Would you tell your manager you were taking classes?
Hey y’all. I have been thinking about maybe a career change so I’m going to enroll in some classes soon (currently in graphic design, but interested in UX design). These new skills are pretty relevant to what I am currently doing so it can technically be an advancement of skills/understanding, but also possibly lead to a career change if I really get into it. My question is: would you tell your manager if you were taking classes that could possibly mean a career switch? I’m on the fence about this since I really do feel like it can benefit the work we do here but I dont want to immediately give the negative impression that I’m not interested in my current job. As a side note, these classes would not affect my schedule since they are outside of work hours.
Yes, and I was strongly encouraged to submit it to tuition reimbursement when I told them about it
Was it relevant to your role at the time?
No, not at all
Could say it's to learn more about what your coworkers do so could be a better design partner with them if you don't trust your manager 🙄 I took a side course that completely changed my career and didn't tell my manager because he was a sociopath and knew he'd treat me like shit if I told him I'm thinking if jumping. Glad I got out when I did
Taking classes isn’t jumping ship. AND education is awesome, especially if you can see it benefiting you there in the future. Tell, them . . . don’t tell them, it’s up to you. As long as it doesn’t negatively impact your current productivity I’d be more than happy you’re growing. And if you’re uncomfortable approaching your manager on the topic it sounds like you have bigger problems. Develop your relationship with your manager a lot more so they’re more of a mentor than someone you question sharing development efforts with.
No point telling them unless it's relevant to your current position and growth at that company. In the past I've used classes I took as way to demonstrate to my management that I am growing or learning new skills, so they should promote/pay me more because I'm more valuable. Unless it's something like that, I don't see a reason to mention it.
Oh, and they didn't want to promote or pay me more. So I ended up leaving a few months later.
Sucks that they didn’t take those classes into consideration. I think I’ll keep it to myself then. Thanks for the advice!