Reply to: Career in IT Training

[shanemanc]

Training

For a few years I've fancied doing some PM training or coaching, just a few weeks a year would suffice, but no idea how to break into it.

Have you actually looked into training further?

[minestrone]

I just checked a rational unified process book from 1998 that is sitting in the bookshelf. It too starts with the "the problem with waterfall" speech. I think that is where this started from, it was a sales technique by the rational software company and it is still going strong in agile.

Kind of like how religions never totally die out, they get replaced but some of the strange habits and beliefs get carried into the new one. Waterfall is the bogeyman that is still being used to scare people.

[Project Monkey]

Nobody ever did waterfall, this is just some myth the agile people perpetuate. Iterations have been standard practice for almost 20 years.

Ditto that. I always talk about iterative development in interviews, never agile or waterfall.

[Batcher]

I didn't realise you are a teacher.

I just taught you an old proverb

[Platypus]

Old proverb:

Those who can't do, teach.

I didn't realise you are a teacher.

[minestrone]

The reason all companies are jumping on Agile is with Waterfall they found a lot of their projects failed. They are hoping that seeing things at stages will prevent this failure. They ignore the main reason projects failed is the company didn't know what they f*$£ing wanted in the first place. Also lots of people have to see something in other words the UI to be happy with it.

In another few years it will be out of fashion again....

Nobody ever did waterfall, this is just some myth the agile people perpetuate. Iterations have been standard practice for almost 20 years.

[minestrone]

Ironically the entire purpose of agile is a way for training companies to sell stuff to companies.

It is all meaningless tulipe.

[Tasslehoff]

Old proverb:

Those who can't do, teach.

I intend to get into Teaching / Management when there are 18 year old kids coding rings round me asking for half of my rate. Till then I think I still have something to give at the coal face.

[SueEllen]

One thing I've noticed at all clients that have done Agile is that what you actually deliver in a sprint is really quite lightweight compared to a waterfall methodology / just being left to your own devices. For example, in my last role, at the end of the first sprint they wanted WCF service contracts, validation & some stubs written so that the UI guy could hook up. All well and good but I could do this with my eyes shut & each sprint was enveloped in its own layer of documentation, unit testing, code reviews, presentations etc. So you have to go through all that stuff for every sprint - and there are usually a lot of them.

I can see the point of it. I just don't like doing it, that's all.

The reason all companies are jumping on Agile is with Waterfall they found a lot of their projects failed. They are hoping that seeing things at stages will prevent this failure. They ignore the main reason projects failed is the company didn't know what they f*$£ing wanted in the first place. Also lots of people have to see something in other words the UI to be happy with it.

In another few years it will be out of fashion again....

[Freaki Li Cuatre]

Agile works differently in different companies - so the next client you have will do it different. Just stick with it.

One thing I've noticed at all clients that have done Agile is that what you actually deliver in a sprint is really quite lightweight compared to a waterfall methodology / just being left to your own devices. For example, in my last role, at the end of the first sprint they wanted WCF service contracts, validation & some stubs written so that the UI guy could hook up. All well and good but I could do this with my eyes shut & each sprint was enveloped in its own layer of documentation, unit testing, code reviews, presentations etc. So you have to go through all that stuff for every sprint - and there are usually a lot of them.

I can see the point of it. I just don't like doing it, that's all.

[Batcher]

Old proverb:

Those who can't do, teach.

[Project Monkey]

For a few years I've fancied doing some PM training or coaching, just a few weeks a year would suffice, but no idea how to break into it.

[norrahe]

Also with training you need to factor in the time spent preparing for upcoming training courses for clients which isn't paid time.

As FaQQer says, it may be well paid it's not paid well enough when you take that time into consideration.

[TheFaQQer]

Unless you have a name to trade on, or it's niche stuff, then you'll struggle.

Alternatively, you need to be in something which people want / need training in constantly - otherwise you find that you can only run one or two courses a year, which isn't going to pay the bills much.

Then you need to consider your pricing and delivery method - on-site with the client may be easier (but you run the risk that they haven't booked a suitable room etc.) but they will expect it to be cheaper. Hotel conference room would be pricey and you'd need to sort out hardware etc. for the delegates to use (if they need it) and have it all ready to go when they arrive - plus there is the associated cost of having to procure the hardware first for something that may fail dismally.

I've run training courses before, and at a higher rate than I would normally earn. But there weren't enough of them to be able to move away from the normal role to do it.

[SueEllen]

Agile works differently in different companies - so the next client you have will do it different. Just stick with it.