What is Charlie to do in order to advance his career?
In this ever-changing world, it is increasingly difficult to keep or find jobs, and career advancement may prove to be an “impossible mission”.
To deal with this situation, people are often faced with the challenge of changing their professional orientation, something not always so easy to do and that can cause a lot of frustration.
As in Charlie’s example, sometimes there is no great risk of losing your job, but in fact a series of opportunities for developing a career with complementary benefits.
Even in this situation, Charlie, a computer systems engineer with over 20 years experience in IT, will have a hard time accepting that his best solution is to specialize in an activity related to his training.
How do we motivate Charlie, and others like him to start learning again?
Some of the options offered by vocational training agencies will not convince him, and he may even be hesitant to “in-class” or “distance” learning because, like many adults similar to Charlie, they are terrified by the idea of going to school again.
Charlie has done this a long time ago and has believed with conviction in what he has been thought. However, throughout the last 20 years, his professional knowledge have consolidated and constantly developed.
In fact, Charlie could very well be convinced that he has forgotten how to learn the way he has done during his university years. His kids are now in university, and the idea of being ‘in the same boat’ as them makes him feel awkward. The problem is that if he does not manage to specialize in a new activity, he may lose the opportunity of advancing in his career.
To better explain our approach, at “RQM Cert“, to convince Charlie to learn again and obtain a new certification to develop his career, I will suggest a specific training for an individual responsible for maintaining conformance with Information Security Management System (ISMS) requirements, “ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Implementer” training course.
“ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Implementer” training course using PECB (a The International Accreditation Service (IAS) applicant personal accreditation body for ISO17024) accredited course materials and is offered in partnership with PECB.
Our partner, PECB certifies training courses based on the ISO/IEC 17065 standard. PECB assesses not only the quality of the training content but also the processes that support it, such as the qualifications of the training developers, the validity, and effectiveness of the training methodology and the course material update process.
- Since Charlie already has some experience and knowledge of ISMS and ISO/IEC 27001 (he has worked in numerous projects as an ISMS team member), it is an advantage for him that this course offers immediate relevance with illustrated lectures in which examples are based on real cases. Moreover, the practical exercises based on a full case study including role-playing and oral presentations are a bonus. It is a known fact that adults often appreciate more practical knowledge to theoretical one. Therefore in order to convince Charlie, we need our presentation to be an effective mix of theory and practice.
- We will provide Charlie with an enticing study material that will help him develop more knowledge, as well as make him curious enough to explore a new activity domain. The study material consists of a student manual containing over 450 pages of information and practical examples.
- Apart from having at his disposal lots of information on our company’s website (“RQM Cert“), he will benefit from the web-based platform for professional web meeting services (Zoom), as well as the numerous discussion groups opened on various social media platforms (Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter). These tools will give him the opportunity to receive immediate answers from trainers, as well as from other colleagues. From our experience, the exchange of knowledge will continue beyond the course, as most people find it useful and quite entertaining.
- During the “ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Implementer” course, the “RQM Cert” trainer will use an “Aided Strategy”, and will invite (in-class or through Zoom) various experts and specialists to provide real examples in their professional activity. Charlie will be able to ask questions on how to implement the ISO/IEC 27001 requirements in real life scenarios.
- Charlie will be constantly challenged in a series of exercises that will have to be solved either as an individual or as part of a team. All these exercises will help him understand better the standard’s requirements in real life and will prepare him for the final exam.
- “A day without laughter is a day wasted.” (Charlie Chaplin). Our approach to teaching is to always create a loose atmosphere. We are professionals, however, we also have a sense of humor. By inserting jokes throughout our presentations, which are never just a simple read from a PowerPoint, we believe it will help Charlie become more confident.
- During the presentation of “ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Implementer“, our “RQM Cert” trainer will use a “Chunking Strategy” that will divide long strings of information into digestible pieces that are easier to remember. We build on our learners’ knowledge and our trainees won’t get lost from a course that skips around or jumps ahead.
- Charlie will understand the benefits of this course and the value of an international certification (PECB Certified ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Implementer), which he will be able to obtain by successfully passing the exam.
Author: Ion Iordache – Trainer & PECB Certified ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Implementer