Lifelong learning
6 min read
"You never stop learning" – a phrase probably all of us have heard at some point. Because every day we face new challenges, opportunities or paths we must confront. Meeting these with curiosity and openness is part of lifelong learning – especially in professional life.
We at interactive tools spoke with some colleagues, and they tell us what their career path and their personal approach to lifelong learning look like.
Taking on new perspectives – in the world of work too
Hardly any career path stays unchanged over time, as our colleagues at interactive tools have also told us. Our world of work is changing so dynamically and constantly presents us with new challenges. We are required to open up new fields of knowledge and expand our skills throughout our lives.
And that's exactly why we need the willingness for lifelong learning.
At interactive tools, we believe our results get better when we're motivated together. That's why we always offer our employees new opportunities to further their education, work on new projects and set new professional goals. Sophia tells us about this too – alongside her role as Scrum Master and project manager, she's trained further to become a work-life balance manager.
Through curiosity, commitment and the courage to try new paths, we want to grow together and foster our employees' skills. Because we're convinced: companies that manage to embrace a change of perspective and learn WITH ONE ANOTHER without predefined career paths develop automatically as a result.
If you don't develop further in this profession, you quickly stand still. You have to keep up with technological development. I find it extremely important that people have the drive to learn new things. Without further training, you won't last.
For our software architect Jens, individual commitment and the will to keep developing are a central part of his personal career path. At ten he learns to code, at 19 he starts his first job in a small lab. At 23 he finally goes self-employed for the first time, with an agency for architectural visualisation. When the construction industry stops booming, he moves into web development through acquaintances, builds websites for law firms and develops systems for pharmaceutical industries. Shortly after, he moves as a freelancer into application development, works as a photo editor and gradually takes on more and more projects. Meanwhile he gets to know Robert, one of our managing directors at interactive tools, and closes a first deal. Two years later comes the permanent position with us at the agency. What appeals to Jens about lifelong learning is quite a lot:
"It's simply fun to keep expanding your horizons. You learn how short-lived what you do is. Nothing I do today will still matter in ten years."
Similarly for Kristian, who moved into IT/QA after studying philosophy and has now developed into a Scrum Master and Agile Coach with us:
"Sometimes, alongside your interest in learning new things, you also have to let go of old ones. In philosophy, no topic ever really reaches an endpoint, and that fits agile management perfectly – here, too, you have to keep trying things out, revising and adapting. Even in projects, you never stop learning."
interactive tools gave me a playground to develop myself.
Our colleagues come from most varied industries and fields, have retrained or changed their entire professional direction. From philosophy student to agile coach, from designer to frontend developer, from trained insurance clerk to project manager – we follow interests and abilities of our employees. Because we believe: where knowledge is shared and encouraged, structures open up and areas of expertise can grow.
At interactive tools, we don't want to prescribe anything to our employees and are always open to training requests. That said, our colleagues sometimes need to take the initiative themselves. "That's good, because you can steer and pursue your own topics and interests," says Alexander, who has worked as a project manager with us since early 2022.
"interactive tools was my favourite, because scrum and user stories are the focus here. Agile working is genuinely lived here. Agility understood as commitment and personal responsibility. Reliability instead of arbitrariness – that's what I liked. Freedom without responsibility just doesn't work. Elsewhere, I was often the firefighter, having to rescue and put out fires."
Lifelong learning doesn't just happen by itself – it's an ongoing learning process that requires balance. "There has to be a good balance between productive time and learning time. The time ratio has to be right," says Alexander. "It's like a snow globe. You need a quiet moment for the snowflakes to settle again. Only then does a clear picture emerge! And that doesn't happen if you're constantly under stress."
A question that really annoys me is: what someone studied, to be measured and classified by that. Because it's not about how high a qualification is – apprenticeship, university of applied sciences, university - but what someone can do!
For us at interactive tools too, lifelong learning isn't always entirely straightforward to put into practice – because we also have to keep an eye on aspects such as cost-effectiveness or time management. Nonetheless, we always try to take our employees' interests to heart and see lifelong learning as an opportunity to get the best out of ourselves and to look beyond our own horizons together.
Our goal is fostering individual development and career paths – so we focus more on personal interests, skills and ambitions, rather than just qualifications, diplomas and straightforward CVs. Whether career start or years of experience, we at interactive tools try to give everyone chance to develop further going forward. And that applies not just to our junior roles – we stay in close exchange with all employees and strive to foster their development within our agency. For that we even have dedicated department within our network-based structure without direct line managers – our People & Organisation team. Colleagues there look after prospects of all newcomers and old hands in agency alike. Whether career start, further development or reorientation – we try to offer individual chances and opportunities. And it's not just our People & Organisation department that keeps growing steadily, but it finds ways for growth and individual development of all our employees.
Whether junior, senior or in between – "you never stop learning" is the motto of every career path. And we love and live that at interactive tools.
Your contact person
- Anne Geissler
People & Organisationsynaigy
Show phone numberShow email address
