Are You Getting Enough Say In Your Training?

DrEducator asks: "Has your company ever contracted external instructors to train its programmers? Have you been satisfied with the lecturer's level of expertise? I think we all have a good grasp of how vital the role of training is to both a corporation and its employees, but given its importance should you have more of a say in selecting or evaluating instructors before they deliver training? I firmly believe in the tenet that 'geeks should train geeks'. Moreover, I think that the geeks themselves have to take a more active role in the whole process. So, I'm curious - do you think you have enough say in your training? Do you actively refer instructors that you've seen at conferences or previously taken courses from (university, college, or adult ed)? If not, have you had the opportunity to interview an instructor, or at least review their qualifications? Share your experience - how much input do you want/need/have?"

Comments

Re:I have pretty good control

[elmegil]

See, I don't have much respect for the training situation in Universities. I was a sysadmin for a small private U for 7 years. I got no training, and one trip to Usenix in 7 years.

In the corporate world, I don't get a budget per se, and I have to get management approval for training and travel for training, but I have yet to have a single request denied. Even during the last year. I obviously think about the impact and the use of the class, but reasonable requests get reasonable answers. And I think the corporate world actually has a better understanding of the value of technical training than the University world does.