Discover Career Growth & Development

Give us a snapshot of what you do to stay on top of your engineering knowledge and skills. 

I keep my engineering skills sharp by embracing challenges at work, where I’m fortunate to engage with constantly evolving technology and feature-rich work. This continuous shift naturally provides opportunities to learn new languages, tools, methodologies and processes, keeping my skills relevant and fresh. When I want to build a specific skill, I take targeted courses that align with my learning goals. Additionally, I make it a priority to attend tech conferences and local meetups to help me stay informed about the latest trends and emerging technologies while connecting with fellow engineers. 

To reinforce my learning and hold myself accountable, I try to set aside dedicated time each week to build my skills, whether that’s through hands-on practice, reading technical articles or experimenting with new tools. While it doesn’t always go as planned, I’ve found that scheduling a dedicated focus session on Fridays is a great way to close out the week while investing in personal growth. Learning is a continuous journey, and staying engaged ensures I remain adaptable and forward-thinking in my field.

What are your go-to resources for keeping your engineering skills sharp?

The internet, which I know is a broad statement, but it is truly an invaluable resource for continuous learning and so easily accessible. Gone are the days of pulling out the family’s encyclopedia collection to look up information. I frequently browse platforms like Wired, Medium and Stack Overflow to stay informed, and I also turn to Codewars, freeCodeCamp and GeeksforGeeks for free tutorials and problem-solving exercises that keep my coding skills sharp. Engaging in these challenges encourages me to think creatively and develop efficient and clever solutions. To me, engineering is getting to solve a new puzzle every day, which makes the work fun and exciting. Whether I’m troubleshooting a complex issue or automating a repetitive task, I always look for ways to optimize processes while expanding my knowledge.

What does the learning culture look like at Discover® and on your engineering team?

Discover fosters a strong culture of continuous learning, making skill-building a key part of our personal goals each year. We have a robust internal learning and knowledge-sharing platform called the Discover Technology Academy, which allows engineers to share information and best practices across the company via articles, documentation, tutorials, hosted workshops and more. Recently, the company launched an AWS Certification Challenge to encourage employees to expand their cloud expertise and show the company’s commitment to continuous learning. 

On my team, we’ve embraced “Learning Fridays,” where members dedicate time to developing new skills. Many of us utilize what we’ve learned to host lunch-and-learn sessions and share our insights with the team. This collaborative approach not only strengthens our personal knowledge but also reinforces a culture where learning is valued, encouraged and shared across the organization.