Training for the Future

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talkbubbleI just finished a week of PowerShell training in Phoenix. It was a terrific class that uses the Learn PowerShell 3 in a Month of Lunches book as the course material. I will be back in Phoenix next month to teach the class and I'm also on the books for the course in March. If you are interested in attending, you can do so remotely. Check out InterfaceTT.com for more information.

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I also had a chance to have dinner with fellow PowerShell MVP Jason "Coach" Helmick. Naturally our discussions turned to PowerShell training. Why is it so hard for IT Pros to get into a training class? We all know they would benefit as would their organizations. People on the dev side of companies seem to have a much easier time getting either training approved or the time to take a class. We don't understand why it should be that way.

If you are an IT Pro looking to do anything with your career in the next few years, learning PowerShell *has* to be on your agenda. If it is on yours, how are you planning on getting training? What holds you back from attending a live instructor led class like the one I just completed? What do you want from PowerShell training or any IT Pro related content for that matter?

I know many companies have arrangements with local training centers like New Horizons or Executrain. Are they offering PowerShell related courses? If not, tell them you want it! Or look for companies like Interface or Webucator.com that offer virtual classroom experiences. It isn't the same I think as face to face with a professional PowerShell trainer, but it is better no training at all.

So, the question before you is: "What's in your training wallet for this year?"

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7 thoughts on “Training for the Future”

  1. I think it depends on the organization. I know a lot of IT departments try and keep staffing to a minimum and worry about having people out of the office.

    The other thing I see in trying to teach people PowerShell is that a lot of people, when given time, material, and a trainer, just don’t want to learn a shell.

    1. I hear those “concerns” all the time. All I can think is that management is being short-sighted. I would think training and building your team would be benefit everyone. You have to plan for this. And ironically, if the department was really taking advantage of automation, they would have time to let people be out of the office.

      The point about “it’s just a shell” indicates the person really needs to learn PowerShell because they don’t understand it. That’s why I wrote this: http://4sysops.com/archives/powershell-past-present-and-future/

  2. I couldn’t agree with you more, the issue is that, for many in IT operations, commandline and shell type tools are unappealing. I serve on a very large IT operations team and the more timesaving tools I make the more people ask that I build GUIs to go with them. In spite of a constant pressure to automate and reduce manpower requirements many of the people who’s jobs could become obsolete still resist learning PowerShell. It doesn’t make sense to me but it is what I have observed.

    1. Sorry for the run on sentence, I’m on a conference call as I’m writing these comments.

  3. In my shop, I’m the only one that knows PowerShell. Everyone else says they want to learn it, but they don’t actually learn it. Despite seeing me time and time again produce wonders with it. Perhaps part of their lack of motivation is because they can always ask me to do something. I’ve taught numerous classes on it to colleagues. I’ve done several one on ones yet the end result is the same…

    As for classes… it’s somewhat hard to get approval for a class I have to travel to. Local or Internet classes don’t seem to be as much of an issue though. However the travel classes I usually find out about after they’ve happened!

  4. I bit the bullet started with version 1. What got me going was when Don Jones said would you like frys with that. I went the self taught route and bought a few books. Once I started using it everyday it just flowed.

    I completely understand getting out of the office to focus on powershell if you need an instructor in a classroom.

    Don’t forget free training to get you started.
    http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/Studies/SearchResult.aspx?q=powershell#?fbid=wfRAJikHaNO. Jason and Jeff flow really well on these.

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