Lisa Patient moved into training last year and is responsible for delivering 10 different courses for a recruitment company. She explains how some bad jokes inspired her.
How old are you and where do you work?
I’m 32 and work at Select Education in Luton.
What’s your employer’s main business?
A specialist recruitment consultancy for the education industry.
What does your job involve?
I am based at our training academy in Luton and provide induction and ongoing development training for internal staff. I am also responsible for central recruitment campaigns.
How many courses/events do you organise?
I deliver a total of 10 different courses at the moment, delivering on average 10 training days every month, including our five-day induction programme. This is part of the REC (Recruitment & Employment Confederation) induction accreditation scheme. I also run and mark the exam papers for the REC certificate in recruitment practice, which all our consultants complete as part of their initial induction programme.
Describe a typical working day.
My role means there isn’t a typical working day. As well as training, I am responsible for central recruitment campaigns, which means I filter all first line applications for positions within our company and carry out telephone interviews. If I am delivering the induction programme, I am training all day for five days. I also deliver training on our in-house database from basic to advanced level. So the daily schedule will dictate the activities each day. Every day is different, which is one reason why I love this job.
How did you get into training?
When Select Education launched its own training academy in 2005, I applied for this new role (at the time, I managed our Reading office). As an ex-perienced recruiter, this was an ideal opportunity to impart all the knowledge I had gained over the years to new starters into the company.
What course/training are you working on now?
I am writing two new sales training courses, which will be used in developing our sales teams.
What’s the best or most memorable training event you’ve attended?
The most memorable was one with Andrew Carr, who now works with the REC. He’s an inspirational trainer – that and his bad jokes are what really set me on the path of wanting to be a trainer in the recruitment industry.
And the worst?
Many years ago, I attended a systems course where I knew more than the trainer.
What’s key to putting on a successful course?
Knowing your audience, knowing your subject and enjoying what you do.
How do you measure the impact of training?
As most of my training is based around sales, the main measure is the results once training is implemented back in the offices.
Where do you see yourself (career wise) in five years’ time?
This is a tough one, as being a training manager is the start of a new branch to my recruitment career and one that I find immensely rewarding. In five years’ time, I would like to be seen as a trainer who is second to none and who has built a solid reputation.
When you were young, what did you want to be?
A soldier in the Army – ideally driving a tank or armoured vehicle of some kind.
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Lisa Patient, training and recruitment manager
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