Ask HN: What to spend my company's learning allowance on | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What to spend my company's learning allowance on

9 pointstf2_pyro14 comments

I get an annual $400 allowance from my company to spend on tech related books/courses/general education. I wanted some recommendations on what I could spend this money on.

Some background on me - I am an advanced python backend programmer (not web just general programs) but because don't come from a computer science background, recently completed (and loved) both nand 2 Tetris courses. What I learn doesn't have to be directly relevant to my career in any way and I'm open to anything that is just interesting in the computer science space.

I know interesting is subjective but I also welcome random suggestions that you enjoyed learning (has to be related to computer science/maths/physics) in some way so that I can at least see what is out there.

Some things I am thinking about learning more about

- Linux (thinking of getting How Linux works) - System security (maybe black hat python?) - Machine learning (maybe Andrew Ngs courses?) - Improving as a tech manager (Haven't really researched any books on this...) - General technology knowledge (byte go newsletter)

Recruiter perspective - kill 2 birds with 1 stone:

1. Of course, education that you find useful, interesting, and fun.

2. Education that also best "signals" knowledge useful for future employment.

As the past year+ has shown us, you never know when you'll suddenly find yourself in need of a job. So keep in mind your future and consider education that "sells" well.

For example: fill in "perceived" gaps that future employers might miss in this world of impersonal resume keyword scans or LinkedIn talent searches.

A. Based on the background you shared, it sounds like a lack of CS degree hasn't hampered your career. But it'd be great to not only beef up your CS knowledge, but show it. So one day an employer is comparing you to another Engineer with similar skills, but lack of CS degree... except you have a CS-related Udemy "Nanodegree" or Coursera courses under your belt. Your knowledge plus interest in relevant continuing ed will give you an edge.

B. If you like startups, knowledge to make you more well-rounded (aka generalist/full stack) would be useful. Consider courses in areas like Frontend development, Orchestration, Big Data.

C. "Hot topics" that have staying power. Between 2019 - 2021, it seems like everybody and their mother had the Self-Driving Nanodegree. Looking back, maybe a broader pursuit like Computer Vision courses (which still touch upon areas like SLAM) would have been more beneficial. Nowadays, maybe learning more about NLP (which will touch upon LLM) would be a good option.

And be sure to make this visible, e.g. LinkedIn profile.

O'Reilly's library is $499/year, or $75/year (with some other resources) if you're a professional member of the ACM which is, apparently, $99 per year (I didn't know the base cost until just now, I've been a member for years but have other things added on that push it past $99). I'd recommend that versus buying specific books since pretty much every worthwhile, non-open-access, technical book on software I've needed has been in there (not all, though). That $75 also gives you access to Pluralsight (I have mixed opinions on their courses, I wouldn't pay for it on its own personally but it's not bad if it's included in something else like here) and Percipio (never used it, can't comment).

So $174, toss in ACM's digital library for another $99 to go to $273 and you have $127 left each year for specific books you find to be worthwhile and want a hardcopy of or for other things. (It's actually cheaper for the first year with the link I posted below, but you should plan on the full price for the future.)

https://www.oreilly.com/online-learning/pricing.html

https://services.acm.org/public/qj/keep_inventing/qjprofm_co...

"The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win" by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford. This is a must-read for anyone wanting to understand modern tech management in a DevOps context.

"The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change" by Camille Fournier. This provides insights and advice on how to navigate the path from engineer to tech leader.

The Phoenix Project was a great book and I’m still trying to un-Brent myself.

+1 for the Phoenix Project, but to my demise, when I first read it I looked at Erik and was like: "wow, I want to be this guy" and that was not the best idea.

Have you read the Unicorn Project btw?

I haven't read Unicorn Project yet. I've heard mixed opinions on it. If you've read it, what's yours?

Haven't read it either yet. I'm also looking for opinions :P

Recent discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37906206

Does it need to be tech?

A remote masters in a field of interest spaced over 3-5 years? $400/year could be 20-50% of the cost, more lifelong than skills based training, and check the university to see if you get free journal access via their library, a must for a master's.

I know a few folks that use their learning allowance to work with fractional CTOs that offer paid mentorship i.e. grow from an engineering manager towards CTO. LMK if you need an introduction.

This is interesting. Are these CTOs you know or an actual company that "contracts out" fractional CTOs?

I know at least 3 of them freelancing full-time (West EU). I have seen fractional communities (CRO/CMO), but that seems more of a US/UK thing.

think about skills that will bring you more money, power and freedom

Whatever field you choose: lots and lots of books.

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