Dscout Career Growth & Development

How does your team cultivate a culture of learning, whether that’s through hackathons, lunch and learns, access to online courses or other resources?

Here at Dscout, we’re all about fostering a culture of continuous learning. We’ve got a bunch of ways we make that happen, both structured and informal. Every month, our engineering lunch and learn brings everyone together to dive deeply into technical topics and industry trends, like the latest AI tools for engineers. We also create Learning Communities, where teams from different departments can explore shared interests, like AI and UX research.

To make sure learning is a part of our daily routine, we have regular back-end and front-end engineering forums. And our code review process isn’t just for catching bugs; it’s a chance for us to teach and learn from each other. Dscout’s benefits package also offers an education stipend to help pay for classes and workshops. It’s all part of our commitment to making sure everyone can keep growing their skills, whether it’s through a formal presentation or a quick chat while reviewing some code.

How does this culture positively impact the work your team produces?

Our focus on continuous learning helps us deliver great work and stay on the cutting edge. We look for this quality in interviews, specifically seeking engineers with a “mentor mindset” who are passionate about learning and teaching others. Also, our required engineering forums are key for keeping everyone on the same page. They help us see what other teams are working on and align on architectural changes, which prevents us from getting stuck in silos. This collaborative environment also sparks innovation. For example, our willingness to explore new AI tools has led to us integrating them directly into our workflows.

This proactive approach to learning also makes our onboarding process more effective. New engineers get structured training and meet with different teams right away, helping them get up to speed and contribute faster. We believe the more we learn, the faster we can grow, which is a huge part of our company’s core values.

What advice would you give to other engineers or engineering leaders interested in creating a culture of learning on their own team?

My number one tip for building a strong learning culture is to make it a regular habit, not just a one-off event.

To make it systematic, first, create a predictable schedule. We have monthly lunch and learns to keep the momentum going. It’s also super important to have someone dedicated to coordinating these efforts and keeping things consistent.

Next, embed learning into daily work. Make knowledge-sharing a requirement, like we do in our engineering forums, so it becomes part of everyone’s routine. We even reward people for teaching and mentoring others by including it in their performance reviews.

Finally, offer a variety of learning opportunities. This could be formal presentations, informal learning communities or even financial support through an education stipend. None of this can happen without leadership commitment. Your leadership team needs to be all in and recognize those who contribute to the learning of others. A strong learning culture won’t just happen on its own; it requires intentional design.