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Is it common for people to supplement learning with outside resources like books/courses?

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Data Scientist at Apple2 years ago

Is it effective when doing this as a tech worker? I'm also wondering how it varies by company type.

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    Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero, PayPal
    2 years ago
    • I think in this age of so many online resources, probably yes. However, I don't think it's a good use of time most of the time.
    • Books/courses are very structured, so they tend to be more generic and high-level. At the end of the day, you work for a specific company, so yield is going to be low.
    • Also, if your goal is to build technical proficiency (e.g. I want to get better at running queries or writing this code), you mainly learn by doing. The opportunity cost of reading is not you're not tinkering.
    • Big Tech has the worst yield when it comes to outside learning as the stack is so custom, and in general, the bigger/older the company, the worse outside resources get. I think outside learning is best for startups, but even then, I like side projects a lot more. That's how I really supplemented my learning at Course Hero.
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    Series B Startup
    2 years ago

    I find myself getting quite deep in very specific areas at work, so sometimes taking a step back and supplementing with a book that provides a higher level overview and broader exposure is quite helpful in strengthening my mental models of systems.

Apple Inc. is an American technology company that specializes in consumer electronics, software and online services. Apple's introduction of the iPhone in 2007 ushered in the modern smartphone era and a massive platform shift. Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple is the most valuable company in the world with a market cap of more than $3 trillion.
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