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Professional growth: What's the right job training for you?

Think you have your job mastered? Maybe you do, but in an ever-changing business climate, there is always something new to learn. Whether you are happy with your current role or are looking to grow, professional development and training opportunities are a great way to sharpen your skills and learn new ways to help you do your job better.

How do you know which skills to sharpen?
If you aren't sure which skills and knowledge to work on to help you grow professionally, consider these questions:

• Has your manager suggested that you might benefit from any new skills relevant to your position?
• Are there skills you don't have or should sharpen that are needed to get promoted?
• Do you struggle with projects due to lack of any skills?
• Do you have to ask a coworker to help you with something because you don't have a skill that they do?
• Are you continually working on refreshing your knowledge and improving your work processes?
• Do you have enough transferable skills to qualify for other positions within your company?

After answering these questions, if you still aren't sure what kind of training could be beneficial to you, talk to your manager and coworkers to find out what they think are areas you could work on. You can also research your company, industry and professional training opportunities to learn about the current trends and topics that you could focus on learning.

Where can you go to learn new tricks of the trade?
Fortunately, there are many training and educational options to choose from. You can select the type of opportunities that work best for your time availability and learning style.

Industry conferences
You can get a lot of training packed into a just few days by attending a conference. With many sessions scheduled throughout the day on various topics, you can choose to learn about several different things.

Training workshops and seminars
If you want to focus your training on one specific topic, training workshops and seminars can provide you with a more-focused learning experience in a few hours time.

Online sessions
If you don't have the budget or time to travel to training, online training sessions can be an effective way to sharpen your skills from the comfort of your own desk.

College courses
College courses are a way to gain more in-depth education on a specific topic. Many colleges and universities will let you take single courses if you aren't planning to earn a degree through the institution.

Community education
Many communities offer inexpensive adult education classes that might help you grow professionally. These include courses such as business writing and using spreadsheets.

Company training programs
Large organizations often offer internal training programs to their employees. Take advantage of internal training as a great way to build your skills. It also offers a way to learn more about the company and network with coworkers from different departments.

What training opportunities does Ceridian offer to help you excel at your job?
Experience some of the best training around! INSIGHTS -- Ceridian's annual customer training conference -- provides hands-on product training, professional development sessions and a whole lot of fun for Ceridian customers! This year's conference will be held July 13 - 17 in National Harbor, Maryland -- just outside of Washington, D.C.

INSIGHTS offers excellent training for HR and payroll professionals. Experience a wide variety of training and networking. Take advantage of one-on-one consultations and the opportunity to learn from our motivating speakers.

Attend up to a dozen 90-minute sessions during the conference. You can mix and match the sessions you want to attend or follow one of the training tracks to focus on a specific area. Tracks are organized by type (HR/payroll products, tax filing, compliance, and professional development).

Many of the sessions are approved for:
APA recertification credits
By attending INSIGHTS, you can earn up to 18 continuing education credits toward recertification for the American Payroll Association's Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) and Fundamental Payroll Certification (FPC) designations.

HRCI recertification credits
You can also earn up to 18 recertification credit hours toward Professional in Human Resources (PHR), Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR) certification through the Human Resource Certification Institute.

Ceridian University Diploma
In addition to earning recertification credits, you can broaden your Ceridian product knowledge and earn a Ceridian University Diploma.

Aside from attending educational sessions, resources are available to help you get your product questions answered. The Resource Center is staffed with Ceridian product experts who can assist you with learning how to create formulas, reports and screens or explore advanced functions. You can also review exercises and content addressed in the conference sessions.

Learn more at www.myceridian.com/insights2008.