Zahra Clarke-Johnney, Sami Chan, and Nahdia Khan discuss forging a career in L&D. They talk about varied paths to L&D, finding inspiration, overcoming challenges, starting a career in L&D, remote learning and hybrid working, interesting facts about Yuri Gagarin and adulterated food, appreciating small victories, binge-watching Fargo, and casual conversation on TV series, learning, and gratitude.
No two career journeys in the L&D industry are the same, as there is no set or prescribed route into or through this field.
Connecting with professionals in the L&D industry and learning from their experiences is crucial for career growth and development.
Deep dives
Career Paths in L&D
In this podcast episode, three individuals discuss their career paths in the L&D industry. Each guest shares their unique journey, highlighting how they entered the field and their thoughts on the future of L&D.
Zara's Journey to L&D
Zara, the digital L&D manager at the English Institute of Sport, shares her career journey, starting from a job in an e-learning center as a tutor. She talks about her gradual transition into learning and development and the pivotal role played by her job at Friends of the Earth in shaping her focus on L&D.
Sami's Non-Traditional Path
Sami, a graphic designer, discusses how she stumbled upon the L&D industry through her work on LinkedIn. Coming from a marketing and design background, she was drawn to the idea of a career focused on helping people learn. She emphasizes the importance of connecting with professionals in the field and learning from them.
Insights on L&D and Future Directions
Throughout the discussion, the guests share their thoughts on the L&D profession, describing it as engaging, inspiring, and frustrating at times. They express optimism about the future of L&D, highlighting the need for continued adaptation and improvement, particularly in the areas of remote learning, hybrid working, and data-driven approaches.
As there's no set or prescribed route into or through a career in L&D, no two career journeys are the same.
This week on the Mind Tools L&D podcast, Gemma and her guests, Zahra Clarke-Johnney, Digital L&D Manager at English Institute of Sport, and Mind Tools' very own Sami Chan and Nahdia Khan, consider how to best plot one's way in, and through our evolving profession.
We discuss:
routes into the profession
where to find support
what the profession might hold in the future.
Show notes
In 'What I Learnt This Week', Sami talked about food production in the Victorian era. You can find out more by watching this "Absolute History" YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkQ0RFTHvIo
Gemma's discovery about Gagarin's landing in a potato field came from the BBC podcast "Gagarin and the lost Moon". You can listen in BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p09j922z
For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit emeraldworks.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work.
Connect with our speakers
If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers: