subject: Purchasing IT training - 5 good reasons for choosing a computer training provider [print this page] Purchasing IT training - 5 good reasons for choosing a computer training provider
Choosing a computer training company isn't easy - there's so little to go on (until the course has taken place of course - then you know exactly whether you went with the right company or not!). So here are 5 good reasons to choose an IT provider, to help you make a decision that you won't regret.
1 - Referrals
In an ideal world, you should choose a provider for IT courses in the same way as you'd choose a plumber or a double-glazing company at home - by asking for referrals. Send an email round your company asking if anyone has been on a computer course recently, and if so what they thought. Good references are hard to fake!
2 - Website References
If you can't get a reference from anyone that you know, try looking at companies' websites. For a listed reference to be of any worth whatsoever it has to give the name of the company and person providing the reference (the more the better). What you can then do is select one reference at random and ring up the training company asking if you can email the person in question directly. Alarm bells should ring if you feel you're being fobbed off!
3 - Product knowledge
There's no better way to evaluate what a course will be like than to speak directly to the person who'll be running it! If your prospective supplier keep putting you off ("sorry, Bob's away training today") arrange a time when you can ring back (or better still, when Bob can ring you). Asking the course trainer direct questions about software will allow you to find out if they're bluffing, or if they really are a guru in their subject.
4 - Good Levels of Service
If you ring up a company and they answer the phone immediately and genuinely try to help you, it's a fair bet that they have a good service ethos. What you don't want is an answering-machine, pushy salesperson or unfulfilled promises to call you back.
5 - Integrity
A company with integrity will treat you as you would wish to be treated yourself. Things to watch out for are companies which insist on invoicing you for work before it's been delivered or false or misleading promises on websites.
These are the 5 things the author would prioritise if he had to choose a computer training course. To see the other side of the coin, have a look at the sister article to this piece listing 5 bad reasons for choosing a computer training provider.
