We all know we should seek out training and growth opportunities and most of us truly want to grow and learn. However, the process of finding and participating in professional development can feel onerous and boring. Fortunately, this does not need to be the case. A simple shift in thinking can "spark joy" in the professional development process.
Find the Easy Button - Of course we're biased, but we like to think GovEvents is an easy button for finding training. We created this site to be a central hub for finding events applicable to growing careers and organizations in the government market. Use our search engine to narrow down your search by topic, location, continuing education credits, and more. Beyond us, reach out to your HR department. Those teams put in a lot of work developing in-house training and career development opportunities. Bottom line - tap into the research others have already done to find your perfect training match.
Discover how you learn - We all learn in different ways. Some people are visual learners, some auditory. Some people thrive on the energy of in-person events while others prefer virtual environments where they can learn at their own pace. Taking some time to truly evaluate your best learning environment and preferences will narrow down what opportunities will work best for you.
Decide what you want to learn - Create a list of learning priorities based on your excitement in the topic. Start with topics you feel a strong passion for to kickstart your learning process. This may mean taking on subject matter that is future looking - something you are not using in your job today but want to learn more about. Once you tackle that subject, think about what you liked best (and least) about the training experience. Then, you can use that knowledge to pick events that best match your learning style for less exciting (but equally important) topics.
Let go of the past - Training is not the same as it was 10 or even five years ago. Today's training courses utilize the latest technologies to create a more interactive experience including virtual and augmented reality. Many have online social communities related to the event to continue discussions long after the event has ended (and sometimes even before the event begins). Additionally, many training courses have abandoned the traditional lecture format for story-telling, for a more immersive experience that draws you into a topic through real-world examples told by the people involved.
Let us know how you are prioritizing learning in the coming months. What is making it easier and more fun? Share your ideas in the comments. Visit GovEvents for more government events worldwide.
