QUESTION: Do I need to become certified to train people in information technology (IT) topics?

You don't have to, but you may want to consider it. And, don't forget the importance of learning basic presentation and training skills.

Basically, certification can provide a knowledge baseline for IT trainers and a skills "security blanket" of sorts for clients. The jargon and technical issues involved in selecting an IT trainer or training company confuse many consumers, and certification criteria offer concrete standards for professional trainers. In my experience, consumers realize that by choosing a certified trainer, they're working with a professional who understands the importance of measuring specific outcome behaviors and maintaining professional integrity. They also value a commitment to continued excellence.

Our organization conducted a Web survey that may be of interest to you. When asked whether certification of IT trainers is valuable, here's how poll participants responded:

• It's vital: 68.4 percent
• It's valuable: 16.6 percent
• It's not valuable: 14.9 percent

Granted, not all employers are seeking certified IT trainers. But certification is becoming increasingly important to IT trainers because it can help them stay competitive in the job market. Plain and simple.

As you consider certification, you may also run across the vendor versus vendor-neutral certification debate. When we ran an informal survey about certification preferences, 84.9 percent of respondents said they preferred certification by a vendor-neutral group. After conversations with trainers and a review of our surveys, I feel that respondents consider such training to include learning about specific IT products but not necessarily improving their training and presentations skills.

It's important to realize that vendor-neutral certification doesn't compete with--nor does it preclude--vendor-specific and product-specific certifications. All have a valuable place in the IT training industry. However, the industry may be missing preparatory programs that present basic training skills.

For example, as one of the first graduates of Novell's Certified NetWare Instructor (CNI) program, I recall that our class focused on teaching NetWare well, but we weren't coached on general presentation skills. On the other hand, during my military career I participated in the Air Force Instructor School. We spent weeks preparing topical lesson plans (I was a leadership and management instructor), then we learned such basic training skills as effective questioning, schedule control, and test writing--very important skills for all trainers, regardless of specialty.

Published: May 2000