Using Virtual Reality for Job Training

Virtual Reality’s most innovative implementation, job training, has evolved greatly since the first companies decided to take the risk and give it a shot. Although many whispered that investing in VR training sounded like a bad idea altogether, the fact is that, fast forward a few years later, big names like Walmart and McDonald’s are claiming it to be the answer to the employee training riddle that numerous companies are still trying to solve.

The IT field is not free of this challenge as every year more employees need to be trained effectively to handle hardware, operating systems and databases in order to keep up with the organizations’ need of upgrading their networks and technology infrastructure.

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The VR Job Training Industry

As the year unfolds, we have had the opportunity to see how the VR growing industry has slowly taken over the field of job training of any kind, and nowadays it is no shock to find out that many military, healthcare and customer service training programs are based on VR experiences to plunge future employees on a game-like journey that is undeniably one of the most dynamic ways to learn.

Because more and more companies are betting on Virtual Reality, the future of job training seems to head in that direction for many professional fields. However, whether or not every type of occupation can improve its employee’s training through this method still remains to be seen.

Although the Information Technology industry has not publicly shown great interest in the VR world so far, it is only a matter of time before we hear that it has caught up and has started experimenting with it considering that the similarities of their natures would only produce even greater results. 

Meanwhile, many researches are knee-deep into the matter in hopes of gathering precise data that can depict what exactly is it that can be achieved best through Virtual Reality training and what cannot be accomplished otherwise. For those in the IT field, some of these advantages might be too good to ignore.

Perks of VR Job Training

The reason why Virtual Reality has gained so much popularity among organizations is because the advantages it offers cannot, so far, be found anywhere else. Job training programs can vary according to a company’s needs and it can vary from a simple visual journey over a job’s specifications to an interactive game where an applicant’s skills are put to the test. 

What is known with certainty is that Virtual Reality gives employers the chance to put the employees to work right away without having real-life peril of their mistakes while learning. This cannot only lower the economical consequences but also develop greater engagement in a worker’s performance.

A highly-dangerous malware can be simulated to see how certain job candidates might react, also allowing them to rewind and replay their actions in order to maximize the learning process. This situation would not only cost a great amount of money to recreate but it wouldn’t be possible without putting the organization’s information systems at risk, either.

Moreover, the immersive environment that is created through Virtual Reality helps every kind of learner receive information in a way that is best processed and retained by them. Everyone has different learning methods but it does not matter if someone is an aural, verbal, or physical learner because these styles are all addressed through VR training. VR hardware costs went down to a few hundred dollars, not to mention using smartphones and affordable headsets or cardboard for iPhone and Android phones.

The impact of VR training is such that it has been demonstrated to decrease further accidents on trained scenarios, reduce rework with time, and produce more efficient repairs and troubleshooting altogether. 

IT Professionals In-Demand

There is no doubt that the ever-growing domain of technology will eventually transcend the boundaries that have already been blurred out in every professional field. As years pass by, the need to implement a technological infrastructure is evident for any organization that wants to endure in a data driven world.

This means that every year there is a higher demand for IT professionals, from network administrators to computer support specialists and information security analysts. Nevertheless, the statistics show that the lack of professionals for these job positions surpasses the market’s need.

In fact, the U.S. Labor Department predicts that IT job’s growth will be faster than the average for other jobs in this decade, leaving the employee training conundrum still unanswered as the amount of workers rises each day.

How, then, can this issue be resolved in the simplest but most effective way? It seems than many are betting on Virtual Reality to be the answer, especially when the value of what it allows to achieve is so significant. Undoubtedly, it won’t be long before IT based-organizations decide to invest on VR job training, too.