Career: Trainers
As you know from your own experience, people learn in a variety of settings, and some of the best teachers don’t even work in schools. Trainers work for businesses and other organizations, providing people with the tools to be more successful on the job.
As a trainer, you might coach managers on their people skills and help customer service representatives improve their phone skills -- all on the same day. Or you might specialize, making it your business to introduce employees to new software, the rules of grammar, or the importance of teamwork.
Trainers provide a range of educational services to managers and their staff.
Did You Know?
- Experience counts in this line of work. The best trainers have worked at least a few years in the business world.
Are You Ready To...?
- Speak in front of groups
- Create and run multimedia presentations
- Juggle the different training needs of a range of employees and managers
- Change your approach to suit the client if you work for yourself or a training company
- Keep up with new trends in training, technology, and business
It Helps to Be...
A dynamic speaker who enjoys helping others. You’ll also need to be flexible and a fast learner so that you can develop new lessons to meet the changing needs of various organizations.
Make High School Count
- Build strong computer skills. You’ll use them to train others and may even pass on your computer expertise.
- Notice the way your teachers teach. Which methods work? Do different teachers have different styles?
- Join a peer-tutoring program and get teaching experience now.
- Learn about the business world in Junior Achievement.
- Sign up for speech. You’ll need strong speaking skills as a trainer.
Did You Know?
- While more and more companies are hiring in-house trainers, many trainers work for companies that sell training services to other businesses. Still other trainers work for themselves.
Outlook
Government economists expect job growth for training specialists to be faster than the average for all careers through 2016.
Jobs are increasingly complex, and employers should need trainers to help workers adjust to new responsibilities and technology. However, layoffs and other business measures to control costs could limit job growth for trainers, especially in larger companies.
Compensation
In 2008, training and development specialists earned an average of $54,830 a year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
