How to Choose a Technology Training Course and Avoid These 5 Pitfalls

Choosing the right training course is a very important decision for a fresher after graduation. It truly transforms a person's life. Nevertheless, if proper precautions are not taken, this can turn out to be a disaster. On the way, there are various traps that can throw you off track. Listed below are some that should be avoided at all costs.

1. The most glamorous and cutting-edge technology courses

There are technologies that are the talk of the town. Everyone is talking about them. There are zillions of jobs available in this field for the next 5 years. Just google it and you will find many technology trend reports talking about this.

There are many different training courses available when you search for a training course. Surprisingly, almost every course will promise a greatest career and lots of money. Secondly, the technology taught in course is most advanced, but there is no pre-requisite knowledge/experience needed to master it. You just come, do the course and work in the glamorous world of this cutting-edge(bleeding-edge?) technology.

Be cautious. Be skeptical. These are all half-truths. This may work for some cases, not always. For example, Data science is touted as the sexiest career option. Everyone wants to be a data scientist and earn hell lot of salary. However, becoming a data scientist is not everybody’s cup of tea. Just a training course is not going to make you a data scientist. Knowledge of data, in-depth understanding of statistical methods and interest in learning statistics are some of the key pre-requisite we blissfully ignore.

Please do not focus on just the technologies which are in limelight for now. They may or may not become mainstream. Choose wisely. Focus on technologies which are aligned with your personal interests and preferably academic background.

2. Don't look at skills and technologies that build foundations

Second corollary to the focus on technologies with glamour is to ignore or do not care about learning the foundation or pre-requisite skills.

Let me give an example of Android training course. A group of student came for an Android training course. Even when students were told that good amount of hands-on practice for Java is the pre-requisite for learning this course, nobody wanted to learn Java. Everyone was eager to create and Android App and become billionaire in a day.

Android training was over. Everyone believed that now they can just go and crack the Android interview. The interview went for one hour and can you guess how many questions were asked on Android? Zero. For the entire one hour duration questions were asked only on Java and you know what would have been the results! Do you want to get into this situation?

3. Join the course with the highest placements/salary and blindly join it

This is very typical. Imagine you want to build six packs and instead of going to Gym or taking proper advice from expert in this area, you went to a shop. Ask for what is the most selling or popular vitamin or protein supplement. Just start consuming from the next day and you will have 6 pack body in 6 months?

Same is true with leaning. No doubt, it is important to track and have information about technology trends and demand for technology. While choosing a training course, this information should be used along with your passion, current skill set, pre-requisites for learning the course etc.

4. Because your brother’s cousin’s cousin got a job

Many a times we follow our friends and relatives. We tend to choose the course because someone in our close circle has got a job after doing a particular course in the past. Everyone around us is giving us examples of such a person and how he is overseas working happily etc. etc.

This may work for some cases but not all. It is important to check if the same technology is in demand now? Do you have the pre-requisite skills and interest? If all these conditions are met then this may work for you too, else it is difficult.

5. Select the shortest training course possible

This is also one of the most popular parameter. This very thinking pattern is focused for marketing by some training institutes. It is evident in their pitch which says “become expert, get job, in just a few(1/2/3/4) months”. When you see this, try to understand how much of it is marketing and how much is the real truth for you.

You will agree that to study any subject and to achieve some level of expertise will take some amount of time in terms of one or two months based on the depth required and complexity of the subject. Beyond this, Learner has to apply the learning in real environment and perform the job function. On an average, to master any skill in information technology, a fresher would need at least 3 to 4 months of dedicated work.

In many cases, training programs also provide internships or projects. More often than not, we choose only training and happily skip the internship portion. If you carefully observe, any profession like medicine, internship is not only compulsory it is vitally important for performance and growth on the job. Cutting overall cost of training and allied expenses in pursuing shorter duration program can turn to be a short-sited decision.

When choosing a training program, do not fall into such traps. Today is the era of the knowledge economy and world of skills. Anyone who is skilled is going to rule the future.