SYNOPSIS
A Technical Instructor, also
known as an IT trainer, technical trainer, applications trainer or courseware
designer, is an IT professional who imparts his or her knowledge of technology
to others. This rewarding career entails passing on both detailed and high
level technical information to students.
Duties of a technical
instructor include staying on the leading edge of chosen technical fields,
getting hands on experience with the latest technology through both lab work
and consulting work, preparing to deliver course work and perhaps even creating
the course work, presenting course work, and providing post classroom help to
students. Technical instruction is a highly technical role. A trainer must have
a better than average understanding of the topics he or she is to teach. At the
same time, a trainer must have very good communication skills and people skills
to transfer that knowledge effectively to students. Some of the requisite talents
include very good presentation and public speaking skills, effective classroom
management, the ability to keep the course on track and on schedule, a
consistent calmness to deal with unforeseen problems in the classroom, a wide
variety of real world experiences that can be described in class, and the
patience to deal with slower students as well as with those know-it-alls who
want to constantly challenge the person conducting the class.
A person may consider
entering this field after attaining a Computer Science or Computer Engineering
university degree, a one or two year computer diploma from a local technical
institute, or most any other post secondary education. Equally important is
having the drive to try out the latest beta products, being involved in self
development organizations such as Toastmasters International, and taking the
time to achieve the latest product certifications.
A technical trainer
generally moves on from teaching introductory courses to more advanced and
specialized ones. In doing so, he or she gains the flexibility to teach a
variety of courses and thus will likely be blessed with fairly regular pay increases.
Technical trainers often continue on in the teaching world or mix in teaching
with high level consulting work. Some technical trainers leverage their
presentation skills and listening skills by moving into tech sales or
marketing.
Salary information is so
dependent on an IT professional’s particular skill set, experience and geographic
location. However, talented technical instructors can attain salaries approaching
$70,000 USD and beyond.
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