The Best Way to Prepare Your Team for Technical Certifications

赚钱的员工技术认证推动结果that business leaders care about — increased productivity, accuracy, and quality of work, along with reduced project costs. But even if leaders are concerned about seeing the return on investment with technical certifications, it might not be obvious how to help your employees prepare for them. We asked several Udemy Business technical certification instructors —杰森·迪恩（Jason Dion）,斯科特·达菲, andAlan Rodrigues— to share their tips and tricks.

Familiarize yourself with the available modes of learning

In the past, employers that wanted to offer technical certification education to their employees had limited options. One of the most common styles of preparing employees for certification involved paying an instructor to come in and lead an intensive boot camp. This approach to development costs several thousands of dollars per learner and takes time away from learners’ daily tasks. On the other side of the spectrum, books were a low-cost and easily accessible option, but they required a lot of heads-down time to study and absorb the information. Today there are plenty of more flexible options. Here are some of the insights the Udemy Business instructors shared about the different learning modes available now.

视频

杰森·迪恩（Jason Dion）is a big proponent of video content because it’s fast and convenient: “For a lot of things, it’s easier to see a video to demonstrate it. Something that might take five to ten pages in a book could be shown in a two-minute video, and it’s going to be a lot more effective because I can watch the person doing the steps and follow along.”

Practice exams

Practice exams give learners the chance to put their knowledge to the test — literally. By going through exercises that are likely to appear on the certification exam, they’ll get a good sense of how prepared they are and identify any knowledge or skill gaps. Jason says practice exams are one of the most important ways to prepare for certification.

虚拟实验室环境

虚拟实验室环境或沙盒是学习者获得实践经验的另一种方式。“使用实验室产品非常容易练习，”斯科特·达菲. Jason adds that virtual lab environments are ideal because you can have your team gain hands-on experience without affecting your production network.

Maximize the support your company and managers provide

提供培训以帮助准备认证是一个很好的第一步，但是您的公司和经理可以做更多的事情来最大程度地利用员工的成功机会。

Create learning paths

技术认证技能通常相互依赖，因此从基础知识开始之前，在进行更高级的主题之前是有帮助的。Alan Rodriguesrecommends having teams or departments create their ownlearning paths. When you have an online learning platform likeUdemy业务,很容易的技术领导人大纲的n次方ecessary skills or courses they’d like their team members to take.

结构工作量以允许学习时间

When managers get involved in the certification preparation process, they can support their team members by allowing time to study, says Scott Duffy. For example, if a manager knows the certification exam is coming up, they can take some story points away from the people taking the test to allow more time to study or prepare. They can also work with their team members to predict when their workload might be heavier and when it would be best to avoid scheduling the certification exam.

定期向团队成员询问他们的职业目标

斯科特·达菲says the certification provides an ideal starting point for professional development conversations. If managers know someone on their team is about to take a certification exam or just completed one, it’s a good time to check in about their longer-term goals and career plans. And if you’re the person doing the certification, don’t be afraid to take this opportunity to kick off these conversations with your manager.

Technical certification training is just the start

If you’re going to invest the time and money in technical certifications for your team, you want to ensure you’re setting them up for success. Simply providing a learning and development budget or giving access to training materials still puts the onus on employees to find the time and acquire the skills and knowledge they’ll need.

The tips Jason, Scott, and Alan shared here give you a few ideas for getting started. Looking for even more practical tips on helping your employees gain technical certifications? Watch the on-demand webinar,Unlocking Technical Certifications.