Thursday, November 07, 2002
Ever since Sitraka (my former employer) got bought out by another firm recently, I've been thinking seriously about my career, and where I am going with it. Had I stayed on there, even though I'd most likely be miserable if I were still doing now what I was doing then, I would have likely done very well stock option-wise. My current employer hasn't delivered on a number of promises in the recent past, and there have been several new hires in the other offices of young-ish business types. The latter is all very well and good for the firm, but I can't help thinking that I've hit a glass ceiling in terms of the corporate hierarchy here. We are starring on some interesting technical projects though, enough to make me want to see them through.
All of this is just a prelude to my decision to take more training/education. And since my firm is short on ready cash for paying to educate its employees, I'm taking the initiative and paying for a week-long course myself at Toronto Image Works called "CGI with PHP/MySQL". I've worked in an environment that uses both extensively for the past couple of years, but I've never really sat down to methodically learn either of them as well as I should. I know plenty about PHP, but it's all "tricks" -- I know I don't know enough about the fundamentals to write stuff from scratch (most of what I have written has been glommed from the numerous PHP coding sites out there). As for MySQL, well, I understand the basics, but not more than that. So while this is a beginner’s course on both subjects, I am hoping that it will finally give me the good grounding I need in both areas.
It's funny, but the coordinator of the program told me that this was not one of the more popular courses they teach there. Considering that their courses seem aimed primarily at Web Designers -- in other words, at those who people who are approaching things from a graphic arts background, I can see why a programming course wouldn't be as appealing. I bet I'll be the only one there who has as extensive "field experience" in professional, corporate Web Development, but making contact with new people wanting to enter the field can only be a good thing.
What's next? Well, despite the expense, I have been thinking about going for a Linux Red Hat certification. And it'll seem odd, but I have been thinking about doing that MBA again, probably via Heriot-Watt. Lots of options -- but will do this PHP/MySQL course first and see what I feel like taking on after that.
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