Prospective Employer has asked me to pay for training

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I applied for a job (advertised as 'all training provided) and received a reply saying that they couldn't proceed with my application at the moment (it seems there were not vacancies in my region) but were interested in what I had to offer in the future. They said that I should consider taking a training course in their products in the meantime.

It turns out I would have to pay for that training. Is this reasonable?

Sounds like a scam to get you to buy their products rather than a proper employer. Leave well alone.

No no no no no, run a mile.

What is the name of the company?

Have you tried googling the company? If it's a scam I'd expect other people to have written about it.

Name and shame - of course its utter nonsense!

They are a fairly well-known and respected provider of training courses and materials to a part of the public sector. The job role is working as a trainer. So, logically, attending one of the training courses makes sense.

My problem is with who pays for it eg. paying for their course on the off chance that a job will come up.

I would have no problem with attending a course (unpaid) if they absorbed the actual cost of training.

Still sounds a bit dodgy - no one reputable would ask for payment.

Well, I challenged them on this and said that I was not prepared to pay for the course.

They said that they were not able to offer the training free of charge but said that I would need it if a post came up. They then came up with the gem that I should gain experience by volunteering for a client that uses their products.

I said that having previously worked at a senior level in that sector I was not prepared to undermine my own professional value (and that of my colleagues) by working free of charge.