Hi
As part of my Masters degree I am doing a piece of research on what IT trainers like most about their job, what they like least and what they do to help avoid burnout. I'd appreciate some readers thoughts on this...just off the top of the head stuff. This is not the formal questionnaire, rather just a quick trawl through peoples' views to help me prepare the questionnaire....
Thanks for your help
Anne
Anne Walsh
4 Responses
Off the top of my head…
…like the variety, dealing with different people, satisfaction when can see how delegates have improved their skills, no two days are the same. Dislike aching feet, repetition, training the same topics over and over and over again, lack of recognition from the top. Burnout not an issue for me.
Job Satisfaction
Job Satisfaction has to be at the top of the list of likes – knowing that attendees came in with no or little knowledge and they leave with probably too much! Cramming too much into a course is a dislike, as are the aching feet (as mentioned by another) – trick is to wear low heels! Burnout – as someone who manages and runs the IT Training Dept, in theory I can stop this as I control my schedule, sadly, IT mgmt and other mgmt control new software and how quickly it needs to be introduced. I try to get a week off every 3 solid weeks of training – it doesn’t always work!
Thanks for the comments
Hi
Just a quick thanks to the people who commented on the piece. Unfortunately I’ve had to change it as my own tutor reckons it’s not close enough to the course material! And I was really looking forward to doing it as well!!
Best wishes
Anne
IT Trainers
From personal experience, a quick list:
LIKES
Teaching people who really want to learn.
Teaching people who believe they cannot do it, but realise with my help they can.
Creating a good class environment, where learning can be combined with a sense of fun and enjoyment.
Teaching subjects, where it does not matter what the question is, I know the answer.
Teaching people who ask great questions, because they’re inquisitive and genuinely want to know.
Having people thank you after a course, and say how they enjoyed it.
DISLIKES
Those people who ask questions for the sake of it or to look smart! They think!
Being asked to teach with little or sometimes no preparation.
Travelling around the country, living out of a suitcase doing on site courses. Hotel living is (after some time) very very dull.
Having poor or unstable kit, so you spend much of your time working to fix pc problems trather than teaching content (assuming IT content here).
Teaching people who have been sent on the course and don’t want to learn.
Having people fall asleep on the course (usually ‘cos of too much drink the night before or too large a lunch!)
AVOID BURNOUT
Allow enough time to get to grips with the subject matter.
Do not let your boss send you on 5*1 day courses in different parts of the UK in one week. Put your foot down. The business needs revenue – yes – but if you burn out that’s one revenue earner less.
Never allow yourself to teach back to back for any more than 21 days max! You’ll forget what you have/have not said.
Learn new subjects to keep interest levels up, this also increases your value to the organisation, and potentially your ability to drive your own direction a little more.
That’s it for now.