articles

Home / DeveloperSection / Articles / Making a Big Career Change: Find the Best RTO Material

Making a Big Career Change: Find the Best RTO Material

Emily Wilson674 11-Mar-2019

When planning a massive career change, chances are that you won’t be able to make it without some re-education. Sure, this will not always be as severe, yet, in the case of a lateral career shift, you might need to start all over again. The first challenge on this path will find a great starting point, which usually means finding the course that A) suits your needs and B) has a reputation on delivering what’s promised. This is harder than it looks, due to the fact that high competitiveness in the RTO industry, makes some lower their grading criteria and graduation requirements. Keep in mind that your primary goal here is to learn and acquire new skills, not earn certificates. 

The second challenge that you’ll face is finding the right learning materials. This is also quite challenging, especially in the age where there are so many sources and publishers and, as a newcomer to the niche, you won’t have an easy job telling which ones are reliable and which ones are not. Also, you need all the help you can get, which is why diversifying and finding a way to access relevant funds may be even more important. With that in mind and without further ado, here’s how you can find the best RTO material in order to make the career change.

Exploring different formats

The first thing you need to understand is the fact that learning materials come in many different forms and formats. This is important seeing as how different people have different learning inclinations. Depending on the learning style that suits you the most, you should be able to find the material you need. For instance, visual learners prefer pictures and images. Aural learners learn best when acquiring knowledge through the sense of hearing, whereas verbal learner prefers to read. This can make a difference in the effectiveness of your learning method.

Look at the author of the material

Regardless of what you’re interested in, upon entering the industry, you’ll notice that there are some names that keep popping up over and over again. These people are usually figures of authority within the niche, which is why getting the material that they created may be the safest choice. Later on, you can even quite them or use them as an example in order to get more credibility. Also, if you encounter an interview with one of these niche experts, a video featuring them or a blog post written by them, it might be worth your while to check it out.

Finding a specialized platform

As for the source of these materials, seeing as how we live in the era of RTOs, there are platforms that specialize in providing rto materials to those who need them. It’s by far the simplest to just find a suitable platform and take your learning materials from there. Another benefit of these platforms lies in the fact that other than materials alone, you also get a lot of support in the form of learning resources and assessment tools. Add to this the privilege of assessor guides and mapping documents and what you’ll get is holistic learning assistance, not just a learning material.

How holistic is it

When following the route of traditional, formal education, you’ll often get materials that are specifically made for the course. While this may be the case with RTO materials, as well, this won’t always be so. Therefore, you shouldn’t be surprised if you’re expected to combine several different resources in order to get all the information that you need. Sometimes, you can even combine several of these resources to create a custom learning material of your own.

Consult the community

Perhaps the most important piece of advice that you could ever get on this topic is to ask people who already took this course before you. You see, if they managed to get a passing grade and get certified with the use of a certain material, so should you. Just keep in mind that this requires some research and networking. You can’t just contact people out of the blue and ask them to give you their materials. Try to chat them up first or even offer some compensation. After all, they might have paid for these materials, to begin with, so why would they just hand them out for free?

Be aware of the limitations

Different textbooks have different strengths and advantages, yet, there’s only so much that any course or any textbook can get you. This is why you need to understand that there are some limitations when it comes to the effectiveness of the learning material that you’re currently using. The best learning materials are usually those with a lot of real-life examples or those that offer instructions as to how you can apply the knowledge in the real world.

The cost and accessibility

Finally, you need to understand that learning materials usually aren’t free (even though there are those that are free) and that there are some that just aren’t cost-effective. You may have a limited budget and if you’re already paying a hefty fee to attend a course, it might be already stretched too thin. Other than this, even in the digital world, not all textbooks exist in the form of a PDF, which means that you might have to acquire a physical copy. Getting your hands on such an item may not be as easy, which is also factor worth taking into consideration.

In conclusion

The most curious thing about your ability to find the best RTO material for this big career change is the fact that it’s indicative of your problem-solving abilities. In some scenarios, it may require you to employ all your resourcefulness in order to get where you want to be. Keep in mind that a career change isn’t easy, to begin with, which is why spending such an effort to get all these learning materials may only further cement your resolve. A concept that is definitely worth pondering on.



Updated 11-Mar-2019

Leave Comment

Comments

Liked By