Message #41775

[gee4]

At school (many moons ago) along with my academic subjects I took typing, no not word-processing, and passed RSA Stage I.  I went to college and did a bi-lingual secretarial course after that and completed RSA Stage II typing.  Others in my class had never typed before so we were all at different levels.  I also learned Teeline shorthand which I passed at 60wpm in Spanish and French and I achieved 80wpm in English.  

When I started working I decided to go back to night class and the first year I completed RSA Stage III typing and the following year I completed and passed English shorthand at 100wpm.

Having said all that I have never used my shorthand in any great capacity but found it helped me get interviews as well as some jobs.  It was the fact that I had the qualification that impressed employers.  Over the years I was self taught on a PC using Microsoft Works and then Word 97, etc, etc and new upgrades whenever the company bought them.

Around 1999 I was using Office Professional and consequently have taken jobs in companies that are using XP - most IT and technology companies will be on the latest software packages.

In Sept 02, I decided to enrol for the MOUS course, after years of attending intermediate and advanced courses on Word, Excel and P'point.  I felt technical engineers etc were all becoming MS certified and I wanted that same certification.  I passed Word Expert, Excel Expert and Powerpoint Core in one term and altho I have been a little lazy this year, I intend to complete Access Core and Outlook Core in order to complete the full MOUS Master certificate.

I hope this helps.

There are lots of Executive Secretary Diploma courses which some of my friends have enrolled for and passed and these are just as recognisable as the RSA examinations.  But I would def encourage you to brush up on your skills and get acquainted again with the tools you need to do your job.

Congrats on achieving your recent post.  My one tip would be, make yourself as indispensable as possible.

G