Pitman Training

[boaber]

Hiya

Thinking of doing a MS Office Pitman Training Course. They say that after I complete the 7 modules for the 'diploma' that I will be at the same standard as a Microsoft Office Specialist.

Just wondering really how well known the Pitman Training courses are to employers? Is it a recognised qualification, or would I be better off doing the Microsoft Office Specialist course?

Each module in the Pitman course is €350, but if you decide to do the diploma it costs about €1800 for the seven modules.

There are 5 core modules Word, Excel, Access, Outlook & Powerpoint and then you have to choose 2 others from a list of 5 or 6 (such as Excel expert, Keyboard Skills, Publisher...)

Any thoughts/comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[mo3art]

Boaber you don't mention what type of position you will be looking for on completion of this course. I assume you will be looking for some sort of administrative type work?

My thoughts would be as follows:

Pitman training traditionally was a form of City & Guild's qualification and there was a certain amount of snobbishness associated with having a Pitman qualification. Nowadays employers looking for administrative staff tend to look for proven skills and experience, as opposed to a "pitman" qualification or a "mos" certificate. Although in saying that, having some form of certification is regarded as proof that you have the skills.

I would be of the opinion that any qualifications that you hold from a reputable trainer would be acceptable and I would suggest that you shop around to find something that is a little less expensive. The Pitman course you mention is (I think) a full time course over a period of 6 weeks? Have you considered doing a similar course with FAS incorporating all of the office skills that you would need in an administrative role?

When looking for someone to join my admin team I would be looking for the following skills (in order of priority):

Excellent MS Word Skills
Good standard of English
Typing speeds in excess of 60WPM
Dicatyping skills (this is in strong demand at the moment and candidates with good dicatyping can expect to get snapped up)
Good knowledge of MS Excel/MS Access/MS Powerpoint

Please feel free to ask any other questions if you have any!