How to choose the right training?

You want to follow a course but you don't know how to choose it properly? Indeed, it is not easy to find your way through all the organisations available. Here are three steps to help you choose the right course.

1st step: your needs?

A training course is the ideal time to take stock of your career and your career path. Depending on your career plan, your achievements and your company's expectations, you will be able to determine your training needs. Is it a retraining programme, a change of job, a refresher course? To establish your training needs, you must first define the objectives you wish to achieve through this training. There are two types of objectives: the operational objective and the pedagogical objective.  The operational objective is to know what task you want to be able to perform at the end of your training. For example, I want to be able to carry out interviews, this is my operational objective. Then you need to ask yourself what means will enable you to carry out and master this task, this is the pedagogical objective.  So for my operational objective of carrying out interviews, the pedagogical objective is to acquire interview techniques. So, for you, it's all about determining what skills you need to develop and acquire at the end of your training. Identifying the skills to be developed is therefore essential in order to find the right training. If you need technical skills, you may want to turn to a specialized training organization.

2nd step: the reputation of the training organisation

Once your needs have been defined, when choosing a training organisation, it is essential to find out about it beforehand. To do this, try to collect as much information as possible about its size (turnover, number of trainers, number of employees) and its quality (seniority, specialities, trainee feedback, satisfaction ratings, certification). Some training organisations are also specialised in specific topics. You should also check that the organisation is declared and registered on the official state portal and that it has an OPQF qualification. This OPQF qualification is issued by the FédérationFrançaise de la Formation Professionnelle (FFFP) to training organisations that meet all the characteristics of professionalism, i.e: - have the skills and resources necessary to carry out their activity in the field(s) required - implement these skills in line with the missions - deliver a quality service, to the satisfaction of the customer. This qualification is therefore a guarantee of quality for you. You can also base your choice on the location of the premises and the resources made available by the training organisation. It may be more practical for you to choose an organisation close to your home, or to choose an organisation in the centre of Paris, which will then be an opportunity to come to your company's head office or visit the capital! Finally, your manager or your training manager can probably help you, as they most certainly know professionals in the sector from having attended training courses themselves.

3rd step: the training itself

In order to determine which training will be best suited to your needs, there are a number of points to consider before making a choice. This list is not exhaustive. The most important thing is to study the objectives of the training. It is very important to read the proposed programme carefully and in detail, to see what the educational objectives of the training are and what the career opportunities may be. You can also ask about the admission procedures: is there a selection process when you enrol, or does the course require any prerequisites? The second point is to try to find out a little more about the teaching team. Perhaps you can find out about the expertise of the trainers by looking for their profiles on social networks or by looking to see if they have written books or articles in the specialist press. You can also check whether the training course has a validation system at the end of its course. Indeed, some organisations offer training courses leading to a diploma, certificate or VAE (Validation of Acquired Experience) which, by means of a dissertation or a final examination, gives you a diploma, certificate or professional title. You should also look at how the training is carried out. This will enable you to find out how long the course lasts, whether there are several sessions in a year, the size of the groups, and the materials provided. You should also find out about the course's teaching methods: is the course delivered in person, remotely (e-learning) or does it mix the two formats (blended learning)? Last but not least, the cost of the course should also be taken into account. It is important to know what is included in the price of the course (documentation, validation costs, catering, etc.). You should also find out what can happen if the training course is cancelled.

Last point, the follow-up of the training

It is essential to know what will happen after the training. You need to ask yourself what happens next. Is there a follow-up if you have any questions or concerns? Is there a post-training discussion forum or Facebook page? Is there support or follow-up for the implementation of the learning outcomes? As you can see, choosing a training course is not something to be taken lightly and requires careful research. This is why Demos has set up a single telephone number (0811 03 03 03) to accompany you throughout the process (before, during and after the training) and thus make your training a real success.