Corporate trainers?? (reputation, jobs, career, company)

[southkakkatlantan]

What do they, what types of places do they work and what is the salary potential like?

What backgrounds do they have?

Are their other job titles similar to corporate trainer?

[pvande55]

Are you talking about personal trainers? I understand there is still a demand for them as older americans try to stay in shape.

[southkakkatlantan]

Originally Posted by pvande55

Are you talking about personal trainers? I understand there is still a demand for them as older americans try to stay in shape.

No, not personal trainers.

"Corporate trainers"...I think they may also go by "training and development specialist" or "instructional-something-or-other".

[Thursday007]

They go by various names and for any type of company. You must have a lot of confidence to get up and speak in front of people and and a mastery of public speaking. Your job may also entail a lot of technical writing ability. One job I was offered was for a new, revamping of a portion of a factory and it involved a tremendous amount of technical writing, doing manuals and visual presentations to the people who actually have to use these machines. You need to know more than they do. I took it on freelance, but spent a considerable amount of their offices. I also did highly specialized factory recycling program development and training. Training typically is public speaking and demonstration.

Your best bet is to start with manufacturerers of products which require demonstration and training to their customers. People who sell copy machines and such are a great example of this. How to video production is another area.

[yellowsnow]

I've done this before and I loved it and was paid well. The above poster was right, most also do writing and development as well. Being successful is all billable hours per month/week.

The down side is that when things are tough and they want to cut back, you are classified as 'overhead' and among the first to go. When they are laying off, they don't care about training.

But it's a great position!

[southkakkatlantan]

Yes, I was reading that they are generally the first to go. Which is a little bit scary...but the job seems very interesting.

For those that don't know, I'm considering a career change. This position got thrown into my mix of choices recently because I tested high for it (FYI: personality type INFP/Holland code ASE). I've always been told I'm a great speaker and people could see me as a teacher and that I'm creative, patient and confident. I could never see myself in a K-12 school though...

But I'm considering this. What kind of backgrounds do trainers usually have? I'm trying to determine the difference between roles of an HR personal who does training and development, versus a 'corporate trainer'. Is the HR role more soft skills related?

Human Resources, Training, and Labor Relations Managers and Specialists

[southkakkatlantan]

Originally Posted by yellowsnow

I've done this before and I loved it and was paid well. The above poster was right, most also do writing and development as well. Being successful is all billable hours per month/week.

The down side is that when things are tough and they want to cut back, you are classified as 'overhead' and among the first to go. When they are laying off, they don't care about training.

But it's a great position!

Tried to rep you but it said I had to spread the love around...

[Thursday007]

Originally Posted by yellowsnow

I've done this before and I loved it and was paid well. The above poster was right, most also do writing and development as well. Being successful is all billable hours per month/week.

The down side is that when things are tough and they want to cut back, you are classified as 'overhead' and among the first to go. When they are laying off, they don't care about training.

But it's a great position!

That's why it's best to be multi-dimensional in your work offering and be able to do a variety of different things. It doesn't guarantee job security, but it does help.

South you have a detailed DM.

[yellowbelle]

I was a corporate trainer / training specialist for a year and loved it - mostly couldn't believe I got paid to do that work! Pay varies by location and experience (like every other job). Some training jobs involve almost 100% travel, so just be sure to clarify if that's an expectation when you interview.

[Currency Pair Crocodile]

Originally Posted by southkakkatlantan

What do they, what types of places do they work and what is the salary potential like?

It's a good resource pool in Corporate America. Trainers are always needed to train users on new tools, technologies, methodologies and functionality.

Before every process group goes into production, the trainers are supposed to have had first hand knowledge of the processes and they will continue to train users in groups.

They will prepare decks, user job aids, manuals and FAQs and put them into the process asset repository.

Expect a salary between 60K and 90K. But if it were hillbilly zones like the Mid-West or the South, then 40 to 60K.

Originally Posted by southkakkatlantan

What backgrounds do they have?

Gift of the gab. Writing skills, presentation skills, good grammar. And on top of it, a decent specialization in some core form of methodology like agile, PMI, CMM, ISO etc. And it comes with certifications.

Originally Posted by southkakkatlantan

Are their other job titles similar to corporate trainer?

There's none. It's a unique skill and is sometimes clubbed with system testing and QA, but rarely, only if the corporation is broke or stingy.

How do I know so much? I have been in the corporate world for 11 years now and have been very good friends with trainers, becoz they are the ones who send my processes into production and help users use them. Sometimes I have helped them put the deck together, coz I have a reputation for being the deck whiz, but only in cases where she personally came to me, showed me some cleavage and won my admiration/services LMFAO