Real Live Learning
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Although nosing about like this might seem tedious, it’s well worth the effort. If you discover the training outlet isn’t up to your standards, you’ll have saved yourself a lot of wasted time and money. If you uncover one of the many superior learning centers available today, you can return to it again and again as your career progresses.
Preparation Pays Off
Once you’ve chosen a training vendor and signed up for that first class, your work has just begun. In order to get the most from the experience there are several tactics you should employ. Ask for a course outline and set of objectives in advance of the first class. Read over it to prep yourself for what will be covered. If there’s a class text, obtain it in advance and scan through it and read the material related to the first lesson ahead of time.
Advance preparation like this means that when during class you will be reinforcing material and expanding on your knowledge, rather than hearing about the topic for the first time. This makes for better, more effective learning, and you’ll be able to make more use out of the opportunity to ask meaningful questions.
It’s also a good idea to arrive a few minutes early for each class meeting. The first few minutes of class time are when the instructor will be introducing the topic and describing the material to be covered. If you’re busy opening your notebook and greeting your neighbor, you’ll be a step behind. It’s better to arrive early to get organized and mentally focused for the learning to come.
The Bottom Line
Many certification candidates choose to complete certification preparation through a combination of self-study and classroom training. They use self-study for the areas they are stronger in, and the classroom for the less-familiar topics. There’s one more big plus you should know about instructor-led, classroom training: companies are more willing to pay for it. Prometric’s 2000 Training and Certification Study found that 85 percent of IT managers preferred sending employees to classroom training over any other training format. And that alone makes it a very strong contender for your certification training needs.
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