Kate Richardson - Re-trains to Gain New Skills

Studied: Secretarial Diploma, Executive PA Diploma & Foundation in Book-Keeping Diploma with AAT

"Once my daughter started nursery, I knew that I wanted to go back to work but I would find it hard to get back into my previous career as I had quite a specific skill set that would be hard to translate into different types of employment.  

I decided to retrain and gain new skills, so I called into the Bishop's Stortford Pitman Centre to discuss my options.  I originally enrolled on the Secretarial Diploma, taking a book-keeping module as one of my additional courses.  

I thought that I would really struggle with book-keeping, but the way the course was presented helped considerably.  The course book is an amazing resource, breaking the concept of book-keeping down to the very basics, meaning the knowledge builds up gradually as you progress with the course. The audio is great, as you can pause, rewind and replay it whenever you need. It must have worked because I upgraded to the Executive PA Diploma using the electives to complete my book-keeping studies! 

As a result, I’ve also gained AAT Level 2 certificates and a Foundation in Book-Keeping diploma! Completing the MS Office courses was also invaluable. I have used the software packages before, the courses showed me things that I didn’t know the packages could do.

Studying at Pitman means I am now more qualified for jobs that I can fit around my daughter’s school hours, and I am more confident that I will be able to achieve this goal.  Vernon and Gemma are so welcoming and helpful, I looked forward to going into the Centre every week.  

For anyone considering studying at Pitman, I would say ‘Stop thinking and do it.  You have nothing to lose and everything to gain’!"