The Training Dilemma: What to do When Your Job Won’t Invest in You

It’s not uncommon for job applications to promise amazing growth opportunities. It’s far less common for them to actually deliver.

The sad reality is that, even when your company has the best intentions, staff training often goes by the wayside when the everyday needs of the workplace take over.

So what can you do when you’re seeing no growth opportunities at work? How can you build a career when your employer won’t invest in you?

Avoiding Empty Promises

One of the best career skills you can develop is the ability to recognize an empty promise – especially when it comes from an employer. No matter how nice their offer sounds, no matter how reasonable it seems, if you can’t see what’s in it for both of you then you should always be suspicious about their intention to deliver.

If your employer asks you to take on an extra responsibility then that can be a good thing but only if they’re willing to offer something in return. Sometimes that something is more pay, other times it’s training in a skill that you’ll be able to put on your CV and carry over to your next job. If it’s neither, then you should seriously consider refusing.

It can feel uncomfortable to say no to your employer but unscrupulous employers have often been known to dangle the idea of career development while offering no tangible growth at work. Put simply, if you can’t see a clear quid pro quo, then your employer may not be entirely sincere in their promises.

Prioritising Your Portfolio

With that being said, taking on new responsibilities can be a good thing – even if it doesn’t directly bring in a raise. Career growth isn’t always about the title you’ve held or the amount you’ve earned. Sometimes, the best career growth is simply being able to say “it was my responsibility to do X for Y number of years.”

If you do this, however, make sure to already have your eye on your next job. It’s one thing to take on a little extra work in the interests of improving your CV/portfolio but there’s only so much value in that time investment.

For example, if you’re in a junior role and you start taking on the responsibilities of a senior role, that’s a really good thing… in the short term. In the long term there’s only so much value you can get from that. Once you’ve built up a year or two of experience, it’s time to go and actually get that senior role. Otherwise you’re just underpaid for your work.

If all this sounds like a very self-interested and pragmatic way to think about your career then that’s because it is. Sometimes you need to be selfish.

Any business you work for has an obligation to do everything they can to make money. Even if you love your colleagues and you have the nicest boss in the world, there’s always going to be a motivation to get the most out of you while giving you the least. If you want to get growth opportunities at work, then you’ll need to fight for them.

Taking a Skills Break

Of course, even if you’re getting no training at work, that doesn’t mean you can’t start developing new skills in your own time. The wonderful thing about the internet is that it’s given passionate people an incredible platform to share what they know and we can all benefit from that.

So long as you have a device with an internet connection and a bit of spare time, then you can get online and start learning. Even better, you can take things at your own speed, choosing from a huge variety of resources to find what works best for you.

There’s just one problem in that plan: time.

Working a full time job can be very draining, especially if you’re not finding it all that rewarding. While some people manage to learn new skills on the side, it can take a lot of willpower and, unless you absolutely love the time you spend learning, it can be a shortcut to burnout.

Even for those who do love learning, those long work hours are tiring and the brain doesn’t work as well when you’re cramming in some learning at the end of the day.

All of that to say that if you really want to learn a new skill then you might have to take the jump, save up some money, and take a year or two off. It’s scary and it’s a risk, but with the right focus and discipline, it could also be the start of a whole new career path.