On 14 July 2022, I was excited to be able to attend a ceremony to graduate following completion of my studies for the Level 4 Advanced Executive Assistant Diploma with Adam Fidler Academy. This was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate with others who had also achieved Level 3 and Level 4 qualifications, and a chance to wear the official graduate gear of a mortarboard and gown!
Although I am an experienced EA, I had never received official general business or office management training, rather my knowledge had been picked up piecemeal over my career spent in various business support roles across the higher education or charity sector. My current workplace (University College London, where I work as an EA supporting a Faculty Director of Operations and a Faculty Deputy Dean) encouraged me to look at further career development opportunities. I opted to study (part-funded by my workplace) with Adam Fidler Academy as not only had I heard Adam speak before at an EPAA event and found him inspirational, but the Diploma qualification is Ofqual registered and a recognised professional qualification. With the scope of the Diploma covering topics such as HR, Finance, Leadership and Management, Strategy, Commercial Awareness and Business Acumen, I saw that it would help to give me up-to-date, industry-specific knowledge which would help improve my credibility and my career prospects.
I started studying in December 2019, attending classes on a regular basis in Manchester (only a few were online during lockdown) and carrying out assignments afterwards. I was very impressed at the quality and content of the learning. Adam’s classes are always very interactive (he is a qualified teacher which enables him to get the best out of every student); hearing fellow students talk about their own workplaces and experiences gave me encouragement to speak up at my workplace far more, and to suggest changes – something I did not really have the confidence to do before. I’ve even helped to start an EA/PA Community of Practice in my workplace, of which I am now a Co-Lead!
I completed my Diploma, receiving notification I had achieved Distinction in March 2021 but, having caught the learning bug, a few months later I decided to undertake studies with Adam for the Level 5 Diploma in Business and Administrative Management (the equivalent of the final year of a 2-year foundation degree). My workplace was not able to fund this due to financial constraints, but I decided to self-fund (having saved some money on commuting costs over lockdown) and started in July 2021, expecting to complete next Summer. It’s a lot more in depth than the Level 4 Diploma and includes an exam as part of the assessment process, but so far I’m loving it and the research for assignments has helped me to get to know the broader aspects of my own firm in a lot more detail and from a strategic viewpoint!
Would I recommend studying for a qualification with Adam? Absolutely yes! Although I love my current role, I can see that all my learning has given me a vast amount of knowledge and skills that I can take with me as my career progresses in the future. But. It is hard work - after the classes there are assignments to complete, and it takes planning and determination on my part to complete these. I have always made it my goal to finish assignments before I attended a class for the next module – perhaps this is one reason why, at the Graduation Ceremony, I was unexpectedly presented with an Award for Industriousness, a ‘wow’ moment I’ll never forget and can be proud of for many years to come.
