I train, therefore I am / Is training needed?

How to search for training courses and which ones to choose? How to include them in your CV? We answer questions that can help potential job candidates, not only at Storware.

Although the saying: ‘To stand still is to move backward’ is already quite worn out, it can’t be denied. There’s an abundance of training courses on the market, and most of us receive such offers in our mailbox at least several times a week or are bombarded with them, for example on LinkedIn. How do we find our way through this training jungle?

Not all that glitters is gold

Let’s face it – there’s a lot of poor-quality training on the market, which doesn’t bring anything constructive, is full of claptrap, but has been well promoted and advertised. That’s why choosing them wisely is important and verifying the professionals from whom you buy training. Nowadays, almost anyone can call themselves a coach without any real, practical achievements – similar to a beautician whose entire office wall is decorated with diplomas. There’s no shortage of experts in the training industry who will give away their knowledge for free to collect new leads. Therefore, let’s not bid for as many certificates as possible to put on our CVs, but let’s find something specific for ourselves, and, above all, let’s think about what we really want to learn, what we want to find out, instead of just passing another educational event. It’s difficult to believe candidates with dozens of training courses in their CVs cover completely different specializations or areas of knowledge. For us recruiters, it’s also quite a handicap – how do we know what a candidate is really good at and where they want to develop further when they have completed so many different courses? This brings us back to the good practice of positioning your CV for the job you’re applying for. Indeed, this also applies to training – if you can demonstrate such courses or training, enter them next to specific skills.

How do you train to get trained?

In our experience, face-to-face training with a live person is certainly more valuable than training played from a video file – on the spot and in real-time, you can ask questions if you do not understand something, supplement your knowledge, interact with other users, and share your experience. Recorded knowledge is more difficult to use and should be seen as a supplement to what we already know rather than learning from scratch. Although there are some legends out there saying that this is how you can educate yourself as well. I think that, in this respect, tutorials can be helpful in developing already acquired skills or handling specific tools – to be treated as a manual.

The basis for this is a good trainer. By good, I mean what kind of trainer? Above all, one who is able to pass on knowledge and to whom you want to listen. Let’s skip those ‘experts’, who make a lot of marketing hype around themselves and most of their training is self-promotion and nicely packaged marketing ‘sweets’.

The very method of learning and acquiring knowledge is up to you. Some people don’t take notes because they stop listening and miss much of the training knowledge. However, there are also those who, when writing down specific content, even in slogans, hear what has been communicated to them in their minds. Therefore, choose the form of training most suitable for you – whether it’s a webinar you watch online, a podcast you listen to while driving in the car, or a traditional task-solving meeting with a trainer.

In either case, however, remember that training is not just about theory. Sometimes laborious and requires a great deal of concentration. It should almost always be followed by in-house practice, which many people simply forget.

Training not only off-premise

Training is certainly needed, even essential for employee development. It’s, therefore, necessary to keep them up to date to look for novelties in your industry – especially if it’s developing dynamically. It’s also worth looking for such opportunities in your current workplace. At Storware, we offer a wide variety of training courses, both externally and internally. When you are hired at our company, for example, you have the opportunity to learn foreign languages, including other than English. We have experts on board who can prepare training for a selected group or the whole company. However, there are some training courses that, in order to meet specific legal requirements, involve an expert with clearly defined competencies – for example, health and safety training must be delivered by a professional health and safety inspector.

We also budget a certain amount for external training – tell us about something you’re interested in and we’ll review it as we try to pull the most valuable training from the market ourselves on an ongoing basis.

Remember that a very good way to increase your knowledge is to learn from someone who has completed such training before. Even if you won’t be able to boast about it on paper, the knowledge will stay with you either way. It can also be a good idea to show in-house training in references in your CV (‘While working for us, an employee received training in…’). In any case, remember that training is not always a structured event. It can also be working under the guidance of a more experienced colleague in a more senior position. You can gain knowledge in many ways – don’t just go for a paper or a well-known name. For example, use online resources and interesting books packed with practical examples – but precede this with a selection to find out what is worth reading and what is not. In short, do whatever you feel is appropriate for your own development.

Importantly, untrained knowledge disappears and the market evolves rapidly. Once received training doesn’t ensure ‘expertise’ once received, so the easiest way to practice this knowledge is… the daily industry press review, which I truly recommend. So simple, and it works 😉

Caution: when you decide on a training or specialized course, be sure to check whether they offer an officially valid document that certifies specific competencies or the ability to practice the profession you are interested in.