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Special Projects |
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Pilgrims International Training & Development |
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Project 1037
This project demonstrates Pilgrims' ability to deliver
a practical training course for entrepreneurs.
A Vocational Business Experience Course for Undergraduates
and Entrepreneurs from the "Accademia di Commercio
e Turismo", Trento, Italy.
Introduction
The "Accademia di Commercio e Turismo" is the
Business School of the Trento Chamber of Commerce and
provides vocational training in tourism, hotel management
and commerce. The Accademia places a strong emphasis on
European management skills and has an annual intake of
700 undergraduates and entrepreneurs.
The Accademia wanted to complement its 1997 curricula
by offering a dynamic international learning experience
for 13 undergraduates and entrepreneurs aged between 19
and 26. The European Union Social Fund and the Italian
Local Government Training Fund paid for the programme.
Brief
The Accademia required a practical 4-week vocational course
in July 1997 that would:
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Necessitate working
as part of a project team |
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Involve real business
experience - |
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Develop English in international
business situations |
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Give a competitive advantage
when applying for jobs |
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Improve business skills |
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Improve project / analytical
skills |
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Create further self-confidence
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The development of business skills and the practical project
focused on the use of 'Information Technology' in business.
Execution
Pilgrims project managed, designed and delivered the course.
The course concentrated on building confidence through
the process of gaining measurable and valuable communication
and vocational skills. Making introductions
Communication Skills:
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Writing Skills - structuring
and writing faxes, e-mails, letters and reports. |
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Oral Skills - using
the telephone, face to face contact, interviewing
and making presentations. |
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Receptive Skills - listening
and acknowledging, reading and understanding relevant
technical and business English |
Vocational Skills
The vocational aspect of the course began with a briefing
on the business project to be completed on behalf of real
clients. The business project was 'The Application of
Information Technology in Business'. The brief required
students to work 'on-site' at the offices of the Canterbury
Chamber of Commerce and at the Chaucer Private Hospital,
Canterbury, as well as working from their Pilgrims lecture
room.
The students planned how they were going to research,
develop, fulfil and present the project to the clients.
Pilgrims provided all the business tools required to deliver
the project including computers, faxes, e-mail and the
Internet. A project timetable was created and each Pilgrims
trainer had responsibility for working with a particular
student throughout the project. Previous project subjects
have included Marketing, Tourism, Finance, Retail, Food,
Publishing and Law.
During the month-long course, held in Canterbury, Kent,
students stayed with carefully selected local families,
to gain an inside view of British life at home and have
a friendly atmosphere to return to after a long and hard
day's training. Pilgrims arranged frequent trips, visits
and events during the evening to balance all the hard
work with plenty of fun.
Pilgrims selected two senior trainers to lead the course,
chosen because their backgrounds matched the course brief.
Fraser Thompson worked for three years at the multinational
company, ABB, teaching subjects including Information
Technology to top management. Nigel Race takes special
responsibility for group business courses at Pilgrims
and has had several years' commercial experience in marketing
and promotions.
Feedback
This is one of a number of projects Pilgrims have completed
for the Accademia.
"Pilgrims Business Experience is real experience.
I learnt a lot about myself and how to organise myself
in a team." Laura Dernani, Undergraduate.
"We were very satisfied with the course and with
the high standard of reports produced by our students.
The students found the experience of working for a real
company on a real project very educational and appreciated
the warm friendly welcome they received from Pilgrims
teachers and families." Elisa Armeni, Training
Course Administrator, Accademia Di Commercio e Turismo.
"We were pleased and privileged to work with
this highly productive project and look forward to working
with future Pilgrims Business Experience teams."
Julian Glover, Marketing Manager, Reeves and Neylan Accountants
and Member of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce.
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