Professional Development: Did You Get What You Wanted?

Ever felt shortchanged after taking a training course? You walked away wondering just exactly what you learned and what skills will you be taking back to your organization. Frankly, it happens more often than not. In today’s digital world, it is super easy for a so-called ‘expert’ to hang their shingle out there on the web and start getting results. That digital environment allows those ‘experts’ to dress up their site to appear rather professional, deep in experience and very credible. Unfortunately, when you start exploring a bit and asking some questions, you find out that ‘expert’ is not really what you expected.

Getting the Most out of Professional Development

Research tells us that highly successful professionals invest deeply in their best investment … themselves! They spend on the average $8k – $10k a year on their professional development. With that in mind, professional development is a serious investment for all of us.

In today’s market, dynamic and versatile individuals are the most preferred ones. The days for the stereotypes are long gone. Today, you are expected to be equipped with latest and updated knowledge in your field. Therefore, if you feel that you can relax once you are done with your education, you have mistaken. You must continue with the process of learning for the years to come.

Here are some tips on what to look for when securing training or seminars for your professional development:

Credibility is Key – Poke a few holes in the paper tiger. Look over the ‘expert’s’ site. Make sure you have the exact structure and information of the training material. Look for a client list with depth! Scroll through the list and get some references on the quality of the training being offered.

No Such Thing as Free – If you have found a two week training course for $200, you might rethink your position. The fact is, nothing in life is free and that applies to training. There is a certain value to quality training delivered in a professional manner. That doesn’t mean you should pay an unreasonably high price, but remember, you get what you pay for.

Anyone Can Claim to Be The King – No matter where you shop, everyone claims to be the best. The worst part of today’s digital world is that some unscrupulous vendors can portray themselves as a ‘regulatory’ or ‘compliance’ agency for your profession. Unfortunately, when you dig down a bit, you will find a thriving business behind those false compliance claims. Know your industry and the legitimate regulatory bodies. If all you need to do is pay some money and take a quick exam, then you might start questioning the ‘certification’ you are about to receive. Remember when you first got a driver’s license? You had to take a written and a practical test to prove your proficiency. That is a great example to follow in your professional development. Anyone can pass a simple test.

Getting the Most out of Training

The importance of professional development is immense. Your company will always want to extract the best out of you; that is precisely the reason why you are being paid. With the help of professional development, you can add to your skill sets and knowledge base, which would add to your credentials. It will also make you more acceptable to the job market at large.