Business.... is business

I find it interesting how we all look at things differently.  I was speaking to a PDI the other day about the approach to take to learn to become a driving instructor.  Some options include:

1.        Teach yourself – all the appropriate reference books are available on Amazon at a cheaper price than ‘DSA Publications’.  You can purchase DVD’s, you can subscribe to video websites, log on to forums.  You can train using willing friends/family as guinea pigs.

2.       Find a franchisor to train with – the large nationals will often offer you your money back to train with them if you commit to going on a franchise after you qualify.  Once qualified you are committed to paying them £150-£300 a week to ‘lease’ one of their driving school cars.

3.       Find an independent trainer to train with – these people often offer you the option of receiving training on a ‘pay as you go’ basis.

Each one of those has it’s pro’s and con’s and I guess it very much depends on your circumstances as to which you find most appealing. 

But as I heard the other day, and I’ve heard it very often, there are little booby traps that it really will help for you to know about.

When you are selecting a training provider you need to establish if they are providing training for you to just pass the driving instructor tests, or does it include how to be an effective driving instructor.  You see it is a little bit like the ‘Learners’ driving test.   A Learner could take the view to just want to be trained to pass the test – there are lots of subjects, techniques and tips to be a good driver that simply are not tested for on the Learner test; so you could pass the test but the question really is how prepared are you for driving alone.  Some instructors recognise that there are Learners out there that just want this, and they cater for the needs of that kind of Learner. 

It is similar for learning how to become a driving instructor.  There are subjects, techniques and tips that are not tested for on the tests.  For instance:

                How does a driving instructor manage the timing of when their Learner goes to test?

                What different instructional techniques are there for teaching learners, why are they different?

                How do you teach a learner how to reverse bay park?

                How do you prepare for the ‘Check Test’?  

                Is it better to be an independent instructor or go on a franchise?

                What are the test standards for Learners and PDI’s – how are they different?

                Should a new ADI be concerned about their FIRST TIME pass rate?

I just raise those as a few examples off the top of my head.  I’m sure it is far from complete. 

My own personal experience of being a PDI was that I discovered that by showing no inclination to go on a franchise with the large driving school, all I was provided with was the contracted hours that they legally had to fulfil, and it mattered not if I was ready for the tests, or indeed ready to be a driving instructor; the time is up when the time is up.   This is business.  As was demonstrated to me the other day in the telephone call with the PDI, this is not about personalities, it is business.  It is easy to get the two mixed up. 

It troubles me when I hear /see an organisation being rubbished, tainted.  I know, I absolutely know that there is no culture of racism in the Metropolitan Police Service.  I know this because I had 11 years in the organisation, I got involved in several recruitment events, I was involved in interviewing applicants at Peel House in Hendon and I worked on uniform response teams in busy inner boroughs.  Yet, if you were to listen to the likes of Ali Dizaei (a previous Commander in the Met), he would have anyone believe the organisation is riddled with racists – simply not true.  It’s shameful that certain people should find it acceptable to publicly and recklessly question the integrity of employees and leaders of that organisation when in fact it is full of people of the highest calibre and morals.

When PDI’s suffer problems with their training, although they will very often complain about the trainer, it is not necessarily the trainers fault in the slightest – it is often how the business goes about providing the training that is at fault.  This is why it is SO important to properly consider who you want to train with. 

My advice to any newly registered PDI or anyone considering it is to think through the following:

1.        Once qualified, do you have the financial resources to buy/lease a driving school car, and properly market your business as an ‘independent’ driving instructor?

2.       How do you like to learn?  What methods do you prefer to use? 

3.       Who is available near you to provide training and what is the syllabus of their training course?

4.       What are the unique circumstances of how you will NEED to learn, and can the training provider meet those needs?

It’s a great shame when I hear of PDI’s who realise they have made the wrong decision for their training provider.  What needs to be remembered though is this, it’s one thing messing up the choice of who to train with (like I did), but if you have signed up with them to ALSO then be on a franchise for 1-2 years, imagine how crippling that realisation could be!