Versatility and Diversity of Training and Development industry

By Sindhura Rajagopal

Almost everyone in the industry today is aware of the mandatory need for a transformational training and development team in every organisation. It is called by various names such as Learning or Training services, Learning and development et al. There are two broad categories namely, Technical and Non – Technical training. Technical training include but are not limited to technology and product based (Solutions, Versions, Services, Testing, Product Overview, Implementation) trainings. Non-Technical training encompass Behavioural aspects and soft skills (Business Communication – Verbal, Non-Verbal, and Written; Cross Cultural Competence; Leadership and Development; Personal grooming, to name a few) to empower talent. While the industry perspective prompts me to limit the categories to just two, training and development in reality applies to music, fitness, languages, cookery, and pottery, what not! Sky is truly the limit.

Is Training my cup of tea?

Firstly, Training and Development professionals need to be passionate about what they do and why they do. Interpersonal skills and people management skill-set is a game changer. Being an independent thinker if need be and a problem solver comes very handy. Training and development work involves hunger to learn and explore; to be open and flexible; to be adaptive and collaborative in the approach. It is a science and an art in itself. In my personal experience, training is a process of self-discovery.

There is no particular course that would lead one to land in this vast and creative field of Training. For instance, I did my Engineering in Electronics and Communication, got placed in a Product based company and got a wonderful opportunity to be a part of Customer Training team. There was ample space and opportunity to acquire product knowledge, do installation and testing and thereafter conduct workshops and presentations to clients at varied critical stages of International projects. Thus, Training felt like a 360 degree hold on any given product. There was also excellent mentoring and coaching to be able to develop trainer & soft skills and pass on the Train the Trainer programs to client- side trainers.

There are a lot of people who do an MBA say in the streams such as HR or even Operations etc. and pursue this field. There are examples of people who do specific & official Internationally accredited certifications for technical/ non-technical modules from well-known bodies and thereby pursue a career as a trainer in that specific domain in which they are certified. There are scenarios where people who have been in the industry for quite some time might get an opportunity to lead teams which could possibly include Training teams and hence land a chance to get hands-on in this field of work. 

Training audience is a very key aspect to consider when making a career out of it. Schools, Colleges and Universities, Corporate sector are three main lines of work.  It is really an art to tailor the training delivery for kids, students of primary/secondary/high school, University students and adults.  It widely differs from one to another – both in content and strategies. It makes sense to do certifications and gain subject-matter expertise according to the target audience and core subject one intends to pursue. I have personally seen trainers with backgrounds such as BE/BTech & MTech; BA/MA/BEd; PhD; MCA; BCom/MCom; MBA etc.  In my opinion, it serves best to do masters in the relevant specialisation and a recognised teaching certification, if one wants to excel and train – especially so in the educational institutions.

For corporate, a relevant educational background and a qualification or equivalent demonstration of training experience that boasts of knowledge; case-studies and knowledge transfer role is the key. And since the field is like an ocean, one must never stop learning, ever! Learning and Training go hand-in-hand. Even after one gets into the field, it is very important to upgrade; register for events/workshops/newsletters and programs that could be of benefit for professional development. We live in an age where everything is really online too as much as it is offline. So, one should keep a tab on latest trends and models alongside connecting to like-minded people to enhance one’s expertise.

Training materials are a very important part of training and hence those in the field of training can increase their confidence in handling books and paper, board and marker/chalk; Microsoft Office; ensuring videos and audios as part of trainings and comfortability working on various LMS platforms is going to sure bring fruitful results.

Career thereafter

Training and Development has two approaches – one, for the Intra-company trainings where the training delivery and management is aimed at members within the firm. On the other hand, there is also external training and service which predominantly involves training clients or consultants of the firm, either the end users or diverse teams of people from the customer organisation. At times, a combination of both approaches too exists.

Some people opine that it is important to be proficient in a chosen field for years before venturing into training whilst others strongly think that, to start off a training career from the scratch does the magic. With due respect to both the opinions, the truth is, with each passing training delivery comes better confidence and irreplaceable experience, albeit slowly and steadily.

As far as the latter approach in the above example is concerned, a progressive hierarchy of growth can be seen. One example – One could start off as a Trainer/ Training Consultant/Junior Trainer (definitely varies across companies).  Evolving into a Senior Training Consultant is a natural step thereafter. Roles and responsibilities in Training Sales/ Pre-sales and Training business Analysis/Solution Analysis are a potential opportunity after a person has spent active years being around training delivery and understands the nuances of the industry. Training Project Management and Program management come at a later level where a person becomes an in-charge of host of training programs and respective resources for an assigned project/region. Program managers, by definition go on to manage multiple projects.  As and when one comes to a point of executing these duties, it makes sense to do certifications like CBAP, PMP etc.

There are people who get to manage a team of few resources as a team lead either as stand-alone or by simultaneously playing a project manager or even a program manager alongside a team lead’s role.

Trainers can work as full-time; part-time and even as independent consultants or freelancers.  There are people who turn their serious hobby into a part-time job as a trainer while doing a proper full –time job (of course taking care that there is no compromise on quality of work on either side, no compromise on ethics and confidentiality of the parties involved). Trainers must be open to doing sessions in various modes – Classroom, Online, blended learning, telephonic, recorded platforms. Since the world is a small place, with everyone connected very well, more the customisation to suit the needs of the clients, the better the prospects.

IT industry, Telecommunication, Retail, Hotels and Hospitality, Manufacturing, Health and Beauty, Operations, Construction, Educational, NGO are really only a few examples of business verticals that need Training and Development. It is literally the kind of work that can turn heads and bring about impactful and powerful changes within the organisation or external as the case may be.  If one feels very strongly that he/she can perform well and training is their thing, one should not hesitate in taking the first step. After all, everyone starts somewhere.

About the Author:

Sindhura Rajagopal possesses vast experience across domains including Project Management, Client Needs Analysis, Team Management, Training Delivery and Management. She has worked in diverse verticals such as Telecommunication, IT, Education and Not-For-Profit divisions.