Recently, I completed my APMP course and was overwhelmed by the number of project management certification training providers available. You have many options, such as PRINCE2 (r) or PMP(r).
How do you choose the right course?
Craig Kilford has the solution.
Craig has created a review site for project management training. There’s also a philanthropic initiative as an incentive to get people writing reviews. I spoke with him to learn more about how it works.
Craig, What’s CourseConductor?
CourseConductor.com, a new customer review site, is changing the way professionals find project management training courses. It allows them to rate, review, and share their experience with the course. This helps other professionals find the best courses and allows training providers to quantify their quality.
Course Conductor is a ‘TripAdvisor” for the project management training industry.
OK. It’s okay.
The truth is that it’s out of love and frustration. Management of Portfolios (MoP)(r), a book I co-authored, is the UK Government/AXELOS international best practice standard. It was written with the intention to inspire positive change for professionals and organizations.
After the book was published [read Elizabeth’s review here], and the certification training began, I wanted to know which training providers were offering the best courses and what people thought about their training experience. I was frustrated because I couldn’t find any information.
This is when I realized it wasn’t just me who feels this pain. Every professional is forced to spend their time and energy comparing training providers websites, reading testimonials, and trying to compare courses.
Even worse, every training provider claims they are “high-quality” or “the finest”. While there are many great training providers, we all know that there are also some really bad and fake ones. Training providers who claim they are accredited, but they aren’t!
Yes, I spent a lot time researching but still bought on a recommendation from a friend and the price. It’s not ideal.
Trust is the problem that we all share. Trust is the problem. There is no independent star rating that can help us determine whether the course has been rated as a 1 star or 5 star course. When was the last time you booked an hotel without checking its star rating? Never, right? Why should we do it with project management courses instead?
This whole situation felt unfair to both the professionals and the amazing training providers. CourseConductor.com was created by me to help all in the profession.
Are you getting less than enthusiastic responses from trainingproviders in the past? I can imagine that those with mediocre courses don’t like the site.
I love getting feedback from industry peers. The response has been overwhelming positive.
Two training providers were particularly concerned about negative reviews from customers. Although they are confident that negative reviews will not be common, the training providers believe that this is an opportunity to address customer concerns immediately and to make improvements based on their feedback.
This is the best way to approach customer reviews. Forbes and the Journal of Consumer Research highlight that negative reviews actually increase customers’ confidence. This is because potential customers read polite and caring responses to negative reviews, which actually helps improve company credibility and sales.
But what about the reverse: What are the supportive providers saying to you?
Professionals agree that Course Conductor is the best.