Developing Your Career
I think it’s fair to say most of us have started this New Year with the usual resolution-based outlook on what we can change, what we can achieve and what we would like this year to bring. But just how many of you have set achievable goals? How many people actually tick off all the boxes? And just how long do the resolutions stay in your mind?
Goals are the best way to set your mood and motivation – whether it’s personal or career orientated… resolutions give you a great sense of passion and help to keep your mood in...
True to his word, Sir Isaac Pitman spent his ‘well-arranged’ life working to improve the efficiency and productivity of the office workforce. Leading by example, his robust career history is testament to this: astronomy lecturer, temperance worker, preacher, president of the vegetarian society, and most notably the creator of Pitman Shorthand – which he developed further with the introduction of Pitman secretarial colleges.
Clearly, we have entered the ‘Digital’ era… Smartphones, tablet PC’s, touchscreens and voice recognition – we’re finally in the swing of futuristic technological flair. This got us thinking…
How many times have you watched someone walking down the street, head in phone, concentrating on quickly typing a text or email on their touchscreen or keypad? Granted, some have this down to a fairly neat art, whilst others have their ‘concentration’ face (tongue poking out of mouth, with a furrowed brow
With Olympic glory still very much in our minds, and our successes on this world stage bringing a strong glow of pride for us Brits, there’s been a renewed euphoria around achieving great things.
We all know that the business leaders of this world achieve great things. We have now been reminded that we have an array of sports people who achieve great things, but very rarely to do we stop to honour others, who are just going about their everyday work but who are also achieving their goals in l
This month we’ve been examining the multi-tasking role of office PA’s. Far from the stereotypical, ‘60’s bimbo, often portrayed in the past, many of today’s PA’s keep the foundation and day-to-day running of businesses running.
We’ve done a lot of research over the years, honing our training programmes and agree there are some key areas that must be covered in order to work in this role. Skills including financial planning, advanced office administration, enhanced communication, problem solv
'Earth's mightiest heroes', The Avengers, have recently hit the cinema again with the likes of the Hulk, Black Widow, Captain America, Iron Man and Thor joining forces to fight the biggest foe they’ve ever faced. They've changed slightly from their 1960's make-up, adapting and evolving to suit the modern world and there’s been much hype around how the characters have been refined. However, what still remains are their key skills, very clear identities and very clear roles to play within their te
As I’ve been working with Pitman over the last few months and travelled to various locations around the country, I’ve got chatting to people about their jobs. As they spoke of pressures at work, the common theme that came up again and again was stress. The stress caused by taking on a colleague’s workload who has been made redundant; the stress caused by trying to constantly impress to secure your own job; the stress of constantly trying to be the best.
When the pressure’s on and you’re under
Being efficient in the workplace is at the heart of regular board discussions… How can we maximize the potential of our staff? How can we transform productivity into profit?
It’s not new news that we’re in tough times economically – everyday another financial institution crumbles or, as we’ve seen in recent events, a nation (taking Greece as a recent example) threatens to collapse under financial strain.
But it’s not all about money… or at least it shouldn’t be.
Somewhere underneath the
This year sees us celebrating 175 years since Sir Isaac Pitman published his world renowned Pitman shorthand system, in 1837, at the relatively young age of just 24. An entrepreneur in his own right, Pitman devised the time-saving system based on phonetics – writing by sound, with each stroke representing a different sound and variations in thickness to highlight the enunciation and emphasis of certain sounds and words… simples!
For some people it may be the year of pushing yourself that bit extra to achieve sporting greatness, but what about the rest of us non-Olympian types?
If we think about just how far typing technology alone has come in the last 40 years, from manual to electronic typewriters to computer keyboards to touch screen, it does make us wonder just where things will go next – and will it be for the better? We’d love to know your thoughts.
In October we brought you the latest statistics from the recent success of Pitman Training students. Now with 2012 wll underway we are able to bring you the full set of pass rates and more importantly what percentage of Pitman Training students have achieved Distinction grade in their assessments.
We're tremendously proud of these results and of every Pitman student who has put in the effort to change their lives.
It’s great to be reminded of how far things have come, of course, as we’re doing as part of our 175th anniversary celebrations. But that’s exactly the point – they are celebrations of how much we have achieved as an organisation, and more importantly how much our students have achieved.
Just two generations ago, for many women there were only considered to be three main ‘career’ routes – typing, teaching or nursing – and the latter two are definitely now seen as acceptable for both sexes. But what about typing, secretarial work and PA roles – are these still considered to be jobs for the girls, or do you know many men who have carved out a career in administrative roles?
Why do we care what people think about how we look? We recently asked around and it became apparent that we weren’t so much ‘dressing to impress’, as we were tailoring our confidence, mentality and attitude to prepare us for our daily ‘catwalk’ - our place of work...
How important is your work wardrobe to how you feel and behave in the office? Do you work in an environment where styles have become more casual over the years - and do you like it, or not? Have you made a real fashion faux pas in the office?
Even with Stacie’s amazing 10 distinctions, 100% on her Microsoft PowerPoint Specialist exam and a final typing speed of 95 words per minute, she was thankful for that extra support to push her over the finish line...
During January most of us feel pressure to set targets and goals that require a year’s worth of work and effort. (Much like a crash diet!) Stacie (Student of the Year 2011) proved that being realistic with your ambitions can start a chain of events; a series of small changes that will keep you moving towards your goal...
What will be your highlights? What are you proud of achieving? And what do you hope to achieve next year? Are you looking to progress in your current career or do you fancy a change of career altogether? If you have some time off over the next couple of weeks (which we very much hope you do!) then maybe you could put aside a little bit of time for reflection and planning.
Paul was sat in the JobCentre offices with hundreds others, as an unemployed Bricklayer’s Labourer when he expressed an interest in a career change; “I have always been interested in Finance/Accounts and working with numbers…” He was immediately referred to the Essential Book Keeping Diploma at his local Pitman Training Centre, and for him, the ‘penny’ dropped...
Recruiters often talk about ‘soft skills’ being vital to achieving job success, but we feel it necessary to remind ourselves that it is important to achieve a balance between technical ability – in whatever field you’re venturing into – and having the professional, social, personable skills that make you easy to work with.
You might feel a little bit silly to begin with, working in junior roles below those much younger than you, but what’s the alternative? That you don’t push yourself, that you don’t follow your dream, that you stay in the rut?
We can learn something from the current crop of students. It’s never too late in life to dream, it’s never too late to aspire, it’s never too late to achieve what we might have forgotten about when we were in their shoes (or whatever it is they call shoes these days).
For some people, it is only ever a dream, but for those of you who really do want to work abroad, the opportunities can be amazing.
Our recent competition was all about tapping into this thought and we were thrilled to have so many responses. Many of them made us smile – sometimes in a wistful way – Find out if your answer earned you a trip to Paris...
Have you reached the top level in your career despite having to work that bit harder? Do you think in the 21st century this isn’t, or shouldn’t be, an issue? Or do you genuinely believe that it’s been a lack of confidence that’s ‘held you back’ from achieving your dream job – whether you’re male or female?
In a world where ’60 is the new 40’ – or even younger in many cases – we’d like to think that our attitudes towards career changes, retraining and new directions in working lives are much more open. Would you agree?
Put yourself in the recruiter’s shoes. Wouldn’t you be tempted to have a search for a potential candidate on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook? What does your current profile picture say about you? What did you last tweet about?