Ask prospective training firm to conduct project-related exercise. (How to Choose a Training Company).(American Society for Training and Development and the Society for Human Resource Management)(Brief Article)

Most companies from time to time outsource company training and need a competent firm to perform it.

How does a company go about finding such a firm?

The American Society for Training and Development and the Society for Human Resource Management, national trade associations, can be good places to turn to for information.

ASTD even has a search engine on its Web site, www.ast.org, that allows searches by company, location or area of expertise. If a company needs to hire a firm for diversity training, it can find firms that specialize in that topic by using the ASTD Web site.

Jennifer Homer, spokeswoman for ASTD, says it's important to first identify …