Dear all
I am a member of the Association of Coaching and wondered if there is a similar Association for professional Trainers - I have had a look on google and can't seem to find anything suitable.
I would love to hear from you if you could recommend a good Association for me to join
Many thanks in advance
Kind regards
Jane Lowe
3 Responses
what do you want/need out of it?
Sorry to seem obtuse Jane but it all depends what you want out of it…..my opinion for what it’s worth is;
~if you want to impress HR directors with post nominal letters go for the CIPD or BILD
~if you want access to opportunities as a freelancer or to find freelancers/suppliers go to Trainerbase
~if you want community/networking go to TrainingZone
and if you don’t want or need any of these things save you money and spend it on Gin and Tonics! (although TrainingZone remains free so you can have the Gin and Tonic and TrainingZone which is a win/win situation)
(My apologies to any organisations I’ve not mentioned!)
Rus
http://www.coach-and-courses.com
What do others do?
Hi Jane, Russ has offered some really good suggestions and it may be worth looking at profiles for other trainers/facilitators who offer their services through the likes of Trainerbase, etc. Generally this would include names of professional bodies where they hold a membership. Frankly there are so many organisations to join now it’s a bit of a mare when trying to pinpoint something suitable. See if any names come up more frequently. Good luck. 🙂
Association or Institute
Hi Jane
Rus, Clare; thanks for the TB mention.
I ran a trade association for trainers for a short time but was not successful and generating sufficient interest or revenue to make a go of it. I am now focusing on the TrainerBase web site side of things again.
As has been mentioned it is a case of what are you looking for? Associations and Instututes should be two very different entities but offering similar services.
A trade association is run for the benefit of members
An institute (especially a charitable one) is run for the benefit of the sector (and the general public).
The latter should not and often cannot by law run some specific services that are for the explicit benefit of its members.
The British Institute for Learning and Development (The BILD) to on the association membership when it closed last September, so they may offer the sort of services you are looking for.
Something more specific to freelancing is the Professional Contractors Group PCG.
Hope this helps; drop me a line if you want any further thoughts.
Peter
Founder of TrainerBase
The PERFECT place for TRAINERS since 2002.