What a training and development specialist really does
You figure out what people need to learn to do their jobs better, build the training, teach it, and prove it worked.
FieldBusiness
Preparation (O*NET Job Zone)Considerable preparation needed
What the work involves
What fills a typical week for training and development specialists, built from O*NET occupation data.
- Talking with managers and employees and reading performance data to find skill gaps
- Designing training sessions, onboarding programs and online modules
- Writing and updating manuals, guides, slides and job aids
- Leading sessions in person and on video, using role plays, discussions and demos
- Reviewing material that other instructors or subject experts wrote
- Tracking attendance, quiz scores and on the job results to see if training made a difference
- Justifying training budgets and reporting results to leadership
What the days are like
What people in the job know
- You present often. Standing in front of a room or a video call is a weekly event for most people in the role. Public speaking: 22% every day, 48% once a week or more (O*NET Work Context)
- Building materials is as central as teaching them. Much of the week is writing and design work. Task 2 (Core, importance 91): Obtain, organize, or develop training manuals, guides, or course materials (O*NET)
- You are expected to show results, and when training does not move the numbers you have to try something else. Task 6 (Core, importance 85): Monitor, evaluate, or record program effectiveness; Task 8 (Core, importance 78): Develop alternative training methods when expected improvements are not seen (O*NET)
- Conflict comes up more than people expect, from resistant trainees to managers who will not release staff for training. Conflict situations: 39% once a week or more, 35% once a month or more (O*NET Work Context)
- You carry responsibility for how well other people end up doing their jobs. Responsibility for other workers' results: 48% high, 26% moderate (O*NET Work Context)
How people get into it
Most training specialists hold a bachelor's degree (O*NET Job Zone 4), often in human resources, education, communications, psychology or instructional design, plus several years of related work. Many move in from a frontline role where they became the go to person for teaching others, then learn instructional design and facilitation on the job or through certificates.
The Firstday trial, easy to hard
Three simulated tasks at Northgate Home Services, a fictional company, with AI coworkers who message you, react to your work and coach with questions. Nobody scores you.
What the trial can't show: The trial cannot show the energy of a live room, reading body language across a group of twenty, long full day sessions on your feet, travel to other sites, or the months it takes to see whether behavior really changed. Learning management systems and video tools are simplified. All employees, metrics and the company are fictional.
Reading about it is one thing.
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Job details on this page are built from O*NET OnLine, 13-1151.00. This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.