News
Assured Skills Academy has been life changing for Linda
After finding herself out of work last year, Linda Fettus has managed to turn her career around after completing Belfast Met’s online Future Business Skills PwC Academy, supported by the Department of the Economy. Linda had enjoyed a successful career in the Sports industry and had a PhD placement in Sports Medicine lined up in Qatar, which was cancelled due to COVID last summer.
Belfast Met has delivered many successful PwC Assured Skills Academies over recent years, offering graduates high quality training places that have given learners life changing opportunities to kick start a career in professional services. PwC is the largest firm of professional advisers in Northern Ireland that created 600 new jobs last autumn across a range of services. Their academies have been successfully upskilling and reskilling graduates, some of whom have been impacted by the pandemic, and have seen a high percentage of graduates gaining employment in IT and Business.
Claire Shields, Director (Capability and Development) at PwC's Operate, commented: "The immersive and distinctive training that the Future Business Skills Academy offers is a great opportunity to progress your career into PwC. The quality of this upskilling and reskilling programme is critical to our own business, the wider economy and our workforce. We are delighted to provide these life changing opportunities to students like Linda, especially during the pandemic. We encourage anyone who is considering a career in professional services, business, operations or IT to research our Academies and apply."
With a passion for sport, in particular football and rock climbing, Linda previously worked as an International Sports Physiotherapist for elite international football with Northern Ireland as well as English Premiership Club Chelsea F.C. She had planned to immerse herself further into Sports Medicine to improve her skills by studying for a PhD abroad. However, just as she was planning to leave her hometown of Bangor to move to Qatar, this opportunity was taken away, so Linda needed to quickly reassess her career plans which is when she found out about the Assured Skills PwC Academy at Belfast Met, so she decided to apply to the Future Business Skills programme.
The virtual training that Linda received included project management, business analysis, and leadership skills and management which she really enjoyed and would like to develop further in the future. She also completed some of the virtual training through Ulster University and a CIMA Level 3 qualification in accountancy. Since joining the programme, Linda hasn’t looked back, and has been offered a position to join the PwC Operate division which she starts this month.
Louise Warde Hunter, Principal and Chief Executive at Belfast Met, said: “Belfast Met is pleased to continue to deliver high quality Assured Skills PwC Academies during the pandemic, resulting in vital job opportunities for graduate learners. On behalf of the College, I would like to congratulate Linda on completing the Future Business Skills course and wish her every success in her new position with PwC.”
Linda is looking forward to starting her new position with Belfast based firm PwC and will be continuing to work from home until the current lockdown ends. Being a keen rock climber, she is also looking forward to returning to this hobby which she believes has helped her to develop skills in resilience and teamwork to navigate the issues she’s been facing during the pandemic.
Linda talked about the exceptional training support she received at the Academy: “I can’t thank Aidan Browne, Senior Lecturer at Belfast Met, and the teaching staff on the course enough who went above and beyond to support me. I have extenuating circumstances and the level of support and professionalism, and particularly the IT support I received, has really helped me to excel.
“The personal development experiences and my new business skills have equipped me to progress my career goals for the future, and I would whole heartedly recommend that graduates consider applying for an Assured Skills Academy training course.”