The Importance of Learning (and How Schellman Can Help)

American entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple Steve Jobs once said, “learn continually—there’s always ‘one more thing’ to learn!”

But in fact, oftentimes, when people leave school and enter the workforce, they consider their learning largely done—after all, you’ve just spent 18-22 years of your life in a classroom, so you’re ready to leave all that behind. To many, that’s plenty of time spent learning, and they want to start doing.

But even as one embarks on a career, it’s important to never stop learning—to never lose the drive for more education, especially since it doesn’t always have to come in the form of hours spent in a classroom (which may not be your cup of tea). Depending on where you work, you might even have the support of the organization that employs you in continuing your personal development.

As the Senior Manager of the Knowledge and Learning Management (KaLM) team at Schellman, I am proof of our firm’s dedication to education—it’s my job to engineer these opportunities, not just for our team members at the firm, but also for other individuals and companies seeking to further understand complex topics within the industry of compliance.

Helping other people learn is my passion, which is why, in this article, I’ll go over some simple questions you should ask yourself during your ongoing development. While those are pretty informal, I’ll also go over the formal opportunities Schellman now offers for cybersecurity and compliance professionals—both for those who work here and those who do not.

Sharing Knowledge as an Advantage

The thing is, learning doesn’t just benefit you—or at least, it doesn’t have to. Sharing knowledge can be a huge advantage professionally as well as personally— helping others with your expertise can help you to be seen as a leader in your field. Not only will your team benefit from your extra education, but you might even inspire others to seek out some extra information that they can also share in kind.

I speak from experience. I made time this year to become a Certified Knowledge Manager (CKM) and I also attended two learning conferences in person this year. The networking and learning from others that understand what my “day-to-day” looks like was immeasurable. We were able to connect and share best practices and words of wisdom with each other.

Having acquired that new knowledge, it’s my priority now to spread that content—and other insight—to more people. Who can I inspire with learning? Who needs to hear what? Engage hearts first, and everything to gain will fall into place.

What Have You Learned Recently?

I told you my learning endeavors—now, have you done anything similar recently? As you reflect on your learning journey over the last year, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Have I challenged myself to learn something new this year?
2. Did I earn a certification?
3. Have I utilized what I have learned from a book, a podcast, a vlog, a blog, etc.?
4. Have I built a network with others in my field?
5. Have I learned from others in my field?
6. Have I identified any knowledge gaps?
7. Have I shared best practices learned with others?
8. Have I built processes based on what I have learned?
9. Am I leading by example?
10. Have I encouraged a learning culture?
11. Am I sharing my learning journey/experiences and stories with others?
12. What are my future learning goals?

Learning Opportunities at Schellman

For us at Schellman, many—if not most of us—have answers to those questions because we’re lucky enough to work for an organization that encourages learning.

Every team member here is supported in seeking the appropriate educational continuing professional education (CPE) requirements for relevant accounting, audit, and IT certifications and licenses. Not only that, but if you meet the threshold of eligibility, Schellman will also pay for your obtaining one certification a year—that includes related preparatory materials, training, and examination fees.

Even if you don’t work here and you’re looking to jumpstart the next phase of your career, we can help. To assist clients and colleagues in the industry, Schellman is in the process of launching a public training program featuring bootcamps for a variety of certifications, including:

 In addition to these, we’ve partnered with the CMMC-AB to also provide courses on CMMC learning and certification. As a CMMC Licensed Training Provider (LTP), our CMMC Certified Provisional Assessors and instructors have been engaged with this emerging certification since the beginning, uniquely positioning us to support you in gaining in-depth insight regarding:

• The CMMC Model;
• Application within the Department of Defense (DoD); and
• The expectations and requirements imposed upon organizations that do business with the DoD.

If you’re interested in these opportunities, we are currently hosting classes through November 30, 2023—for more information on specific courses, please contact us or subscribe for useful updates.

Always Keep Learning

I encourage you to never stop learning—you’ll become a better resource for the people around you while also positioning yourself for more opportunities.

You’re probably thinking, that’s easier said than done, and I get it— we all have very busy schedules, and it’s complicated enough just to get work done without finding new things to dig into. That’s why I always say you should block time for learning just like you do when you clear your schedule for a project. That time won’t just appear, but despite how busy we all are, it‘s vitally important to continuously challenge yourself to learn, build your skills, and make time to network with others in your field. 

Before you get started back learning, let’s bring this full circle to Steve Jobs and remember, “there’s always ‘one more thing’ to learn!”