I’VE BEEN TELLING YOU THIS FOR YEARS!

SLA PR Director Cara Schatz cites an AP article by Melissa Kossler Dutton.

“According to the career experts they spoke to, if you take responsibility for your education and skills development by attending the 2009 SLA Annual Conference on your own dime, you will get the attention of management at your company, and do a lot to insulate yourself from the next round of lay-offs!

‘…an employee who is willing to cover part of the expense is going to get the attention of management, said Ed Rigsbee, an expert in trade association conferences and president of Rigsbee Research Consulting Group in Los Angeles. "If someone is willing to spend a nickel of their own, I'm going to be more willing to listen," said Rigsbee, who believes employees should invest 5 percent of their income in professional development,’”

Just what I’ve been saying for years. YOU should pay for your own continuing professional education because 1) YOU are the one who benefits most from continuing professional education, not your employer and 2) it is part of being a professional. Yes, it’s nice if your employer helps, but the responsibility is still yours.

URLs:
SLA blog entry:http://slablogger.typepad.com/sla_blog/2009/04/pay-your-own-way-to-sla2009-and-get-the-attention-and-respect-of-your-boss.html
Original article: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/story/4907133/