Returning to Work
Have you had a period of time away from the workplace? If so we have a course which will suit you and give you the confidence and skills to make a successful return to work.
Returning to work will mean there will be a number of changes in your lifestyle. You will already have considered the impact on yourself and your family and you will need to plan carefully to ensure that you balance your commitments successfully.
You should plan your return to work in plenty of time, and start a short course a few months before you start looking for that all important new job in order to enable you to meet the demands of today’s work place.
The following courses may suit you:
If you have very limited computer skills then a CLAiT Certificate would make an ideal starting point as Word and Exel are required by many employers. Combining these with the e-mail and internet unit, accrediting skills that you probably already use at home would give you a CLAiT certificate as well as credits towards an ITQ qualification.
You might wish to combine this with a speed keying assessment which is often required, especially by agencies. If your speed is very low or you do not use both hands and all your fingers then the e-type course would be ideal. You should have a minimum of 20wpm and preferably nearer 40wpm.
Depending on the type of job you are seeking, you may wish to take the Text Production unit which requires you to produce a short letter, fax and report, ensuring that you know current good practice in layout. (Apart from layout practice the skills are similar to those required to CLAiT word processing unit.)
Both these additional options give you credits towards a Text Processing Business Professional qualification.
Some jobs specifically state a requirement for ECDL in the job description which we also offer.
This would give you a good foundation on which to build once you have returned to work.
Those with some basic computer skills already might decide to focus on one of the following routes:
For Secretarial or PA roles requiring IT skills you should consider an ITQ and Text Processing qualifications. The package outlined above will already have started you on this route.
For Administrator roles using IT you might want to consider the OCR Administration and ITQ qualifications, both of which are available at levels 1, 2 and 3.
For combined Administrator and Secretarial roles you might want the OCR Administration and ITQ, at levels 1, 2 or 3.
Training
All our courses are flexible and based on taking you from your current skill level to where you want or need to be. We do not waste your time teaching you what you already know. This makes it difficult to estimate the time you will require but we ask you to call in to discuss your plans and your present skills and we will then give you an estimated time scale and cost. Fee scales are shown elsewhere on the website.
We recommend coming in for at least 1 session of 2 hours a week. If you are a beginner you may wish to start with one hour sessions. If you want to fast track then you can come in more frequently.
Our fees are designed to make our courses accessible so please call us to discuss your future.
LINKS careers and personal development can provide CV advice and career guidance.
