Want to Learn Automation Fast? Train Smarter, Not Harder

The choice of various courses where you can learn automation is plentiful. But being a busy person, you probably don’t have a lot of time to devote to studying. So how can you make sure you get the most out of these automation courses while spending as little of your free time as possible? To help you out, we have prepared several tips that will help you train smarter, not harder.

Pay attention to the order of courses in the learning path

Previewing the entire slate of courses will help ensure you're taking the right ones for your role, and avoid wasting time on the wrong path.

It’s essential to pay attention to the order of the courses suggested by the training resource. Often, they go from the beginner to the advanced level, and at the end of the learning path, you’ll need to pass a certification task that tests your knowledge and understanding of the topic.

Let’s take Automation Academy learning paths as an example.

In the Automation Business Lead path, you start with Automation Essentials, a basic course that offers an overview of the current state of business automation and shows how you can use automation in your organization. Next, you see a more advanced course: Intelligent Automation for Banking, which is industry-specific. This automation course tells students about typical banking business problems and ways to solve them with RPA and Intelligent Automation. It covers issues related to business, operations, infrastructure, and risk elimination.

So, by previewing the courses in the learning path, you can conclude that it is designed for business users.

On the other hand, if you take a look at the courses in the Power User learning path, you’ll see that it is designed for more technically savvy users. The purpose of this learning path is to give students hands-on knowledge of WorkFusion's RPA tools for automating their day-to-day operations. It starts with the introductory RPA course that tells students about basic features of Intelligent Automation Cloud’s Express and Business editions. The courses that follow increase in difficulty one by one, from creating simple automation scripts to implementing complex business processes. At the end of the path, the students complete an RPA certification task that verifies their proficiency with Intelligent Automation Cloud.

There are other paths designed for different automation roles, including:

• Data Analysts
• Automation Engineers
• Machine Learning Engineers
• Delivery Managers
• IT Support Specialists
• and others

Each learning path consists of courses organized from the beginner to the advanced level.

Learn what skills and tools the course requires

Some IA and RPA courses might require specific skills and tools. For example, to pass the Power User path, you need to use Intelligent Automation Cloud Business. For some advanced courses, students will need to have Java development experience, proficiency in Eclipse and IDEA, understanding of HTTP(S) protocol, or experience with regular expressions. Check for these prerequisites before starting a new course in order not to waste your precious time.

Understand the automation course structure

The next important thing is to pay attention to the course structure itself. In Automation Academy, we organize all automation course content into modules, each covering a single topic. When you start the module, the first thing see is the assignment, so you can see right away what new skills you will gain through completing this module. Below the assignment, you’ll find a list of all the materials (videos, user guides, helpful links) that you’ll need to complete it successfully. At the end of the module, you will see a quiz that helps you test your knowledge of the topic.

Reviewing the structure of materials in advance will help you organize your training process and learn automation theory and skills in an order that works for you.

The assignments themselves have a distinct structure, as well. They start with Objectives and Input files, which offer an understanding of what you need to do and which files you should use. You can also see the Expected Answer section where we describe in which form the trainer is expecting your submission. Sometimes we add sections like Examples and Task to simplify things for students.

Get to know automation training support flows and collaborate

Figuring out where and how you can get necessary support is critical before starting your automation training journey. Whenever you get stuck on the assignment, it’s a good practice to search for advice and solutions in our Community forum. There is a chance that someone already asked a similar question, and you can learn from their experience. And if you happen to have solved some compelling cases yourself, don’t hesitate to share with your fellow students, too!

Another good practice for effective learning is to study in small groups. Our statistics show that groups of 3–5 people do well in the long run. They always have someone to discuss quizzes and assignments, and they share their knowledge. So, find someone also interested in automation training and study together. But remember: even though we encourage you to study together and help each other, we do not allow using other students’ solutions for the assignments - every student must complete their assignments and quizzes themselves.

Finally, don’t be shy: Reach out to the trainers for help. In a situation when you need assistance from Automation Academy, feel free to use that Support button in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

Let’s recap!

To ensure that you learn automation efficiently, follow these guidelines: