Life has a funny way of showing you who you are. For Erin Batrich, life has repeatedly shown her that she is meant to teach. Even if she wasn’t so sure of that to start…
After going to college for teaching, Erin had a change of heart and decided, instead, to pursue a career in business. In fact, she joined the Catalyst team as an administrative assistant in the Chicago office where she learned a great deal about construction project scheduling and software. So, when the opportunity to become an instructor presented itself, she jumped at the chance and never looked back.
Erin celebrated her 15th anniversary with Catalyst in June.
For many years, she was on the road managing regional training classes throughout the country. These days, she’s hung up her traveling shoes and has taken over as lead instructor for Remote training classes. The online classes follow the same two or three-day curriculum and are an increasingly popular way for many people to take Primavera P6 or Asta Powerproject scheduling classes from any location with an internet connection. The students save on travel costs, reduce time away from the office, and also get $100 off classroom training prices.
Online training is a newer offering from Catalyst, Erin says, because the company wanted to get it right.
“Catalyst has always been concerned with the customer experience. We waited for a while to do online training because we wanted to work with folks face to face. Now, with technology, students still get our personalized approach and the customer experience is still there.”
Students for the online courses come from all backgrounds and parts of the country – from a jobsite trailer in the middle of New York City to rural Minnesota or the Dakotas. What they have in common, says Erin, is that they are mostly self-taught and often frustrated.
“There’s a lot to this software and our training takes a lot of their growing pains away. They can shrink that learning curve dramatically so that, by the end of class, they feel confident they can go onto the job and use the software to resolve issues,” she explains.
And, like the born-to-teach instructor that she is, she says, she is always happy to answer a question or two once her students do get back to the job.
“Just because class has ended doesn’t mean our relationship is over,” she says. “We say we’re here to help and that’s just what we mean.”
When she’s not working with project schedulers, Erin bakes and decorates elaborate cakes. It’s a hobby she picked up recently and fell in love with the artistry of it. When asked how she learned such an intricate craft so quickly, she laughed and said, “I took a couple of classes.”
