Barclays to host Business Networking PA event

Two of the UK’s most well-known brands are combining forces to raise the profile of one of the world’s most misunderstood professions as Barclays partners with the UK’s leading PA & Secretarial training provider, Pitman Training, to create free, CPD accredited workshops, in London. The next event will be held in London at Barclays HQ in Canary Wharf on Thursday, 10 September from 10am to 1pm, with 30 spots available.

The aim of the event is to emphasise what a career as a PA is really like in businesses today, challenge outdated perceptions which surround the profession and educate the next wave of aspiring PAs.

This event is being held as part of the new ‘Business Networking for PAs’ initiative through which aspiring PAs will be provided the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of the PA industry and get to grips with one of the most fundamental and valued skills of any successful PA; networking. Attendees will be able to network with the PA’s to some of Barclays executives and gain valuable insights into what it really takes to become a corporate PA. Following the session there’s an opportunity to take part in an e-learning course, courtesy of Pitman Training.

Success of the previous courses has since seen PAs at Barclays holding mentoring and work shadowing sessions with interested students, furthermore Barclays has recently opened up a process for Pitman students to apply for a short internship within the Barclays Legal team as an Administrative Assistant. This will not only be of huge benefit to an aspiring PA to be able to learn on the job, it also feeds into Barclays’ commitment to providing people with the right skills to gain Access to Work.

Michelle Robertson, PA to General Counsel for the Personal Banking Legal team at Barclays, and leader of this initiative said: “I believe that opportunity we have to help raise the profile of the PA profession should not be wasted – it is a real skill to do this work well and that should be recognised and acknowledged more widely. This initiative will really help to do this. Not only will this benefit PAs already working in Barclays to develop and evolve as mentors, I hope it will inspire students to join a fast paced, rewarding profession or to find out that there is more to this career choice than they might think.”

The initiative is also being supported by one of the UK’s largest job boards, keen to drive the PA & Secretarial sector forwards on the back demand from clients.

Michael Gentle, Head of Consumer Marketing at Monster UK and Ireland said: “We have over 85,000 new jobs on our site each month and have seen a specific increase in the request for highly skilled, motivated and business driven PAs and administrative staff, who in the post-recession workplace, are now responsible for a much wider-ranging remit of business management projects.”

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