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Many times, you might remember your training as boring and have information, but have you ever thought that your past training was ineffective?
What Training Influenced Me & What Did Not
I often think about how great my training in the past has been, but I have never asked what parts did not benefit me. To begin, what was effective was that this one training, a mandated reporter program, focused on recognizing and addressing abuse and harassment among youth. It was effective due to its interactive design, which combined realistic scenarios, guided reflection, and opportunities to practice responses. More so, having effective training requires active learning, behavioral modeling, and feedback that reinforces correct actions (Salas et al., 2012). Because the content was directly tied to real-world applications, it not only increased my confidence but also helped me retain the information long-term.
On another mutually beneficial way, being thrown into a job without planning or structure was one of the least successful training experiences I had. Not to say that being trained while working is not beneficial, but there are necessary pieces of information that must be said before setting foot on the job. When you do not have any specific instructions or expectations, I, in this case, was supposed to learn by doing only. Relating to the article from, The Making of a UPS Driver, practicing without directed teaching might result in uneven results since learners are unable to connect new knowledge to performance criteria (Fortune, 2017). Without structure, feedback, or clear goals, the process wasn’t effective and didn’t really help people improve their skills.
It is worth mentioning that you must understand the differences between these two experiences that I have had to further boost your career. Thinking about how much of what you learn is used on the job, and if you notice ineffective training, before starting your job position, you might lack support from the company Oregon State University, 2025). In other words, if there is a struggle in the beginning due to the lack of training, the chances of it improving decrease over time. The company shows a lack of support, and training works better when it is designed with the learner’s interest, practice chances, and reinforcement after the mind training.
References
Fortune. (2017). The making of a UPS driver: Training Generation Y for a lifetime job.
Oregon State University. (2025). Week 6 Lecture 1: Training. College of Business.
Salas, E., Tannenbaum, S. I., Kraiger, K., & Smith-Jentsch, K. A. (2012). The science of training and development in organizations: What matters in practice. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 13(2), 74–101. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612436661