The first and most important thing is a lot of lofty promises. Info fraudsters sell “successful success” in the format of a two-hour webinar or a video recording of a lecture. Why this format? Because it allows you to attract as many people as possible, avoiding direct interaction and answers to clear questions. Why “successful success”? Because it is about the personal (not necessarily real) experience of a particular person, which is usually impossible to reproduce by someone else.
You should not believe the promise of employment immediately after graduation without checking the person’s real knowledge and skills, academic performance, etc. It is highly likely that this may not be true or that it is some kind of non-core employment that is not worth your time and attention in any case.
The second is the large number of people in the group. There is no single formula that is ideal for absolutely all courses. The number of people will always depend on the topic and the teacher’s workload.
As a result, the third is the lack of personal contact with the teacher. Of course, circumstances can vary. But if all your questions are answered only in a general chat, and communication with the teacher takes place exclusively through the tutor, this is an alarming signal.
The fourth is the lack of practical tasks in the course and feedback on them. If you are not given homework, projects, or any practical tasks that can help you test your level of knowledge and skills, this is a big red flag. In this case, it’s not about learning, but about theoretical lectures that cannot be counted as a completed course.
Because what do you get in the end? You listen to a few hours of a person’s story about how they earned their first million/became a successful freelancer/established a personal life. We learned someone’s views on courage and divine destiny “at the intersection of philosophy and psychology.” Did you see the world differently? Perhaps through the eyes of another person. Has your world or your ability to interact with the world changed? I don’t think so.
How do you know if a teacher is not ok?
It is important that the teacher has working experience in the field they are talking about, otherwise the course will be bad. Moreover, this experience must be relevant.
In addition to professional knowledge, we are also talking about soft skills:
- how a person gives feedback;
- how they perceive feedback themselves;
- how they react in conflict situations;
- how they communicate information.