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Training and Development Specialists

Typical education: Bachelor's degreeLower pressure Bright Outlook

What they do

Design or conduct work-related training and development programs to improve individual skills or organizational performance. May analyze organizational training needs or evaluate training effectiveness.

Kinds of work

  • Social: Helping, teaching, caring for and supporting other people.
  • Investigative: Science, research, figuring out how things work and solving complex problems.
  • Conventional: Organizing information, following clear procedures and working with data and details.

Lower pressure: How much pressure workers in this job report: deadlines, conflict, dealing with upset people, the cost of mistakes, responsibility for others' safety, competition and long hours. It varies a lot from one employer to the next. Source: U.S. Department of Labor worker surveys.

Pay, tasks and more

Salary

United States $69,280 Median per year · $33.31/hr Most earn $38,760–$123,250

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025.

What you might do

  • Obtain, organize, or develop training procedure manuals, guides, or course materials, such as handouts or visual materials.
  • Keep up with developments in area of expertise by reading current journals, books, or magazine articles.
  • Refer trainees to employer relations representatives, to locations offering job placement assistance, or to appropriate social services agencies, if warranted.
  • Develop or implement training programs related to efficiency, recycling, or other issues with environmental impacts.
  • Obtain, organize, or develop training procedure manuals, guides, or course materials, such as handouts or visual materials.
  • Monitor training costs and prepare budget reports to justify expenditures.

Job outlook

Bright Outlook Rapid Growth

United States
11% more jobs by 2035, much faster than average · about 46,000 openings a year

Openings include new jobs and jobs left by workers who retire or change careers. Projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Bright Outlook": U.S. Department of Labor.

Where they work

  • Management of companies and enterprises4.8%
  • Computer systems design and related services3.9%
  • General medical and surgical hospitals3.6%
  • Management, scientific, and technical consulting services3.6%
  • Local government, excluding education and hospitals3.5%

Share of all workers in this career. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Employment Matrix.

Experience before this job: 2 to 4 years

Career path

How people usually get into this career, from school to their first job and beyond.

Typical education: Bachelor's degreeExperience before this job: 2 to 4 years

Training and Development Specialist is usually not an entry-level job. Most people earn a bachelor's degree, then spend about 2 to 4 years in a related role before moving into this career, so the whole path often takes 6 to 8 years.

  1. Bachelor's degree in human resources, education, psychology, or business

    4 years

    You learn how people learn, how organizations work, and how to plan and measure programs, which are the core skills this career uses.

  2. Training Coordinator

    2-4 years

    You help schedule, organize, and deliver training sessions while you learn how to design courses and check whether they work, which prepares you for specialist duties.

  3. Training and Development Specialist

    Ongoing

    You design or lead training programs, assess what employees and the organization need, and evaluate whether the training improved performance.

Where it can lead

  1. Training and Development Manager

    4-6 years of experience first

    You move from running programs to leading a training team, setting its budget and goals, and advising senior leaders on workforce development.

What you can do now

Ideas for high school and college students.

In high school

  • Take speech, debate, or communication classesPracticing how you explain ideas clearly and speak to groups builds the core skill of leading training.
  • Take psychology or social studies coursesThese classes help you understand how people think, learn, and work together, which is useful for designing training.
  • Tutor or mentor younger studentsHelping someone learn a skill step by step gives you early experience with teaching and checking understanding.
  • Get a part-time job in customer service or retailTraining new coworkers or handling customer questions builds patience and people skills that employers value.
  • Join a club that involves leading or organizing eventsPlanning meetings or activities teaches you to set goals, organize steps, and get results with a group.

In college

  • Major in HR, education, psychology, or businessThese majors cover learning, organizational behavior, and program planning, which are the basics of this career.
  • Get an internship in HR or a company's learning departmentSeeing how real training programs are built and measured gives you experience employers look for when hiring for the next step.
  • Join a professional or student organization in HR or educationMany colleges have student chapters of HR or education groups, where you can meet professionals and learn about the field.
  • Take a campus job as a peer tutor, teaching assistant, or resident assistantRunning sessions and guiding other students builds the teaching and feedback skills you will use every day in training work.
  • Build presentation and writing skillsCreating clear slides, guides, and reports is a large part of the job, so strong writing and presenting help you stand out.

Tips for getting started

  • Look for roles in HR, learning, or onboarding even if the job title is not 'training.' Those roles often lead to specialist work.
  • Practice public speaking and presenting. Training work is mostly teaching and explaining things to groups of adults.

Related jobs that often lead here

Related jobs a step up

Education, experience and related careers: U.S. Department of Labor. The step-by-step path, where it can lead and what you can do now were written by AI as typical examples; many people take other ways.

College majors that lead here

Majors: U.S. Department of Education and BLS (CIP–SOC crosswalk). Earnings and debt: College Scorecard, typical across U.S. colleges.

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