Sending an individual staff member to a public seminar can be a convenient way for that person to earn new skills and gain new knowledge. But what if there are a number of people in your organization who need staff development? Then in-house training may be the most effective and economical solution for your organization.

What is in-house training?

In-house training is when an instructor comes to your site to teach a class for your staff or group, or when a class is held exclusively for your staff or group at some off-site location. Employers may choose in-house training for a group of employees. Organizations with a variety of sites spread geographically may choose in-house training which brings together people from each of their sites. Membership groups may offer in-house training exclusively for their members. Whoever is in the group, in-house training offers you the opportunity to sponsor staff development on a topic of your choice which is customized to your needs.

When can this type of training be done?

In-house training is scheduled at your convenience. It can be run during the day, in the evenings, or on the weekends. It can be designed as a single session or as multiple sessions.

What topics do we offer?

As the continuing education department at Rutgers University's School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, we have the expertise to offer training in the areas of information science, technology, communication, management, journalism, and librarianship. This means we can offer everything from creating websites and online searching to employee relations and business writing to library cataloging and reference skills.

Please note that the technology-oriented classes we can offer relate to information retrieval and searching. We do not offer sessions related to basic software packages such as Windows 95 or Powerpoint

Is all in-house training custom-designed?

The great benefit of in-house training is that it is always tailored for your needs, whether you choose from a list of existing seminars or wish to create a new class. Many of our regular public seminars can be taught as in-house training for your organization. When you choose one of these topics you will be able to focus the emphasis of the program on your specific situation. For example, we recently ran our two-day Personnel Supervision class for eight supervisors in one library. In this class we spent much more time on performance appraisals than we did in our public session because that was what the organization needed. If we don't have an existing seminar on the topic you have in mind, we will select an appropriate instructor and work with you and that instructor to create a class to meet your need.

How does in-house technology training work?

Generally we send an instructor to your site to teach the class if you have a meeting room that can be used. For organizations without meeting space, or for classes with specialized space needs, we may run the class for you at a site near your workplace, or on our campus.

For technology skill development, in-house training allows your staff to learn on your own equipment that has its own unique configuration. If you have a lab or a number of machines together in one area, we can do a group training session. If your machines are scattered throughout your facility, you might be interested in having a tutor travel around during the day and meet with staff members in groups of two or three. Or, if you prefer, we can set-up a private session for your staff at one of our computer labs.

How much does it cost?

Because each circumstance is different, we can't give you a standard set of prices for in-house training sessions. But we can tell you that if you want to train eight people or more, in-house training will probably be less expensive than registering your staff members for a public seminar.