What do you think we should do?

I think I understand the placement of human resource personel: You take all the good people, the people who are quick, and understand the industry, the "doers," and you put them out on the floor, working with clients, making decisions, doing the job; then, you take all the other people, the people who aren't so quick, maybe can't do the job quite as well, maybe don't have quite as comprehensive an understanding of the industry, the people with much less actual experience, and you put them in charge of training.

I'd like to pass this along to any HR managers out there: Please print up a brochure for your trainers, one that says "Don't teach by asking questions." (Socrates in a moment...)

When the trainees (all two of us) are faced with a screen full of new menu options on an unfamiliar system the best instructional method is not to ask them "What do you think we need to do to book this trade?"

We don't know. That's why we're here. Instead of asking, you should be telling. This is not the Soratic Method. It's just stupid.

I am new to these funds. I do not have much experience. I am sure that the HR staffer in charge of my training class (of two people, btw) knows more objectively about the industry than I do at this point.

It is however, disconcerting when you (me) become convinced that, although the training office might know more than you, you (me) are almost certainly more intelligent.

This has happened before. Those who can't, teach. I don't mean high school, I mean corporate training classes.

The realization came when we (the both of us) were asked to download a text file to the desktop and open it in Microsoft Excel. We were instructed to right click the icon on the desktop and select "open with..." and choose "Excel."

Unfortunately the trainer's computer was running a different version of Windows than ours. We did not have the "open with..." option. I, used to this sort of software hiccup, started trying other ways to open the file. My first attempt consisted of double-clicking the file. This opened a dialog box which gave me an "open with..." dialog box. Excel was not an option so I clicked the "choose other program" button and browsed to Excel, and opened the file.

Double-click, browse, open.

Are there any of you out there that would not have tried the double-click?

The trainee next to me didn't. He was lost. He, (naturally?), asked
the trainer what to do. She came over to look at his screen. He said "I don't have 'open-with.'"

She responded with "huh, it should be there."

That is not a constructive, nor is it an instructive response.

Is that what I'm supposed to tell a client when they neex a report formatted in Excel? "Um. It should be there..."

No good. So, because I'm trying a new "helpful" thing at my new job, I leaned over and told them what to do. "Double-click." Ok, now, select program - no, you have to browse... Program files ... Microsoft Office ... Excel. Ok."

And the trainer simply beamed at me and as she walked back to her desk she said "Well, a computer guru!" Beaming.

I find it hard to learn when I'm the most intelligent person in the room.

I hope someone out there emails this post to me if I ever get a job as a training officer.
-t