How to Choose the Best Trainer for Your Certification (7 Tips)
Scrum and Agile certifications can be rewarding for both your professional and personal life. Getting certified will expand your career opportunities and extend your professional network, which can translate into making more money, finding a better job, and increasing your quality of life.
However, certification trainings can be expensive and will take up two or more days out of your week, so why not chose a trainer that provides an experience that you can look forward to and enjoy?
There are hundreds of trainers to choose from, how do you pick the best one for you?
Here are 7 things to look for in a trainer before booking your class:
1. Experience
Find out how many classes a trainer has given. About 12 classes constitute for having “experience”. An experienced trainer brings a higher level of comfort and confidence with students and their questions. If you decide to go with someone who’s new to training, be aware that they may still be working out the kinks of their presentation, and they may stumble through technology. If you want a smooth and buttoned-up certification experience, choose an experienced trainer.
2. Multiple Trainers
If you want to walk away with a memorable Certification experience, try to find a class taught by more than one trainer. Having more than one trainer provides you with variety. You’ll experience different training styles, perspectives, and stories. Having variety in your training will help keep you engaged and will enrich your understanding of the material. (And you can expect that time will go by much faster, too!)
3. Real World Stories
When trainers share real life examples, whether successful or disastrous, you’ll find yourself easily engaged. Real stories are memorable, so you won’t forget what to avoid or include when forming your own professional experiences.
4. Smaller Class Size
If your class is too large, you may not have a chance to ask questions or have one to one dialogue with your trainer. Live, in-person classes are best, since the trainer can pick up on an attendee’s facial expressions or body language. These signals allow the trainer to make an adjustment to their presentation. But in this time of COVID-19, most classes are online, which makes it much harder for a presenter to read the facial expressions of attendees on screen. A trainer is more likely to be successful at reading the online “room” when there are fewer students in a class. Smaller classes allow more time for open discussion, so you can get to know your peers, too.
5. Interactivity
Find out if your class includes games, online cool tools, and break-out rooms. Ask about the format of a trainer’s class. If they only offer lectures and no games, cool online tools or break-out room opportunities, then maybe steer clear. It is hard enough to be stuck in a chair staring at a screen for hours, so why not chose an interactive experience to keep your attention.
6. Social Media and Website
You can tell a lot about the personality of the trainer and their presentation style by how they promote their training classes. Pay attention to the words they use, professional graphics and videos or animation. Check out their Social Media posts and website… Is their class writeup boring, bland, and over wordy? Does it seem like their write up was created in a hurry? Or did they put effort in their event announcement? Are their colorful graphics, photos, and animation? Are their class promotions interesting, fun and engaging? They way that trainers promote their classes can mirror how they deliver their class. So, if their promotions and class descriptions are fun and inviting, you can expect the same from the training.
7. Price
Most of the pricing for Certification classes is competitive. There may be a few outliers that are super high in class cost, or super low. If you find an interesting trainer, but they are priced out of your budget, why not write them an email, and ask if they’d be willing to give you a discount or work with your budget?
Best of luck with your Agile Journey — and good luck getting your certification!
Please reach out to us if you’d like advice, support or inspiration!
