If you enjoy helping people achieve their goals, jobs in motivation and training may be the right fit for you. These jobs involve planning and carrying out activities that inspire others to develop personally and professionally. Qualifications typically include at least a bachelor’s degree and education-related experience. While traditional teaching jobs focus on educating children, workplace training occupations deal with adult learning and development.
Coach
According to the American Management Association, coaches help organizations to improve productivity and profitability by enabling executives to develop their leadership skills. The International Coach Federation certifies individuals who want to perform this service. Coaches help people to assess their current skills, identify performance gaps and create a development plan. Coaches typically give individual attention to people who feel stuck in their careers. An effective coach helps a person gain perspective on his own strengths and weaknesses and motivates him to take positive actions.
Instructor
Corporate trainers and instructors teach seminars on business and professional skills. They typically present topics, lead discussions and ask questions to enable course participants to learn new skills, knowledge and techniques. As a corporate trainer, you may teach courses in a traditional classroom or use Web-based conferencing software to deliver information in virtual settings. Instructors try to motivate participants to stay engaged and on track.
Course Developer
Developing training materials involves defining, designing and creatiing course presentations, exams and supplementary resources. Jobs in this field typically require the use of specialized tools, such as Adobe Captivate, Articulate or Moodle. The American Society for Training and Documentation publishes a competency model, which includes skills in instructional design, interpersonal communication and knowledge management. The Society offers a credential to those who want to pursue a career using print, multimedia and social media technology to produce presentations, web-based training and other innovative training materials.
Facilitator
Facilitators lead workshop activities that help people to gain knowledge, develop new skills, generate creative ideas or solve complex business problems. The International Association of Facilitators had identified competencies related to developing client relationships. They include planning group activities, creating a participatory environment, assisting and guiding participants, maintaining professional standards and acting with integrity. Facilitators usually travel to client locations and lead workplace colleagues in activities that result in better communication, collaboration and creativity. Because facilitators don’t typically work with those people on the team for extended periods of time, they can remain objective about strategies and approaches. Facilitators tend to develop a reputation and generate business by word-of-mouth advertising.
