Justify your continuing education to your supervisor, and gain funding (or reimbursement) for skill-building courses.
Acquiring knowledge and honing your skills can be important as you try to grow your career, change jobs, or gain a competitive edge in your industry. Continuing education can make a huge difference as you explore where you want your career to take you. This is especially true for specialized training and certifications, or any skills that will add value to your job scope.
Often, figuring out what you want to learn can be the easy part. Making a bold career move to follow your passions. Learning skills that will help you do your job more efficiently and with more expertise. Gaining additional training that will help you move up in your career. These are clear reasons for continued education.
However, once you have found a course or workshop that will expand your skill set, you still need to figure out how to pay for it. Fortunately, many employers fund their employees’ continued education.
Get Funded (or Reimbursed)
Your employer may or may not already have a system in place to fund or reimburse your educational expenses. The goal for you is to clearly communicate how your education will contribute to your job function, and/or the goals of the organization.
If your employer is looking for justification as to why you should attend courses, these steps can help you communicate how participating in the workshop or course will contribute to your job function.
How It Benefits Your Position
Communicate your desire to attend the workshop and how it may benefit your position or even the company. For example, you could offer to give a presentation of what you learned at the workshop upon your return, so that others may gain some insight into data visualization. By sharing the information you’ve learned with other employees, your employer will maximize return on investment.
Value of Attendance
Demonstrate the value of workshop attendance. For example, if you are currently outsourcing data visualization projects, lay out some numbers that show how the cost of the workshop will be returned by empowering yourself to perform tasks that were previously an added cost.
Skills Gained
Explain to your employer the exact skills that you’ll be learning. You can pull these directly from the details listed in the course description or syllabus.
In the case of our Data Visualization course, those might include:
- Learning the principles of data analysis and visualization and the different ways in which data can be encoded visually
- Reviewing various chart types and when to use them.
- Learning to minimize visual “junk” and practice color theory & effective annotation.
- Hands-on experience with data visualization tools Datawrapper, Tableau Public, and more to create maps, graphs, and all kinds of charts.
For our Podcasting courses, the skills might include:
- Practicing interview techniques including how to prepare and record the interview.
- Writing scripts and narration for podcasts.
- Learning how to professionally edit audio using Adobe Audition.
- Best practices for planning and workflow.
- Selecting and using professional equipment.
Template Letter to Employer
Below are two templates you can use, pre-populated with Berkeley Advanced Media Institute’s information, which you can customize to meet your needs to attend one of our courses, or a course elsewhere.
Letter for Data Visualization
Dear [Name of Your Supervisor],
I am requesting support to attend Berkeley Advanced Media Institute’s online course: Data Visualization for Storytellers, starting on [dates].
I believe that in addition to improving my personal and professional skill set, participating in this course will benefit [Your Company/Organization] because the training provided will advance my complex reasoning skills, and improve my ability to gain specific and company-wide insights through data.
Berkeley Advanced Media Institute is housed in UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and provides digital media workshops and custom training programs for career professionals around the world. They offer courses in digital media content production, multimedia storytelling, social media, and, of course, data visualization. Their instructors are UC Berkeley award-winning faculty and leading industry practitioners who are experts in creating and developing compelling, innovative digital stories across multiple digital platforms.
At the Data Visualization workshop, I will be learning the principles of data analysis and visualization. I’ll also be getting hands-on practice with industry-standard tools and programs, such as Datawrapper and Tableau Public. I will emerge from this workshop with the skills needed to present data in a way that is both effective and aesthetically pleasing. [Elaborate on how this ties into your job function.]
I would love to have the opportunity to take part in this workshop, so I hope that you will approve my attendance. The caliber of Berkeley Advanced Media Institute’s workshops and courses give great value for the money, and the registration fee is only [course fee].
I believe the value I will bring to [Name of Company/Organization] as a result of this training will be a positive step in the overall success of our company, and I hope you will agree with me and allow me to attend.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
Letter for Podcasting
Dear [Name of Your Supervisor],
I am requesting support to attend Berkeley Advanced Media Institute’s online course, Podcasting: Telling Stories in Sound, starting on [dates].
I believe that in addition to benefiting me both personally and professionally, attending this workshop will greatly benefit [Name of Your Company/Organization] by adding value to the creative and technical functions of our Marketing & Communications departments. [Add or substitute departments you work within.]
Berkeley Advanced Media Institute is housed in UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and provides digital media workshops and custom training programs for career professionals around the world. They offer courses in multimedia storytelling, social media, data visualization, and in digital media production such as podcasting. Their instructors are UC Berkeley award-winning faculty and leading industry practitioners who are experts in creating and developing compelling, innovative digital stories across multiple digital platforms.
In the Podcasting course, I will be learning the fundamentals of audio production and storytelling, with hands-on guidance from professional radio producers and podcasters. I will gain practical experience with Adobe Audition and professional audio equipment, as well as the skills necessary to produce distinctive audio content. After this course, I will be able to structure, produce and edit a podcast. [Elaborate on how this ties into your job function.]
I would love to have the opportunity to take part in this course, so I hope that you will approve my attendance. The caliber of Berkeley Advanced Media Institute’s workshops and courses give great value for the money, and the registration fee is only [course fee].
I believe the value I will bring to [Name of Company/Organization] as a result of this training will be a positive step in the overall success of our company, and I hope you will agree with me and allow me to attend.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
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