If you plan to offer your clients a truly bespoke home automation experience, training is of the upmost importance. CEDIA vice president of education and training Samantha Ventura outlines the association’s latest offering for electricians looking to enter the market.

A few years back, CEDIA recognised the need to develop a thoughtful, comprehensive, new-to-the-industry track of learning that would be helpful for the business owners looking to have their less seasoned electricians learn the fundamentals of the industry. We realised at the time the best way to deliver this training would be online, offered in a series of courses that would cover all the essential components needed to make a seamless transition into the world of residential technology.

Now, three years later, CEDIA has once again recognised how significant this training is for the business owner seeking a comprehensive package of learning offered in a one-stop-shop for their newer employees.

Answering the call from our members, we have taken the existing New Hire Track and completely redesigned the look and feel of the classes, broken them down into more detailed, specific modules of learning and have placed them into our brand-new Learning Management System (LMS).

In addition, we have thoughtfully created an individual participant guide for its corresponding module, with our
intent being that upon completion of the entire New Hire Track, a technician might feel more confident and prepared on the job. The learning is robust, engaging and packed full of the key components needed for someone
wanting to expand their knowledge base of the industry. Yet this time around, we made sure to modernise how the learning can be accessed by our learners: from the comforts of their home, a jobsite, or even if they find an extra hour here or there, logging in from their phone.

The updated New Hire Track has taken the existing one, broken it into 26 hours (modules) of learning, thoughtfully laying out the various parts of each topic, allowing the training to move seamlessly from one area to the next.

The modules themselves cover the various topics associated with:

• Jobsite Basics
• Introduction to Audio
• Introduction to Video
• Introduction to Home Cinema
• Introduction to IT/Networking
• Introduction to Systems Control
• Introduction to Wiring/Cabling
• Introduction to Cable Connectors, Termination and Testing

In keeping with the standards of the older version but updating the content to reflect changes in the industry, the
track is well-rounded and an amazing value, offered in a compact, easy-to-follow format.

Yet as the industry and its needs have evolved, so has CEDIA, recognising that as an industry association it is our duty to provide our education to everyone across the board. This means we have worked to develop an avenue of essential learning that strives to meet the needs of everyone. From the business owner wanting to support the learning of their employee(s), to the single person looking to jump into the industry themselves.

In fact, CEDIA has made a commitment to educate those coming to us from all facets and all levels within the industry, whether tied to a specific business already, or not. We doubled down our efforts to reach the population of younger learners, often referred to as our ‘workforce’, and the education team, in partnership with the workforce development team, has taken into consideration the needs of someone brand new wanting to learn more about the industry. We infused a wide variety of activities into the online learning, including quizzes, knowledge checks and interactive experiences, striving to reach all types of learners, from various backgrounds, across the globe.

In 2020, we are launching this newer, comprehensive, engaging New Hire Track, and soon thereafter, localising the content. CEDIA’s commitment to education has not wavered, and in the coming years will continue to support the other educational interests of those in our industry, with an updated business track already in development for 2020.

We are proud of the education we continue to develop and off er and are excited to showcase all of our online  earning in an easy-to-use, intuitive platform, accessible from computer or phone. For those wanting to still take our traditional, in-person offerings, we will continue to offer our bootcamps onsite, as well as our many class offerings at CEDIA Expo, ISE, our Tech Summits and the variety of other classes we try to off er with our industry partners throughout the year, all across the world.

It is our hope that you will find our updated New Hire Track as engaging and informative as we do!

Whether you are a business owner looking to support your staff , or an electrician wanting to jump into this exciting industry, we are certain you will find the New Hire Track to be an essential part of the on-boarding experience. We love what we do, and we truly believe that the education of those within this industry is the cornerstone of what keeps the standards of knowledge and best practices high, which in turn only supports the overall growth and success for everyone in the industry.

Thank you for your continued support of CEDIA education. We look forward to seeing you at one of our many events, or online, in our new LMS!