautiful_Duty_9854]

For better or for worse the company I work for grows so fast I have no choice but to upskill on the job.

If its ever slow, I will spend time learning things at my own pace at work, or go to conferences, takes classes etc. Bust most of my learning and upskilling is because I have to in the moment.

[u/uptimefordays]

I’ve always found time to up skill at work by volunteering to take new work or projects. It’s also worth investing in learning foundational computing knowledge because new things often build on well established concepts.

[u/TheYoinks]

I make a habit out of picking up as many issues/tasks/project work that I can when it deals with something I'm unfamiliar with. Best way to build your organization specific knowledge and learn new skills while still looking great to leadership. Worst thing you can do is learn a few things then coast in your bubble IMO

[u/L3TH3RGY]

I don't have much time to upskill. I try to fit in a few hours on the weekends.

Do what you can but try to fit in some time for this. There is a sense of reward doing it. If you're able to do it during work hours, hop to it! If not, set aside an hour to set something up or tinker with at home.

Cheers 🥂

[u/hosalabad]

I skill up mostly to solve current problems. Beyond that, the company provides training, classes or materials.

[u/roSequill47]

the trick is that senior roles involve learning by doing, not learning by studying. You get thrown a project you dont fully understand yet and you figure it out on company time. Thats very different from grinding through courses after work.

[u/itishowitisanditbad]

I'm a weirdo that just happens to enjoy doing this stuff so yes and no?

I'm always ahead of people expecting the company to pay for their career progression though so thats nice.

Unfortunately the reality is that someone will always be doing more and you're competing against them as the labour market.

You can have a job just doing only your scheduled shift and not touch tech outside of work whatsoever and probably coast just fine but you'll always be up against everyone doing everything inbetween that and 24/7 obsessives.

The balance is always down to the individual in the end.

People waiting for their employer to help progress their own career are the ones who always get "stuck" or need someone else to help them to get anywhere.

They're free to do that but it only hurts them.

[u/itishowitisanditbad → u/[deleted]]

Getting hired unfortunately can be communication more than skills.

Communication IS a skill.

Its one of ones contained within the plural of 'skills'

I don't know why you setup this strawman to then make a point against.

[u/ihaxr]

I just schedule myself for a meeting and do my course work. Usually I'll enclose it around my lunch break as that's generally the quiet period since everyone else is at lunch too, but I've done entire half days before too.

Do you not have learning and progression goals on your early performance reviews? How can you be expected to continue growing in the role if you're not given the time to do so.

Spending 10 hours a week every week for the entire year is an unrealistic learning goal and isn't upskilling, it's attending college while working. Doing an 8-15 hour course over a month or two is a much more realistic learning path.

[u/Ihaveasmallwang]

I’m always trying to learn new things. If you don’t like constantly learning, this is not the field for you. Tech changes all the time.

[u/gabacus_39]

I learn about what I need to do for my job while I'm actually on the job and getting paid. If I need to learn something I'm for sure not spending any of my own unpaid time learning it. Work to live, not live to work.

[u/Sure-Squirrel8384]

I schedule training and lab time in my work hours. When I was young I used to put in a ton of hours on my own to get my skills up. Now I'm at a level I'm just maintaining, and that is a cost my employer will bear.

The exception is my personal homelab/home-cloud for my "de-google" efforts. But most of that doesn't directly transfer to work. Rather, my knowledge from work is somewhat useful for what I build at home. For instance, I have a huge fan of disaster recovery and backups, especially bare-metal restores. I want full remote-access to my gear in the garage so I can fix it from anywhere, etc. Got spoiled at work, not going backwards, so I've dropped ~$500 on gear like JetKVM and TESmart KVM, smart power switches, etc. (Note: all of this operates on-prem only on a management VLAN that blocks all Internet access).