Lyn Palmer - Our Belfast Bursary Winner!

Pitman Training Blog – Part 1

I was amazed when I won the Pitman Training competition last year; I’ve never won anything in my life! I had just been made redundant from my job after 11 years and felt that my first course of action should be to address any gaps in my skill set. I had been looking everywhere for some help in brushing up my computer skills, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of help available to people in my situation, so the Pitman bursary really was a godsend.

Not long after I won the course ( I chose a Diploma in Business IT with Marketing & PR)  I got a new and quite demanding job, which has made it a bit difficult to find time for anything else. However, I finally started my course in December of last year! The first module was the Typaz touch typing course, which I was fairly confident about. Having been in media for 15 years, I can more or less touch type anyway, but was glad of the chance to practice some more. The fact that this module can be done online at home was brilliant and meant that I could work my way through it whenever it suited me. As a result, I finished the module in a couple of weeks and was able to go to the Belfast centre and sit the exam.  Hurray – I passed with Distinction!

Next up was the first module in my course proper: MS Word Part 1. I’ve been trying to get to the centre one night a week but, due to family circumstances, my progress has been a little slower than I would like. I’m familiar with most of the content of the module, but find that I always pick up one or two new little tricks from ‘the voice in my head’ – the Pitman audio training tape...

I’ve found that the method of training – working my way through the course book whilst listening to the audio – suits me quite well so far. Sometimes I wish that the little man would speak more quickly, but have discovered that if I’m feeling very impatient with him, I can fast-forward him in three-second increments – I wish I could do that with certain people in real life too!  I hope to sit the exam for this module in the next few weeks, and then onwards and upwards. As my current role is only a maternity cover, I’m still continuing to apply for jobs; and I feel that the Pitman Training name is a really useful one to have on my CV. It’s so recognisable and professional that prospective employers can’t help but take notice, and it shows too that I’m making the effort to try and improve myself. Hopefully, it will have the desired effect and I’ll soon be telling you about my new permanent position – in the meantime, I’ll keep you updated on my progress...!