Skills

Below is a list of key skills, exemplified by some of my previous experience as detailed in my curriculum vitae. Please contact me for further information in relation to your enquiry.

General skills

Decision making: I have had to make difficult decisions when advising and awarding benefits whilst working at the Employment Service Jobcentre. I have also had to make decisions following extensive research for new equipment or providers of a service which is best for quality and cost
Time management: I have had to manage the timeline for delivery of several large environmental projects running side by side whilst working for the English Environment Fund. As a project administrator, I have worked in many roles requiring me to work with several people at a time, managing my workload to make sure I meet all deadlines, keeping lines of communication open at all times, discussing any changes and keeping track of immovable timelines
Organisation: I have organised in-house and external conferences and events, from set-up (including invites, sourcing events and accommodation) to attending on the day, making sure all rooms are set up, reception is manned and delegates and those facilitating the day know where they are supposed to be and that they have all they need
Research: As a research assistant, I used resources including the internet, newspapers and press releases to summarise and disseminate information regarding policy issues. Again, using the internet, I have researched providers of equipment and services to best suit the needs of the company, to include quality, cost (budget) and usage
Proof reading: I have proofed detailed reports for circulation to clients and individuals, including assessment day feedback reports for 100’s of delegates. This included checking spelling, grammar, continuity, consistency and accurateness (also in the layout of the document)
Creativity: I have produced imagery for Word documents, newsletters and the web, either from scratch or based upon an existing theme i.e. to match a client's branding. I have also written and produced several newsletters
Confidentiality/Sensitivity: Working for the Employment Service Jobcentre, I dealt with many difficult and sensitive personal situations, maintaining highly confidential records about individuals’ personal circumstances and benefits. Also, working for several policy teams during my career, I have dealt with highly confidential and sensitive data, often embargoed
Procedural implementation: I have set up office admin procedures to maintain environmental projects, filing systems, best practice procedures for IT related tasks and I have written user manuals for web related tools (psychometrics, 360 feedback and an employee survey)
Project management: I have managed a client and their continual usage of a 360 feedback tool, from contract set up, throughout the process, to receipt of a final report. I managed the updating of the infrastructure and content of a large website, following an integral part in its initial set up
Coaching/Training: I have provided in-house coaching in Word/Excel and PowerPoint. I have trained in-house and externally to use three online tools (psychometrics, 360 feedback and an employee staff survey), including writing the user manuals. I have also provided Word and Excel coaching to a client, tailored to the their needs

IT skills

Word: As well as letters and minutes, I have produced newsletters, high quality training material templates and reports, using styles and formatting and imagery
PowerPoint: I have produced and enhanced presentations for internal and external seminars, conferences, proposals, training etc
Excel: I have produced spreadsheets for mail merge, for managing financial transactions for large environmental projects and for collectting and manipulating raw data for use in final reporting i.e. using charts and formulae
Publisher: I have produced marketing flyers and mail shots (sent as an email)
Access: I have used this to maintain records and run reports
Quark/PageMaker/InDesign: I have produced newsletters for both internal and external use
Adobe Acrobat Professional: I have used this to produce PDF documents from other software packages and to make minor changes to existing PDF documents
Photoshop/Image Ready: I have used Photoshop to manipulate and create images for use on the web, within newsletters, presentations, and reports. I have also produced animated gif’s for use on the web
CMS (Content Management System)/Dreamweaver: I have used content management systems (RedDot and OxyBox) to manage and maintain the content and infrastructure for three websites. I have used FTP to manage the content of four websites, including the front end of three online tools (psychometrics, 360 feedback and an employee survey). I am using Dreamweaver to maintain the content and infrastructure of this site
HTML: I use this to manipulate code outside of the WYSIWYG view of a CMS
Web design: I have advised on the design, infrastructure, content and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for 7 websites, including three online tools
Moodle: Trained as an Admin User for a client to help support them manage content and users
Articulate Studio 09 suite: Trained to help support a client create e-learning material