Interesting set of comments here. So let me drop in a couple of euros worth...
"The thing to remember about a self-made man is that he's the result of unskilled labor."
What one learns on their own is limited to their own experience. This is not to downplay in any sense the initiative and drive that brings people to the fore, but a simple observation. What a person has no exposure to is not something they can learn. To paraphrase Rumsfield, it's an unknown unknown. What one knows about, but doesn't know how to do, is the known unknown.
A training program that takes into account the specific environment, skills, and discipline of the trainees can mitigate that effect to a degree. And having a live human being with experience with the software and the industry is pretty important too. an online html page really is not the same thing as an experienced instructor who can clarify, explain, and expand on the docs.
Bethrine,
"...after a certain point, the help file is no longer helpful and outside assistance of some sort is necessary."
I disagree. How do you think the trainers learned it all? Trusting training to spoon-feed you exactly what you might need to know is not a good way to learn.
Dave
Now it's my turn to disagree. the help files for any software package are inherently limited in what they can accomplish. Remember that the software documentation is generally developed pretty late in the game, when budgets are running down and qa/qc time is limited. That's sorta the nature of the beast -- it can't be documented until it's done. or as close to done as makes no matter. Far to often I've run into vendor documentation that offers a vague description if a feature, and links to another page int eh docs, that offers an equally vague sentence, and then links back to the original page. With AutoCAD online help being 'search drive', the problem is compounded, as one needs to get the right search term, which often requires one to know the answer before asking the question. Just take a look at the Autodesk discussion forums, and see how many posts talk about missing dialogs. But doing a search returns nothing relevant, and none of the responses mention FILEDIA.
Further, the Help can only describe what's in the software. The docs can't offer value judgments or exhaustively describe the benefits/disadvantages of method A vs method B. And I've yet to see CAD documentation from any vendor that really gets into the valuable stuff one has to learn to use the software effectively in a multi-organization multi-discipline scenario, or discuss adapting features to client/agency requirement. They can't get into that level of detail.
But a competent trainer can. An incompetent trainer who's limited to 'learning it all from the help files'can't. CAD Training sessions that are limited to regurgitation of the on-line documentation is really not training worth having. Neither is relying on the vendor docs to 'spoon feed you exactly what you might need to know'.
Tortiz,
"You can hide the cost of training but it there. You can say I learned it on my own but, I bet a lot of it was on the job. someone paid for it. You, with time and a computer / internet connection or at work on company time."
Can I share something with you? I've been out of work for almost 2 years. (I'm a carpenter.) Office survey is the direction I want to go. Should I wait until an employer is willing to train me, or should I dig into the Help Section, so that the next job that comes up, I can say, "Hell yeah, I can do that!" Which sort of employee would you want to hire?
Dave
While I applaud your initiative in proactively digging in and learning what you can on your own, please don't assume that will make you an expert in delivering the end product required. Especially given your current employment status, it's very much worth your time and effort to do that, and yes, I'd much rather hire a go-getter than a chair warmer. But the Help files will not make you an expert in ALTA surveys, nor will they educate you into the 'best' deliverables to hand off to the civil engineers doing the design.
Training will help, experience will help more -- at least in the arena of practice that the survey company deals with. If they primarily focus on ALTA work - it's not going to educate you in FAA requirements or machine control.
Bottom line. in my opinion, go-getters who dig in and learn as much as they can are definitely ahead of the game. But a trainer who offers a broader perspective in the industry as a whole is very worthwhile. And a company that rejects training completely is not a company that cares about their staff member success.
Then again, I haven't had a job since the mid 80s. I've had a career since then so perhaps my perspective is somewhat different from yours.