I did a little bit of work with a certain PDI a long time
ago, I can’t be certain but would be surprised if it was more than 4hrs. I then heard nothing else until the day
before yesterday, when he informed me that he had now had 2 attempts at the
Part 3 Test, failed both and was now asking if I had a ‘couple of hours’ to do some
training before his third and final attempt later this month.
Now I must state from the start that it’s not for me to
judge anyone on how they go about their strategy for training for a new career
so I do not intend to blog here in a critical way but I genuinely do believe
there is something to be gained by looking at strategy.
As I recently posted on my G+ page (which has a lot of stuff
on it for PDI’s by the way), when training to be a Driving Instructor you must
have one eye on passing the test criteria and one eye on what is required
for you to be properly prepared for the job once qualified. One of my biggest criticisms with some of the
training provided by the large nationals out there, is that they only consider
the test criteria. As such, if you are
able to perform a reverse bay park satisfactorily for the Part 2 test, then as
it’s not tested on the Part 3 test, they don’t include in their training how to
teach reverse bay park. Now that is a
big omission in my opinion. And it is
that kind of lack of attention to detail that I think does not assist PDI’s in
the slightest.
But as it turned out, this PDI I heard from the other day
has had no professional training (except my 4hrs) at all! None whatsoever! He said to me that he had watched a few videos
on the subject from the YouTube channel of a Trainer and that with some
buddying up with another PDI appeared to be the sum of his training strategy.
Whilst the YouTube video channels can be useful, I think it
is a bit much to expect them to be the primary learning tool for training for a
new career. I’ve said on my blog here and
elsewhere several times, my viewing list that I provide pre-course is a
preparatory tool, preparing for the 1:1 in-car training – you can’t learn how
to drive by watching a video!
Although this may now appear harsh given the circumstances, if for no other reason that assisting other
PDI’s who are considering their strategy; listen very carefully to the advice
professionals in the industry give.
I was unfortunately unable to assist this PDI as I can't fit him in the diary until late August at the earliest and it seems he is now under time pressure (2 yrs from passing Part 1).
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