Hi everyone! I would like to write this blog post to discuss some of the trainings I have done in the past and what made them great or not so great. Some jobs I have had have thrown me right in and let me figure things out for myself and that was considered my training. Other jobs I have found have been very helpful at giving me thorough trainings.
For my not-so-great training experience, this comes from a retail job I worked at for just over two years. When I arrived for my first day, I had little to no idea what to expect in terms of everyday tasks and duties that were associated with my position. I went straight to the manager’s office and he gave me an associate phone (one that scans things and has store information on it) and told me to begin fulfilling orders after I complete my online training. I head to one of the associate computers in the back of the store and began the training and as it went on, I slowly started realizing this was general information training, meaning no matter what your job title is, you are getting the same training, things like safety and how to handle customers or conflict was discussed, but nothing about my actual job. Luckily, I ran into someone else who was working the same job as me and I slowly got comfortable asking more questions about the job and became an efficient worker because of my coworkers. I fully give credit to my coworkers and supervisors for unofficially training me hands on instead of assuming I know what to do.
That leads me into my better experience as an intern for a construction firm. I again, had no idea what to expect being a project engineer intern, and was heading to my desk for my first day. My supervisor met me that day and stuck by my side pretty much the whole summer, he taught me what it meant to be in this role and tips and tricks on my tasks. I feel like I got phenomenal training from him because he also gave me a great amount of independence the second summer I came back, which helped me grow and learn from my mistakes and experiences.
When you compare my two experiences I wrote about above with my trainings, you will see the similarity where my coworkers or supervisors took me under their wing to show me everything they know about how to be successful in your job!