Spotlight on Professional Support Services
02 May 2018
Helena Edwardson, IT Training Officer, tells us about her role and what sets the University apart from other employers
Helena Edwardson, Training Officer, IT Services Training Team
Tell me about your role
My official title is IT Training Officer but I would describe myself more as an analyst and a developer. My role involves analysing the training needs of different departments across the University for staff. We work very closely with various stakeholders to assess what the training needs are within that particular department and then we go away and devise the best training programme for their particular requirements – this can be through online classes with videos, lessons in a classroom or by producing training manuals.
What do you like about your job?
My favourite aspect of the job definitely has to be interacting with people. Despite the fact that I work in the IT department, my role is very focused towards people and their professional development. I like seeing staff build their skills and confidence though learning as I’m enabling people to do their job to the best of their ability. It’s a great feeling when you’ve finished a classroom session and you see people saying to themselves and others – I can do this now! I love that side of my job.
What do you like about working at the University?
When I first came to work at the University I was pleased to see how much the University focuses on the wellbeing of its staff. I’ve worked in a variety of roles previously in both the public and private sector and I hadn’t really experienced this before. I like the fact that the University tries to promote a healthy work life balance which is great. There’s also a lot of scope for professional development here. In my area, the management team are very encouraging and also very happy for us to learn new skills through courses, training and secondments. But the work life balance is probably the thing I value the most.
If you would like your job to be featured next please contact uninews@manchester.ac.uk with the subject ‘Proud to be PSS’.