Training not supplied...

quinnie123ie

Hello, I’ve been working for a company for 6.5yrs and have not received a single day of training. I was promised training when i started and am now facing redundancy... my fear is that in the next few months my CV will be so out of date that I will be unemployable? Does the company have any obligation to ensure i am employable once they let me go? I work in I.T. by the way so on the job training is a big part of any appointment. Thanks

Nody

Not as far as I'm aware outside the usual bla bla.

kippy

Obligation to ensure you are employable?
That obligation, is yours in my opinion.
If you were 6.5 years somewhere and they never gave you any training, that is partially your fault. Even if they didnt provide funding for training you COULD have gone about it yourself in order to improve yourself, thats what you will have to do now while out of work.
1. You should have asked specificilly for training and
2. If that was not forthcoming and you werent happy about it you should have reviewed your options.


Sorry about the harshness about but always think of yourself and have an exit strategy from a job should things not work out. Having gotten certs/done training etc , even if paid for by yourself is a very good attitude to have, especially in IT.

Now on the positive side, you have over six years work experience, with a number of different technologies I suspect. This alone is great to have on your CV. If a job isnt forthcoming soon check to see what FAS sponsored training exists for you and if that isnt feasable buy a couple of books in the subject areas you are interested in, sit the exams and stick them on your CV.
Mightnt be great but every little helps.

quinnie123ie

thanks, i neglected to mention that in the interview training was promised and also during the course of the role there was also strong indication that training was going to be provided... and last year we signed a new contract which specified that training would be provided to enable us to work on systems we were not already trained on...

Nody

quinnie123ie wrote: »

thanks, i neglected to mention that in the interview training was promised and also during the course of the role there was also strong indication that training was going to be provided... and last year we signed a new contract which specified that training would be provided to enable us to work on systems we were not already trained on...

Nothing not written in the interview is worth nothing and apparently you never worked on a system you did not know.

kippy

quinnie123ie wrote: »

thanks, i neglected to mention that in the interview training was promised and also during the course of the role there was also strong indication that training was going to be provided... and last year we signed a new contract which specified that training would be provided to enable us to work on systems we were not already trained on...

May I ask you what systems these were? (Training in these systems, if they were inhouse systems for example, may have been worth didly squat to you anyway)

And again, promises of training are nothing, you were there six years - the promises must have sounded hollow at some stage over those six years.
Training rarely came up in any of my interviews/contract talks. I just asked for them to pay for exams/books and on the rare occasion a course. If they didnt pay for the more expensive end of it I would ask them to pay for the cheaper end of it. I dont think I would have stayed in a company long if they flatly turned down any reasonable requests.

3DataModem

kippy wrote: »

always ... have an exit strategy from a job should things not work out

Excellent advice.

gandalf

TBH you were there 6.5 years did you not think about bringing this up with HR or your boss?

You say you are facing redundancy any chance you can negotiate certified training in the area you have been working in as part of that redundancy.

As someone has already pointed out you have over 6 years experience and any employer worth his salt will look at this over certifications alone. Certifications with experience even better. So whether the company stump up for certified training if I were you I would look at funding some certifications in the areas you have experience in out of your own pocket.

John_Cultane

I had a similar situation myself. Every year I was promised training and it never happened then I was let go. It turns out that when I went into the market again I had vast experience I hadn't recognised myself and was promoted within two weeks of getting the new job.

What was very frustrating after the fact is if I had been given 1 hours training in my old job I would have been able to do much more work and saved the old company a fortune over the time I spent there. Unfortunately they market is so unsure of itself certs and the like have been given high value when in truth they say very little. Idiots can pass tests but unable to do the job.

Hang in there FAS provide some excellent training and their e-college has some great course to while away your time while waiting to get onto full time courses. Really worth looking at their website.