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Writer's pictureRB Outdoors UK

On the job Training Vs Intensive Outdoor Instructor Training Course

On the job Training Vs Intensive Outdoor Instructor Training Course has been a topic in the outdoors for many years, as a provider in instructor training courses I thought would lay out what I think are the 3 most important positives and 3 biggest negatives of them both. A the end let me know what you think in the comment section below.

On the Job Training

Positives

- Earn and Learn

This allows you to earn a wage and have on the job learning at the same time.

- Pay a % or Time

This is where you have to work for the company for a certain amount of time to pay off the cost of the qualification or you end up paying a percentage OR you pay a percentage and if you return the following session you get the amount you paid back to you at the end of your contract. Either way you end up saving money on the qualification cost.

- Practicing Soft Skills

This is where you get to practice your soft skill and group management and have a constant review process on how well you preformed or what you need improve on for your development.


Negatives

- At the Leisure of the company

Each centre will have a list of qualifications that they are willing to pay for as they have an affect on the running of the centre, usually around 5 – 8 qualification as most other sessions will be covered with in-house training.

- Can take Years due to Budget

As the centres have a range of staff the budget is spread across the whole staff team and as a member of the team you can only access a limited amount of that budget to allow other staff to develop which is great, but to get the same amount of awards as an instructor course, it will take years to get to that point if you rely on the centre paying for all the qualifications.

- Can tie you to the company

As with the positives “pay a % or time” you are committing a part of your wage or time to pay for the qualifications and when you want to get an many awards a you can you will end up signing yourself to the company for a long time or finishing the session with a large bill!


Intensive Outdoor Instructor Training Course

Positive

- Focus is on you!

I can only speak for my Instructor Training Course where my focus is on your development as I want you to get the most out of the course as well as develop a great footing for you to start your career in the outdoors

- Variety of Awards

The course has a mixture of skills for you to be able to work in a variety of centres and locations around the UK or World.

- Quick

Most courses are around 16 weeks long which sounds a long time but it isn't, As you have to learn all the skills and apply them. The reason why it is in the positive section is simply because it allows you to get to the centres you want to get to in the locations you want to be in.


Negatives

- Physically Demanding

Yes it is hard work as you have to be in a reasonable state of fitness to do these courses as it is none stop and you have to deal with the UK weather as well.

- Learn Soft Skill but Limited Practicing

Depending on the course you will learn soft skills and group management for you to become the best instructor you can be in the time of the course but that does not allow much time for you to practice the skill in front of clients.

-Expensive

Yes it is expensive compared to just paying for the courses on there own, BUT you have to look at the full picture your getting 16 weeks of your development with out having to fight for your piece of the company's budget or time.

I hope this has given you a few things to think about and if you would like to look at my Instructor Training Course then head on over and see what my course is all about.

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