Member Article

From redundancy to executive PA at multinational business - Pitman Training helps Kim achieve success

Retraining has been a key trend for people made redundant during the recession and many are now reaping the dividends of their additional skills as the economic recovery begins to gather pace.

Personal assistant (PA) Kim Lax found herself out of work when her former employer undertook a major restructure, relocating the majority of work to Poland.

Part of Kim’s redundancy package included the offer of training to improve her CV via Pitman Training Newcastle. The office training specialist, which is one of the UK’s Superbrands and is now part of the Entrust Group, provides expert office, book-keeping and IT tuition.

Kim, who is originally from Zimbabwe and has lived in the UK for 23 years, said: “I was offered the Executive PA diploma, which took 18 months to complete. I absolutely loved it.

“For anyone looking for a PA course, this is a fantastic way to enhance their skills. It is just so extensive. It covers typing letters and memos to preparing a full-blown power point presentation. There are also different skills to manage your time and personality building aspects.”

On completion of the diploma, Kim initially worked as PA to the Company Secretary and Marketing Director, before progressing to Executive PA to the Finance Director, at Greggs’ headquarters in Newcastle.

However, it was not long before Kim secured her dream job as Executive PA to the CEO at Immunodiagnostic Systems Plc (IDS Plc), where she also supports the Company’s Executive Team.

Kim added: “This is most definitely my dream job and I firmly believe that completing my Executive PA Diploma at Pitman Training proved invaluable and helped me to achieve this fantastic role, in a very competitive job market. It is good to finally have the qualification to support my many years of PA experience.”

Jill Lambert at Pitman Training Newcastle, said: “Kim is well deserving of her success and we are thrilled she is enjoying her work with IDS Plc so much.

“The Executive PA role is a challenging one and our course has been developed to ensure our trainees are well versed in all the skills they need. We hope this will encourage others to follow Kim’s example because she demonstrates perfectly how the right qualifications can lead to further career success.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Astute.Work .