Infotsigans have been around for decades. Due to the pandemic and the surge in interest in distance learning, even more of them have divorced. Successful coaches are ready to teach anything for money. We tell you how to distinguish scammers and choose worthwhile courses.
Unrealistic promises
“Infotsigans” are called air sellers. These are pseudo-teachers and all sorts of gurus who earn money on information products that have no practical value. They create a kind of “breakthrough” course, which is a collective hodgepodge on the topic, pulled from open sources from the Internet, and sell it through network marketing. Instead of serious and fundamental knowledge, students receive a set of template tools.
In order to attract potential buyers, infotsigans give out too sweet promises.
“A bright sign of companies that are unlikely to be able to provide quality knowledge,” the volume and superlative degree of promises. The more rosy they are, the more success is guaranteed upon completion of training, the more doubts such a school should cause, ” says the founder of the business school Maria Cherepovskaya.
One of the criteria of unscrupulous entrepreneurs is aggressive advertising.
“Numerous mailings, annoying spam, threats with timing” you have two hours left, otherwise you will miss the last chance in your life to start earning ” says the screenwriter and author of the books Ekaterina Geyserich.
Duration
The duration and scope of the course should correspond to the declared depth of study.
“If they offer, for example, to make you a professional psychologist-consultant in 2 months “from scratch”or a designer, you can forget about this ad. It is impossible to gain serious knowledge, skills and abilities in such a short time. There is a long-established system: advanced training requires at least 72 hours of training, professional retraining is possible in the amount of at least 250 hours. In this case, we are talking about full immersion in the topic and active practice. In the absence of a basic relevant education, even if the use ofmodern intensive training technologies, in a couple of months you can get acquainted with a new area for yourself, form some skills and, perhaps, master the initial skills. For example, during this time, you can master the basics of landscape design, cutting and sewing at an amateur level, or become a confident user of a software product. But this is only provided that a teacher accompanies you and you complete your homework, ” says Larisa Grazianova, Associate Professor of the Department of Human Resource Management at the University of Synergy.
Coach
The teacher must have graduated from a specialized university. A big plus will be the availability of additional pedagogical or psychological education.
It is important that the coach and teacher have a professional relevant experience. Infotsygans like to repeat that the coach of a champion should not be a champion himself. But he must be well versed in his discipline. And this is only possible if you have regular practice, ” the expert on public speaking technologies advised Stanislav Zubov.
According to Maria Cherepovskaya, it is not a fact that older coaches are better than young ones. It all depends on the field of study.
“It’s hard to believe that speakers aged 20-25 can teach something and gain trust from an audience of 50-60 years old in traditional topics. But if we are talking about how to maintain an account in TikTok or become an instablogger for an audience of 16-year-olds, then yes, of course, it is more relevant to “young” experience, ” she says.
According to Stanislav Zubov, a good signal is that the teacher has experience in conducting trainings for corporate customers. The probability of running into an incompetent specialist or conman is significantly reduced, since large companies are very picky about selecting teachers.
You can distinguish a normal teacher from an infotsigan by studying a detailed program. The fewer introductory and general words there are, the more hopeful it is. For corporate clients, we recommend that you ask the trainer to explain any of the program points at a preliminary interview (and estimate the percentage of water and water content).specifics). The method works well if you ask why the program is assembled in such a logic, explain the sequence. The ability to justify the algorithm for working with information is also an indicator of a high-level expert and that the program is compiled thoughtfully, not copy-paste, ” advised Maria Cherepovskaya.
School
An important quality criterion is how long an educational organization exists. If it was opened less than a year ago – this is a reason to think, and if it exists for a dozen years-you can trust it. When choosing courses, you should also check any documentary evidence of standardization and certification.
“They are not required for conducting this type of activity, but their presence says that you are not looking at information Gypsies, but worthy representatives of the industry. To confirm the seriousness of their intentions, companies voluntarily undergo a licensing procedure. The same or even more important is the presence of the company’s patentedmaterials and methods. They are a confirmation that the course is authored, unique, and not borrowed. A significant sign that an organization has entered the market for a long time and with serious intentions is the presence of a trademark registration certificate, ” says the entrepreneur and business coach Maxim Temchenko.
The membership of the company and the teacher in professional communities and associations is of great importance.
The International Coaching Federation (ICF) regulates the principles and standards of professional coaching. It can hold its member accountable: revoke membership and certification. An indicator of the experience of a practicing coach is a numbered certificate confirming his/her qualifications. Top levelthe certificate of the International Coaching Federation is indicated by the icons “ASTR” or “ACSTH”. To get such a document, you must not only listen to the theory of coaching, but also actively practice for at least seven months, pass mentoring and supervision, ” explained coach Elena Sarakiy.
Certificate and payment
If the courses of interest are short-term and relate to hobbies, then confirmation of completion of training is not always necessary.
“When it is important for you to develop in a professional field, then having a document at the end of the course is important. Its name is also significant: certificates, unlike state-issued documents (certificate, certificate, qualification certificate), in most cases do not give the right to professional activity.;this is Larisa Grazianova. An important point is the payment method. The site must contain a contract that specifies all the obligations of the provider, payment terms, details of the recipient, etc. The proposed payment system must be verified. Transferring money to an individual’s personal account always involves a lot of risk.
Before you pay for the full course, you should also check whether there is a possibility of a refund.
“Serious schools usually provide this option: if in the first week the student understands that the training is not suitable for him, he can return the money in full,” said an expert in the field of business reputation management, PR consultant Olga Yelkina. Sometimes they put the so-called “financial barrier”, that is, they assign an exorbitant cost of courses, for example, 200-300 thousand rubles, and promise that after the student will return the money by increasing their expertise and, as a result, high earnings. This is a purely psychological moment, which is used by the creators of the courses, because a person thinks that if he paid a lot, then he will get more. In practice, such courses rarely justify themselves. Such knowledge can be obtained in the public domain and for free.
Demo version
Before buying, you can go to the open day at the school, watch an ordinary live broadcast or free materials from part of the course.
“Most courses have low-cost or free introductory classes. You can use them to “test” the product and see how useful it is. The cost usually does not exceed 500–1000 rubles for the introductory demo part. But there are also “pitfalls” here;: the demo version of the course is just “fire”, and in the middle of the main part it becomes boring and there is less useful content, ” says the head of the law firm Alexander Baiborodin.
According to Anton Veselov, TV and radio host, coach-consultant in voice production and public speaking feedback from the teacher is also very important.
“Surprisingly, but the fact is that there are still courses where it is not provided. That is, I watched the video and turn around (that is, learn) as you wish, ” he says.
Marketer and coach, member of The New York Academy of Sciences and Education Philip Ryzhuk advised to check the organizers of the course on the quality of the technologies used.
Find out if there is a website and the ability to access course materials for people with different learning needs. Whether you will be granted access to the lecture recording if you miss it. In the case of technical problems, like bad sound, will support and fix the problems, ” he said.
Social networks and reviews
It is worth studying the social networks of the leading course. See what information the coach posts, how and with whom he communicates, whether his subscribers are bots.
“For example, you want to buy a course on networking-creating useful connections with people. You punch the speaker in social networks. And the dating wizard has only 100 friends on VKontakte and 500 on Instagram. Or you need a course in style. Go to the expert’s Instagram and see that he looks terrible-dressed like you would be ashamed to go out and throw out the trash. It is immediately clear that the coach does not have the necessary competencies, ” says Alexander Baiborodin.
At the same time, excessive ostentation in social networks should be alerted.
“If you see an ad where a person who does not have relevant experience and appropriate education is standing in a photo with expensive cars, status accessories and in pretentious locations, most likely, you are looking at an infotsigan. Really worthwhile teachers will display successful cases and reviews of their clients, diplomas and certificates of additional education, and achievements in the professional environment, ” says Stanislav Zubov.
It is better to study reviews not on the official website and in social networks of the school, but on relatively independent sites.
It is important to find negative reviews for search queries such as “School of Ivanov and Co. scam”, “School of Ivanov and Co. deception”, etc. Too enthusiastic, concise or overly detailed, as well as anonymous reviews posted at the same time, should cause distrust: they are written to order. If you track reviews by account, it will not do anything. Unscrupulous PR agencies create pages for reviews and they look like they are from real users, ” suggested Olga Elkina.