Many employers include career development training in their benefits packages, giving employees the opportunity to further their professional education and advance their skills. If offered through your company or agency, career development training will cost you little or no money out of pocket.
The Purpose of Career Development Training
Career development training is designed to give professionals the opportunity to evaluate and plan their employment futures, as well as expand their job-related skills and knowledge. Many state and federal government agencies provide employees with career development training opportunities. Private industries also sometimes include training as part of comprehensive benefits packages.
Contact your human resources office to inquire about career development training through your employer. If your company doesn't offer career development training, you can still participate in the process through organizations like the National Career Development Association (www.ncda.org).
<h3 id="section---ImportantFactsAboutCareerDevelopmentTraining">Important Facts About Career Development Training</h3><p></p><table border="1"><tr><td>Prerequisites </td><td> No formal experience required, although certain courses (such as ones designed for accountants or members of the military) are designed for students with a certain background</td></tr>
<tr><td>Online Availability </td><td> Yes</td></tr>
<tr><td>Common Courses </td><td> Social media branding, executive decision making, anger management, basic research skills</td></tr>
<tr><td>Possible Careers </td><td> Most training courses are intended to help professionals in all careers, but select courses are tailored to individual professions, including administrative assistant, bartender, call center representative</td></tr>
</table><h3 id="section---WhatYouLlGetOutOfCareerDevelopmentTraining">What You'll Get Out of Career Development Training</h3><p>Planning is an important aspect of career development. By assessing your personal skills and desires for the future, you can choose training that will maximize your individual potential.
</p><p>Career development training classes build upon employees' existing knowledge and abilities and introduce new skills that will enrich their work experience. Topics covered in a career development training program might include:
</p><ul><li>Communication
</li><li>Management
</li><li>Negotiation
</li><li>Writing
</li><li>Computer security
</li></ul><h3 id="section---TheCostOfCareerDevelopmentTraining">The Cost of Career Development Training</h3><p>The good news for employees with company-sponsored career development training is that participation costs them little to nothing out of pocket. On the other end, employers pay big bucks to offer staff members training and development programs. According to estimates from the American Society of Training and Development, organizations on average spent approximately $1,308 per employee on training and learning in 2019 (<i>www.astd.org</i>). This marked an increase from 2018, and the average number of learning hours also experienced an increase, climbing from 34.0 hours in 2018 to 34.7 hours in 2019.</p>
