Data suggests that job growth by training suppliers has been more than 8% over the past ten years, where jobs on the buy side of the industry has actually declined by 2% over the same time frame. Even during the last two years, total jobs within training suppliers has remained flat, while jobs on the buy side have declined.
Just last week, TrainingIndustry.com learned that Bryan Pickett has joined Avaya as the Sr. Director of Global Learning. His role is to lead the technical training group for Avaya on a global basis, and responsible for all aspects of training including curriculum development and delivery for Avaya associates, customers and channel partners. Bryan’s organization is also responsible for the development and implementation of Avaya’s certification programs.
Why this is important is Bryan was most recently the Vice President and Managing Director of Global Knowledge’s outsourcing business for Nortel Networks' enterprise product training. Before that, Bryan worked with Nortel Networks as the Director of the Nortel Enterprise Systems Training (NEST) group.
Bryan's movement demonstrates one example of how movement between buy and supply side companies is possible, and often times beneficial to a training professionals career. Over the years, I've heard many training professionals voice concern over working for training suppliers, saying it is not a great career step. I believe the exact opposite. Bryan's move shows you can also move from a training supplier back to the buy side.
Quite frankly, I believe many of the best job opportunities over the past few years have been on the supply side. Many analysts agree that the majority of true innovation in learning technologies has originated from training suppliers. And best practices in managing training functions comes from consulting thought leaders. My experience has found that when working with a training supplier, you have the opportunity to work with many great companies on their training requirements. It provides lots of flexibility and personal growth.
Good news is there are fantastic opportunities for training professionals working with suppliers and while the job market seems slow today, the long term career opportunities are very strong.
