How to Become a Corporate Trainer? (Full Guide + Expert Tips)

Becoming a corporate trainer is a lucrative career move, offering professionals the chance to step beyond their operational roles. Trainers are a valuable asset for organizations, driving efficiency, and achieving long-term goals, resulting in ongoing employee satisfaction and top performance. 

Wondering how to become a corporate trainer? Showcasing your expertise through digital training certifications is a key starting point. But, to fully excel at the role, you must first understand its intricacies and demands. This is where our comprehensive guide comes in. 

Read on to discover what a corporate trainer does, the key steps to becoming one, and actionable tips for creating impactful training programs that keep organizations scaling. 

What is a Corporate Trainer

A corporate trainer is a professional who provides education and targeted training to employees. Corporate trainers are commonly part of every industry. They’re also in high demand due to their specialized knowledge that allows employees to learn faster and better, excelling at their roles while building valuable career portfolios.

Corporate trainers may work within a single company or as consultants in various businesses. Some trainers have their own corporate firms, while others offer independent services. Either way, hiring corporate trainers for employees has become necessary for companies requiring experts who can fortify employees’ skills and expertise through designated programs.

What Does a Corporate Trainer Do

With great power comes great responsibility, and corporate trainers are no different. Whether working in an online or in-office environment, trainers must ensure successful processes and employee vs. business alignment. To do that efficiently, they take on several responsibilities:

• Evaluating current skills and professional expertise of employees
• Creating and developing training programs based on findings
• Orienting and mentoring employees to enhance training success
• Monitoring employee success during and after training
• Working with stakeholders to align training with business goals
• Collect employee feedback to improve training and learning quality
• Identifying software and teaching tools and resources needed for the training
• Develop extra professional development plans for top-achieving employees 
• Measuring training efficiency and reporting it to higher-up managers and leaders
• Research new training venues and approaches for maximum output

How to get a job as a corporate trainer

For some professionals, becoming a corporate trainer is a life-long career goal. For others, it’s a transitional move from a previous role. Either way, if you want to learn how to become a corporate trainer, here are the key steps to follow:

1. Choose a relevant industry

Identifying the right industry you want to work in is essential, especially if you are just starting your career. It helps narrow down the existing skills and those you need to further acquire for the role. Don’t limit yourself to one industry — many corporate trainers operate in multiple business fields, offering anything from compliance to HR training.

2. Obtain relevant education

Many corporate trainers obtain a Bachelor’s Degree in their chosen industries, be it in business, education, or HR. While a BA is not a dealbreaker for becoming a corporate trainer, it sets a solid foundation for success, giving professionals in-depth knowledge of adult learning and training methodologies.   

3. Gain professional experience

Seek professional roles that include training, education, or professional employee development. Even if you’re just a beginner, roles in HR, organizational design, or business management give you first-hand experience with corporate training, helping you navigate your training career efficiently. 

4. Develop key skills

Whether in the workplace or individually, developing corporate training skills gives you the upper hand when job hunting or transitioning roles. Skills like leadership, curriculum design, and e-learning platforms are critical for becoming a successful corporate trainer.

5. Get corporate trainer certifications 

Earning digital certifications equips you with verified credentials that demonstrate your training expertise. Linking corporate trainer certifications in your resume or sharing them online helps stand out by directly showcasing your relevant expertise and top corporate training skills.

6. Build a corporate training portfolio

To fully support your relevant certifications or degree, create a portfolio showcasing your top corporate training projects. Portfolios are a great place to feature any corporate training workshops or events you’ve attended and demonstrate their impact on your professional development.

7. Apply for relevant roles

With your education and experience in place, it’s time to apply for relevant corporate training toles. Make sure to review preferred job descriptions to determine if the role requirements align with what you can offer. Also, seek roles offering professional growth opportunities, so you can continue building your training expertise.

8. Invest in continuous growth

Corporate training practices are ever-changing, and you need to stay updated with the latest trends and training methods. Investing in your career doesn’t stop, and attending workshops, conferences or online courses can be a great way to build up your existing expertise and pose yourself as an essential professional. 

What is Corporate Training?

Corporate training involves teaching, guiding, and mentoring employees to boost their skills and knowledge for better performance. It’s a critical tool for helping employees adapt to new roles, transition to new positions, and master technical and practical tools. 

By equipping employees with the right expertise, corporate training supports career growth, aligns personal vs. business goals, and ensures organizational success. The most common types of corporate training include: 

Onboarding training

Onboarding training has become a must across all industries. It helps new hires acclimate to their role faster by introducing them to the company culture, role responsibilities, tools, and workflows. Onboarding training has already been adopted by 69% of businesses, making it key for boosting employee confidence and satisfaction, while reducing beginner mistakes.

Compliance training

Compliance training educates employees on the legal and safety regulations in the workplace, such as GDPR or PCI DSS. Compliance training is common in industries such as healthcare and finance, and is vital for mitigating risks, boosting workplace safety, and protecting businesses from legal repercussions. 

Soft and Hard Skills Training

Skills corporate training helps develop both hard and soft skills in the workplace. It introduces various techniques to evolve new and existing skills in employees, like communication and leadership, software usage, data analysis, etc. Skill training is ideal for aligning employee skills with business goals and equipping workers with the expertise needed to advance their careers. 

Remote and eLearning training

Probably the most in-demand type, remote training brings the best of both worlds. It efficiently equips employees with new skills and knowledge but adds the flexibility of learning remotely. This is ideal for global or remote teams that require quality training, at their own pace. 

How to Create a Corporate Training Program

Corporate training programs will vary in length, intensity, and specific steps that need to be taken to ensure success. Let’s examine the key steps to help create a full-blown corporate training program.

1. Define business needs

• What: Identify why training is needed — to patch skill gaps, ensure compliance, etc. 
• Why: Aligning training with business needs helps mitigate current issues, yielding measurable results you can act on, now and onward. 
• How: Carry out surveys or performance reviews to analyze the top needs the training should cover. Gather feedback from stakeholders to further refine your priorities. 

2. Set clear learning goals

• What: Define specific learning goals, like skill improvement or software training, ensuring you can measure their efficiency.
• Why: Setting clear objectives builds higher employee focus and direction, simplifying the process of creating and monitoring targeted programs. 
• How: Rely on frameworks such as SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) to define learning goals and track them accordingly.

3. Identify existing skill gaps

• What: Assess existing skills and expertise in employees to notice any knowledge gaps you can remedy through training. 
• Why: Understanding how well employees perform in their roles makes training more focused on building those missing skills, while also saving time and resources. 
• How: Use performance assessments, skill analysis techniques, and surveys to get a better grasp of the skills employees have vs. the skills they lack or need improving. 

4. Create the program

• What: Design a corporate training program based on your overall goals and your employee learning and training preferences. 
• Why: A program designed for your business objectives and aligned with how employees want to learn ensures maximum engagement and outcomes on their part.
• How: Create various training formats, from workshops to e-learning, or hybrid training, based on how your staff learns the best. Break the program into smaller steps, use strong visuals, and engage in real-scenario activities to measure training success.   

5. Use technology

• What: Go beyond traditional corporate training with advanced learning technology tools. 
• Why: Technology simplifies complex training, automates it, and ensures scalable and well-defined training that can easily be monitored, measured, and adjusted.
• How:  Adopt Learning Management Systems (LMS) and use tools that offer interactive learning, gamification, and accurate analytics that can measure employee engagement.

6. Use employee motivation techniques

• What: Create training programs with interactive approaches to employee learning. 
• Why: Employees who are interested and engaged in their training program yield improved skills they can use on the job, and are likelier to stay at the company longer.
• How: Use techniques like interactive sessions, role-playing, and leaderboards for friendly competition and fast learning.

7. A/B test the program

• What: Test your program with a smaller group of employees, beta audiences, or leadership teams. 
• Why: Piloting helps detect any missed steps, so you can make adjustments to ensure maximum success.
• How: Collect beta audience feedback, through reviews or surveys, to understand what needs to be improved, where, and how extensively.

8. Track and evaluate progress

• What: Monitor and evaluate program participation, completion rates, and overall success. 
• Why: Monitoring every step of training helps stay on track, whereas measuring its success ensures you meet business and employee objectives.
• How: Use features for analytics from training platforms like TalentLMS, to assess performance data. Conduct employee surveys and incorporate feedback for future program enhancements.

Can you use YouTube videos in corporate training

Yes, introducing visual training materials, such as YouTube videos can simplify the execution and success of your program. There are two ways to go about this:

• Using others’ training videos. Choosing others’ YouTube training videos can be handy but requires owning video rights, and having the right licensing. The Standard YouTube License lets you embed and share videos without modifying them, while the Creative Commons License allows you to modify the content but requires you to attribute the video to the original creator. Keep in mind–you need to set these videos to private to prevent disclosing sensitive information to competitors. Also, videos may be removed from YouTube by the creator over time, potentially disrupting your training flow.
  
• Creating your own training videos. Ideally, you should create YouTube training videos yourself. The process might be longer and more extensive, but it helps develop targeted training materials that meet your specific goals. Post your YouTube videos privately, giving access only to those who need it. Having a complete video training archive of your own gives you full ownership of the created materials while allowing you to tailor them as needed down the line.

How much does corporate training cost

Overall, the training cost can vary depending on the program’s extensiveness, duration, approach, and intensity. Other factors impacting the training investments include program certifications and accreditation, materials, and resources used, and how customized the training is. Corporate training is typically calculated per employee. 

In numbers, the 2023 Training Industry Report showed that the average training cost businesses spent was $954 per learner, with 1.4 weeks of training per employee. This is a significant cost cutback compared to the previous average of $,1207 per employee. As for corporate trainers, the average annual pay stands at $52,775, plus benefits and bonuses. 

Walk the Walk: Becoming a Top Corporate Trainer 

In today’s fast-paced industries, corporate trainers are vital to fostering business growth and employee productivity and retention. But, being an effective trainer means first mastering what, who, and how to teach. 

By following these proven steps and leveraging the right tools, you can transition from a corporate learner to an influential trainer, empowering organizations to build dynamic teams that achieve business goals and drive success! 

Elevate the quality of your corporate training with Sertifier! Our verifiable digital training certifications and badges empower organizations to track employee skills, boost employee engagement, and scale effortlessly. Transform your training approach with secure, shareable credentials—get started for free today! 

How to become a corporate trainer — FAQ

What are the best skills for corporate trainers to have?

Corporate trainers need to have various particular skills to perform their jobs. The most common corporate trainer skills include public speaking, organization, analytical skills, flexibility, collaboration, and training tools management.

What are some common questions for corporate trainers during interviews?

Corporate training applicants should expect a range of questions during interviews, mostly regarding their expertise, education, and approaches. Common questions may include:

• How do you apply employee feedback to improve corporate training?
• How do you measure the success of your corporate training?
• What tools do you use when conducting corporate training? 

Which industries are best for corporate trainers?

Corporate trainers exist in every industry, however, some industries might require training more than others. The most popular industries using corporate training include customer service, software development, healthcare, data management, and cyber security.