As Intel employees gear up for LearningFest, a half-day internal conference dedicated to learning essential skills that drive results, we spoke with Carrollynn Brown about Intel’s learning and development resources and the impact they’ve made on her career.
Carrollynn Brown is an information security specialist based in Folsom, CA. Throughout her 25 years of professional growth at Intel, she has been able to take advantage of the company’s wide variety of learning and development resources, including mentoring, skill-building courses and more.
“As a learner, I have a growth mindset. So I naturally gravitate to learning opportunities that will help me enhance my skillset or expand my knowledge and thinking,” Carrollynn said. “I love to learn and explore my interests.”
Intel provides employees with an internal learning portal called eXpoLearn, which offers courses and learning plans from Intel and other expert sources to support career growth and skill development. Carrollynn points to eXpoLearn as a helpful starting point for employees to expand their knowledge and explore new interests. In fact, even decades into her career, she’s still using the tool to discover and build new skills.
“I’m using the eXpoLearn platform to learn Python (via O’Reilly) and explore other technical topics such as AI, ML and data science,” she said.
And that’s just one of the many resources she’s taken advantage of throughout her Intel career. Today, Carrollynn also participates in mentoring circles and one-on-one mentoring, both as a mentee and mentor. Intel supports these mentorship opportunities through a program called Career Connections, which offers timely one-on-one career support. Employees can schedule time to meet with an expert advisor, mentor or coach who is well-versed in topics such as career exploration and progression, resume writing, networking, skill-building and much more.
“I use Career Connections to find mentors and to make myself available as a mentor,” she said. “And I am currently building and formalizing my personal board of directors – something I’ve been reminded about in a leadership training.”
Additionally, Carrollynn’s current position began as a gig within Intel’s Talent Marketplace, a unique program that gives employees the chance to work on short-term projects that help them gain new experiences, build valuable skills, expand their networks and grow their careers.
As she reflects on her own growth journey, Carrollynn shares this suggestion for others: “My advice to anyone who wants to develop his or her skills or grow their career would be one key thing: Invest in yourself! Schedule routine time to take advantage of Intel’s resources for your continuous development and learning.”
