Bringing Your Experience To Job Training Sessions

While there are many young professionals and graduates who break into the industry using recruiting agencies, there are also many experienced professionals who seek new jobs through such agencies. An experienced pilot may want to earn more money, take on a new challenge, or work for an airline that is in a better financial situation. A railroad engineer may want to move from smaller, commuter lines to larger national lines where opportunities are tough to come by for individual applicants. Safety and health professionals who have experience in inspections will often move from agency to private organizations in order to boost their pay. There may be some training sessions through recruiting agencies that are redundant for these professionals but they can customize their training experience by using their past work experience.

For the airline and rail industries, many of the positions require both technical knowledge and experience. Experienced professionals can take on the role of mentor during agency training sessions, helping younger professionals who they may end up working with in the future. There are some who will say that the mentor-student relationship is not ideal since both professionals are going after jobs with the same companies. However, experienced pilots, engineers, and inspectors are seeking jobs at higher levels than their young counterparts, eliminating conflicts of interest from the relationship. For example, experienced airline pilots are applying for captain positions with airlines while young professionals are trying to break in as first officers. By mentoring young professionals, experienced workers not only make the training experience easier to get through but develop professional relationships for the future.

Job trainers often seek out anecdotes and experiences to help round out their particular course materials. Airline pilots can speak with experience about the need for organization in flight planning, especially on charter flights. Rail engineers provide a plethora of information about hard work and technical aptitude that are invaluable for young professionals. Health and safety professionals can clear up questions about how to relate to manufacturing managers, executives, and line workers during their inspections. While training sessions are invaluable to young professionals, having experienced workers impart their knowledge is just as valuable.

Experienced workers should embrace their role as mentors during agency training sessions while realizing that they are training for new jobs. The one advantage that experienced professionals bring to agency training sessions is that they need less personal attention and often require little direction. Experienced professionals should consult with trainers to make their training experience as efficient as possible.