Question:
Hi, I have been out of the US job market for a few years and would greatly appreciate some advice on Masters degrees that might facilitate my transition into HR and training.

I have a graduate degree already in Linguistics which has proved useful to my career overseas. I have worked as a language teacher/trainer at a variety of well-known companies abroad. I have also worked with some fortune 500 type companies in the U.S. However, my experience has been limited to linguistic or intercultural training with non native English speakers.

At this point I want to diversify. When I return to the states in a couple of months I hope to transition into a corporate training position with the hope that it might give me the opportunity to advance into a career in Human Resources. To do this though....I feel I need education!! I am worried that no one will take a language teacher very seriously in the corporate training world. Anyway, I am kind of stuck which way to go.

I have been accepted into a Masters program for Organizational Development, but I kind of wonder if this would be the best direction to go in. I am also looking at a Masters in Instructional Technology with an emphasis in HR management. I feel this degree, as well as enhancing my current skills/experience, might be a boost to a corporate training position in so far as putting training courses online. However, I feel that it might also be limited in giving me the theoretical background in training design that I will need in the corporate training world.

My question is, what are the hot degrees for training? Are there any degrees that might straddle training design and HR management?

I would greatly appreciate any advice or thoughts.

Thanks!

Choices:
Answers Please

 

To me, this is akin to joining the armed forces... talk to some other people who have been there before you enlist to make sure you really want to go in that direction. In my opinion, and from observation, you do not need a degree in training/instructional design to be successful in it. You're already an intelligent, learned person with a masters degree under your belt. A certificate from a place like Langevin will probably be much better for you - particularly if you're interested in corporate training. But I digress from my original thought... corporate training departments are ALWAYS overhead. No matter how carefully structured, no matter how well one demonstrates the direct link from learning to performance to bottom line business goals, we are an after-thought... a "nice-to-have while we have money". The moment there are financial difficulties in a company, overhead is the first thing to get cut from the budget. Unless you can get in with a long-time firm that has lots of long-time training contracts with the government, you can forget about stability. And then you're dealing with the government as a client... ugh. Another important aspect is -- no matter what pieces of paper you have, no matter how many years of experience... you will often find yourself explaining, re-explaining, defending your design choices to the very people who hired you because they don't know how to do instructional design and training... It's a paradox. They hire an expert, but don't let the expert do what the expert does.

Do I love what I do? Yes. But really good, stable, autonomous positions in the field are hard to come by.

Thanks Laura for your nice analysis of the training field which I totally agree with, and I really appreciate your recommendation for the Langevin Certificates. That seems like the perfect place to start. Still, I have this nagging feeling that I need a Masters degree. I don't actually have a Masters now; I have Graduate Diploma (2/3 of a Masters) from an Australian University (I wanted to travel). That's why I wonder what are the preferred graduate degrees for corporate trainers and HR staff?? From the outside looking in, a Masters degree seems like a necessary step to transition from language training to corporate training and HR.

Thanks again for your thoughts.


Best regards!

quote:

Originally posted by ChrisA:
That's why I wonder what are the preferred graduate degrees for corporate trainers and HR staff?? From the outside looking in, a Masters degree seems like a necessary step to transition from language training to corporate training and HR.

ChrisA

The Chicago ISPI chapter website includes some links to HRD/HPI academic programs. The list is not all inclusive, but it's not a bad place to start.

http://www.cispi.com/Resource_CollegeUniv.htm

Conspicuous by its absence is my alma mater, Southern Illinois University, where I'm currently a graduate student in the Workforce Education and Development program. Harvard College of Education it ain't, so those who value academic pedigree and status over capability and accomplishment may not think the Saluki sheepskin (or similar) to be all that "hot".

But, as one of the largest programs of its type in the nation, the SIU graduate program merits consideration in terms of its flexibility, accessibility, and professional network of graduates and faculty. As you know from your earlier academic and professional accomplishments, no matter where you do decide to go, or are able to go, the quality of your education is what you make of it.

Professional certification, via ISPI or ASTD, is also worth considering. In these, you do need to meet certain eligibility criteria (e.g., experience and opportunity to demonstrate that you meet professional standards, usually through products of work or other work-based evidence). I'm also a candidate in the ASTD CPLP pilot program, awaiting results of the Part I Knowledge Examination which are to be delivered...sometime.

Please feel free to contact me off-line or via private topic if you'd like an insider's perspective on either program.

Regards,

Scott G. Welch

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Scott G Welch,

Chris ,

Requirements for success changes frequently
because of the economy etc or even because it can be changed. For entry into training a masters in your case is unwise in my judgement.
It will sap the very resources(time &$) you will need to find the environment that will gladly accept what you have to offer and give you he opportunity to develop it.
At this point you have only a feeling that you need a masters, Yes but where ? If your situation were different(like employed in training and know what the next move may entail) I would suggest , as an example , MBA along with astd workshops, certifications etc.
Even with an MBA,all business people think they need one,however there is a constant tension/fight between schools and business as to what is the best background to have.
When you ask people for comment, make sure that includes people who work in other functional areas in the industry(s) you have selected. Always ask what is going to keep me competitive 5 to 10 years from now.

Nero