A Teesside woman who felt stuck in a rut has won a high-profile job thanks to her determination to gain a diploma in her spare time.
Lisa Matthews, 24, from Guisborough, felt her career wasn’t progressing as fast as she’d like after working in a number of entry-level admin jobs since leaving school.
She felt ready for more responsibility and was determined to move-up the career ladder, so she decided to pursue the additional qualifications she needed to achieve her dream of becoming a personal assistant (PA).
Lisa enrolled on a distance learning programme with Pitman Training Newcastle to gain an Executive PA Diploma. Thanks to the qualification, Lisa has won a job as personal assistant (PA) to the North Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner’s CEO.
In her role Lisa organises the busy diary of the Chief Executive Officer and organises and facilitates meetings, as well as preparing business documents and arranging travel.
Lisa, who achieved her qualification in nine months by studying from home, said: “My mum found this course when she was looking online and she mentioned it to me because she knew I was looking to get a better job.
“I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed it because I never liked studying at school so that was a first for me. It was a different way of learning and it fitted around me, I could crack on with it whenever I had the time.
“I’m so pleased I did the Diploma because I wouldn’t have got my new job without it; it’s opened a lot more doors for me.”
Lisa has now decided to carry on studying with Pitman Training Newcastle to upgrade her PA Diploma to an Office Manager Diploma.
Malcolm Armstrong, MD at Pitman Training Newcastle, added: “Our courses are flexible and clearly focussed on developing the skills that employers expect from their employees. We are pleased that Lisa has been able to put those skills into practice and I have no doubt that’s she will continue to develop in her career.”
Pitman Training is world-renowned for Executive PA courses. Its Executive PA Diploma covers all of the skills needed for the role including fast, accurate touch-typing, audio typing and proof-reading, preparing business documents, Microsoft Office skills, including Word and Excel to expert level. The Executive PA Diploma also prepares students for the OCR Text Processing qualifications.
For information about the Executive PA Diploma call 0333 200 1305 or go to www.pitman-training.com/newcastle