Education Q&A

Technical Training in SA

Q. Technical Training in SA - a closed door?

A. The prohibitively high cost of technical training courses means that often in SA, only corporates can afford to send their staff on these courses - and the management gets to decide who to send. For some reason - may be related to rand/dollar exchange rate, CNE/CNA and other totally unrelated technical courses (I've just come across this case in point), are affordable in the US/UK from a private individuals perspective - so if you don't get sent you can make your own plan - not quite the captive audience some SA corporates would like to keep you. Sending employess on worthwhile technical training here in the US - is much more common than I ever saw in SA. Companies are less likely to have the attitude: 'If we make him/her more marketable by sending them on training - they'll leave - so don't - besides, we'll have a better bottom line at year end'. It's short-sighted and counter- productive. Just saw a wonderful example in which someone I know had been working for a bank for several years without any real courses or forward movement (in the UK), no possibilites, nothing other than grind. Put herself through a really intense floor-traders course without telling anyone and got a job in the precious metals trading game - bank's response : 'Where the hell did you get this qualification??' "Paid for it myself" left them dumbfounded and shocked and they tried to backpedal and give her something else, but by then, their bona fides were in tatters and she left for bigger and brighter things.

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