Teaching English as a Foreign Language
During this temporary career change, I was an associate of one of the largest independent Language Training Centres in Warsaw, teaching Business English to corporate clients.
Learners were often at the level of departmental head in fields as diverse as banking, medicine and telecoms.
I was fully responsible for needs analysis, course planning, testing and day-to-day administration.
During this period I achieved the Cambridge University CELTA certification (image)
This career experience significantly enhanced my face-to-face communication skills as well as advanced planning and project completion abilities.
Proofreading
During my final year in Poland, I also worked part-time (4 hrs daily, Mon-Fri) as sole English-language editor/proofreader for one of Poland’s largest independent commercial law firms, working on legal advice and contracts for their Real Estate, Intellectual Property, Tax Law, Dispute Resolution, EU Law and Corporate and Competition Law groups.
This experience greatly exercised and enhanced my written language skills and required significant attention to detail.
Teaching IT
I've had two temporary placements where I taught IT at University
- I spent a month in 2000 as a temporary Lecturer in IT with the University of the Highlands and Islands at Elgin. This involved teaching ECDL-level MS Access, Word and Excel as part of the required IT module to students taking courses as diverse as nursing or engineering.
- In the Spring 0f 2012, I ran a series of 2-hour Web Design labs for the University of the West of Scotland's 3rd year Business School students as the practical component of the e-Marketing module of their degree syllabus.
Both these experiences also helped develop my planning and communication skills.
Documentation
Throughout my various careers I've developed the habit of documenting my work, including a Troubleshooting guide for Compaq/HP's Factory Systems Team during my time there, a full User Manual for KEY's new Recruitment system, which I've been the lead developer for, and all Server installation and maintenance duties I'm involved in.
Interviewing
During my time with my current employer I've been involved in two rounds of Technical Interviews for prospective candidates for junior developer posts, from creating and setting the technical tests to reviewing the results, discussing the solutions with the applicants and reporting to management on their performance.
Sales Representative
After achieving a degree in Biochemistry at Glasgow University in 1984 (image), I worked for three years as a biochemical sales representative routinely dealing with researchers to the level of Professor in academic and medical research institutes and commercial R&D laboratories all over Scotland and the North of England.