There’s no shortage of ways to learn in tech.
Courses, certifications, bootcamps and tutorials can all sharpen your knowledge, but when it comes to the kind of growth that changes how you actually work, the people around you may matter more.
That came through clearly in BBD’s recent Career Journey Survey. Across 25 respondents at different stages of their careers, culture and people emerged as the strongest overall drivers of both recruitment and retention, while career growth was the most valued outcome once people had joined.
More tellingly, when employees were asked what had actually helped them develop, the answer repeatedly came back to their teams.
Among intermediate and mid-level employees, nine out of 11 named learning from strong peers as one of their most valuable experiences. For first-year employees, five out of seven said learning from their team had been one of their biggest growth drivers, alongside working on real client projects, mentorship, feedback and being given responsibility early.
Learning happens in the work
There’s a difference between understanding something in theory and having to apply it when the outcome matters.
Working alongside experienced engineers, business analysts and other specialists gives you access to the kind of knowledge that’s difficult to package into a course: why one approach works better in a particular situation, how to navigate an unexpected problem, when to challenge an assumption and what good delivery actually looks like in practice.
It also means feedback isn’t confined to a formal learning environment. It happens while reviewing code, unpacking a problem, working through a client requirement or watching someone with more experience approach a challenge differently.
That exposure builds judgement as much as technical skill.
Growth needs trust, too
Strong teams don’t only teach. They create the conditions for people to test what they’ve learned.
One of the recurring themes in the survey was being trusted with meaningful responsibility earlier than expected. Employees across different career stages described being given ownership, client exposure or stretch assignments before they necessarily felt completely ready – and identified those opportunities as major catalysts for their development.
That matters because career growth rarely happens while doing only what you already know how to do. It happens when there’s enough support to take on something harder, make decisions, ask questions and learn through the process.
The same pattern continues as careers progress. Mid-level respondents highlighted greater responsibility, broader project exposure and better engineering practices, while senior employees placed increasing value on influencing delivery, strong engineering teams and project ownership.
Courses still have their place. So do certifications, structured programmes and independent learning. But they work differently when they’re reinforced by people who challenge your thinking and give you opportunities to put that knowledge into practice.
Sometimes, the fastest way to grow isn’t to find the next course. It’s to find the right team. Let your next team be with BBD.
Be apart of the right team, look at our open positions
