Howaythetoon 0 Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 Anyone had any experience with that? Or is it for plebs? Thinking of taking a look at some of their courses as my qualifications stand at GNVQ 3 in business studies and management, a health and safety certificate and a NVQ in woodwork - none of which I bothered picking up and I'm not even sure they are proper qualifications anyway. I certainly have no use for them or they haven't stood me any use, well the business studies thing helped me a bit, but overall not worth the paper they are wrote on. I'm at that stage in my life now where I'm bored and don't quite know what to do, education seems the obvious move. I have no grades whatsoever though. Advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottish Mag 3 Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 I tried it once, i found it hard to motivate myself to put the hours in and ended up not bothering finishing what i had started. It can be a struggle after a days work to come in and try to sit down and do the work with no real pressure put on you by anyone to get it done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 PM Rob, seriously. He'll know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo 133 Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 PM Rob, seriously. He'll know. 112530[/snapback] Do you think ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howaythetoon 0 Posted March 30, 2006 Author Share Posted March 30, 2006 I tried it once, i found it hard to motivate myself to put the hours in and ended up not bothering finishing what i had started. It can be a struggle after a days work to come in and try to sit down and do the work with no real pressure put on you by anyone to get it done. 112526[/snapback] I probably work best like that, I hate lots of noise and I'm highly motivated if it's for my own benefit, although I see your point. What did you do if you don't mind me asking BTW and how does it all work? Their website is a little too vague. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 PM Rob, seriously. He'll know. 112530[/snapback] Do you think ? 112538[/snapback] If he doesn't he'll know someone who does Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holden McGroin 4849 Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 Anyone had any experience with that? Or is it for plebs? Thinking of taking a look at some of their courses as my qualifications stand at GNVQ 3 in business studies and management, a health and safety certificate and a NVQ in woodwork - none of which I bothered picking up and I'm not even sure they are proper qualifications anyway. I certainly have no use for them or they haven't stood me any use, well the business studies thing helped me a bit, but overall not worth the paper they are wrote on. I'm at that stage in my life now where I'm bored and don't quite know what to do, education seems the obvious move. I have no grades whatsoever though. Advice? 112523[/snapback] How old are you HTT? Serious question by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isegrim 8870 Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 Courses I'd recommend HTT to attend: Public relations, How to express your thoughts in less than 10,000 words and Jorman for beginners... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howaythetoon 0 Posted March 30, 2006 Author Share Posted March 30, 2006 Anyone had any experience with that? Or is it for plebs? Thinking of taking a look at some of their courses as my qualifications stand at GNVQ 3 in business studies and management, a health and safety certificate and a NVQ in woodwork - none of which I bothered picking up and I'm not even sure they are proper qualifications anyway. I certainly have no use for them or they haven't stood me any use, well the business studies thing helped me a bit, but overall not worth the paper they are wrote on. I'm at that stage in my life now where I'm bored and don't quite know what to do, education seems the obvious move. I have no grades whatsoever though. Advice? 112523[/snapback] How old are you HTT? Serious question by the way. 112555[/snapback] 26 And Isegram Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottish Mag 3 Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 I tried it once, i found it hard to motivate myself to put the hours in and ended up not bothering finishing what i had started. It can be a struggle after a days work to come in and try to sit down and do the work with no real pressure put on you by anyone to get it done. 112526[/snapback] I probably work best like that, I hate lots of noise and I'm highly motivated if it's for my own benefit, although I see your point. What did you do if you don't mind me asking BTW and how does it all work? Their website is a little too vague. 112540[/snapback] I was wanting to do a Business course but was told i had to do entrance module to get into it. That was my first problem as it was a social science module. You were expected to do x amount of study a week i cannot remember if was something like 15, you also had to attend a seminar/lecture type thing one evening a week. You are sent all the materials through the post and are allocated a near by tutor who you can get in contact with over the phone and thats who you send your work to and they mark it. I tried it about 8 or 9 years ago so i cannot really remember all the ins and outs of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howaythetoon 0 Posted March 30, 2006 Author Share Posted March 30, 2006 I tried it once, i found it hard to motivate myself to put the hours in and ended up not bothering finishing what i had started. It can be a struggle after a days work to come in and try to sit down and do the work with no real pressure put on you by anyone to get it done. 112526[/snapback] I probably work best like that, I hate lots of noise and I'm highly motivated if it's for my own benefit, although I see your point. What did you do if you don't mind me asking BTW and how does it all work? Their website is a little too vague. 112540[/snapback] I was wanting to do a Business course but was told i had to do entrance module to get into it. That was my first problem as it was a social science module. You were expected to do x amount of study a week i cannot remember if was something like 15, you also had to attend a seminar/lecture type thing one evening a week. You are sent all the materials through the post and are allocated a near by tutor who you can get in contact with over the phone and thats who you send your work to and they mark it. I tried it about 8 or 9 years ago so i cannot really remember all the ins and outs of it. 112574[/snapback] Cheers SM, interesting. Does sound a bit of a hassle like. I'll give them a bell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renton 17746 Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 I'm not too sure how seriously employers will take an OU degree, especially as degrees from "proper" universities are much more common than they used to be. Depends what you want to do with it, but if it's to enhance your employment prospects rather than for pleasure, it might be a waste of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howaythetoon 0 Posted March 30, 2006 Author Share Posted March 30, 2006 (edited) I'm not too sure how seriously employers will take an OU degree, especially as degrees from "proper" universities are much more common than they used to be. Depends what you want to do with it, but if it's to enhance your employment prospects rather than for pleasure, it might be a waste of time. 112582[/snapback] Yeah that's something I'm aware of, but I shouldn't imagine my future will ever be anything other than being self employed so I'm not too bothered about OU qualifications being taken less serious by employers than other qualifications. Barring odd jobs to keep me ticking by during no trade spells, I've been self employed since I was 16 really and it's something I love doing, being my own boss and knowing that when I wake up in the morning, I must do something to survive. My current line of work is web/graphic design/online marketing but I want to branch away from that because the game is saturised and dead IMO, for small independent designers anyway. I aim to become a content developer as there are huge growths in those markets. I'm looking for some kind of writing courses that will help me to improve in those areas. Writing for football sites or about my own club I can get away with, as well as net mags which I've wrote for in the past but I have a few exciting projects coming up of my own as well as a few offers that will require me to do lots of writing, covering all manner of topics. I would also need to become my own editor to trim overheads as they cost a few quid. I know my writing is poor, grammar, spelling, syntax, it's average to say the least so if my future is in content development, I need some help. I'll be mass producing content serving all kinds of industries, topics and such. I did a test the other day, I wrote 140 football news pieces in 8 hours, but they were very poor, something Tribal football wouldn't even put up. People in my desired industry can also write that number of pieces, but properly where they read well and above all else, sell well. That's what I want to do. The first thing I thought of is the OU. After elaborating, maybe some of you guys can perhaps give me some pointers or more rounded advice? Anything will be much appreciated. Cheers PS Dotbum, you're in this industry aren't you? Edited March 30, 2006 by Howaythetoon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottish Mag 3 Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 My current line of work is web/graphic design/online marketing but I want to branch away from that because the game is saturised and dead IMO, for small independent designers anyway. 112595[/snapback] Yes it is highly competitive but i would not say it is dead. Like any business, how you market yourself whether it be from advertising, marketing or PR is the key IMO to having continual success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howaythetoon 0 Posted March 30, 2006 Author Share Posted March 30, 2006 My current line of work is web/graphic design/online marketing but I want to branch away from that because the game is saturised and dead IMO, for small independent designers anyway. 112595[/snapback] Yes it is highly competitive but i would not say it is dead. Like any business, how you market yourself whether it be from advertising, marketing or PR is the key IMO to having continual success. 112602[/snapback] Aye dead was perhaps the wrong word, I know people are still making good money from web design, and you're spot on about marketing and advertising. To be honest I'm bored of that game, I find the whole process a pain, been doing it for a number of years now and I've lost my motivation and creative spark, feels like any design I do today, has been done a thousand times before. That industry has slowed right down though I find. How can I compete for a job with a guy in India who can charge 100 dollars for a thousand pound job? Clients are more savvy now, you can download software that can build you a site using thousands of inbuilt templates, or you can find a template site and buy a design like that. I used to make 500 quid for a shitty 5 page website I knocked up in 3 hours or something. Now most of my work comes from repeat clients like adding a new page or adding an e-mail form or tending for the jobs no-one wants. Have my eyes on a canny one that could pay well and set me up in this content development game if I can pull it off so fingers crossed with that like. Content is huge though as that's what every site needs and the research I've done shows it to be a huge growth area and a multi-billion dollar industry already. I'd like just a small slice Anyone else self-employed on here? Anyone else involved with the web? How's your programming coming along Craig? I remember you said you were learning PHP and such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom_NUFC 0 Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 Open University = University with all the fun taken out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasepud 59 Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 I tried it once, i found it hard to motivate myself to put the hours in and ended up not bothering finishing what i had started. It can be a struggle after a days work to come in and try to sit down and do the work with no real pressure put on you by anyone to get it done. 112526[/snapback] I dont think thats going to be a problem here like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meenzer 14031 Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Anyone else self-employed on here?112608[/snapback] I've just gone full-time again after two years of freelancing (yes, I know it's not quite the same thing as being self-employed, but semantics tbh ). I'm not sure if the vagaries of the financial translation industry are particularly relevant to your cause, though. I don't regret a moment of it, anyway, even if it's nice to have a steady income again - I never had a problem generating business, largely from my old company and the companies where former colleagues now work (thus proving nicely that it's all about contacts), but my motivation to get things done was minimal, hence regular overnight sessions on here whilst attempting to hit 9am deadlines. It's actually quite nice to have someone cracking the whip again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob W 0 Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 As you have guessed I have some experience of the OU and knwo people who have gone all the way to a PhD that way 1. It is a serious institutuon and its qualifications rank above many of tthe "new" Universities 2. The support stuff is good 3. It is a real bugger motivating yourself to work on your own week in week out 4. It takes a long time to get a high level qualifiaction like a degree 5. Employers like it 'cos it shows you are a sticker and you are self motivated 6. The away week or fortnight is (alledgedly) a great place to pull I think doing the courses isn't a bad thing - it will certainly improve your understanding of whtever you are doing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howaythetoon 0 Posted March 31, 2006 Author Share Posted March 31, 2006 As you have guessed I have some experience of the OU and knwo people who have gone all the way to a PhD that way 1. It is a serious institutuon and its qualifications rank above many of tthe "new" Universities 2. The support stuff is good 3. It is a real bugger motivating yourself to work on your own week in week out 4. It takes a long time to get a high level qualifiaction like a degree 5. Employers like it 'cos it shows you are a sticker and you are self motivated 6. The away week or fortnight is (alledgedly) a great place to pull I think doing the courses isn't a bad thing - it will certainly improve your understanding of whtever you are doing 112799[/snapback] Cheers Rob for the feedback, will give them a bell today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob W 0 Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 As you have guessed I have some experience of the OU and knwo people who have gone all the way to a PhD that way 1. It is a serious institutuon and its qualifications rank above many of tthe "new" Universities 2. The support stuff is good 3. It is a real bugger motivating yourself to work on your own week in week out 4. It takes a long time to get a high level qualifiaction like a degree 5. Employers like it 'cos it shows you are a sticker and you are self motivated 6. The away week or fortnight is (alledgedly) a great place to pull I think doing the courses isn't a bad thing - it will certainly improve your understanding of whtever you are doing 112799[/snapback] Cheers Rob for the feedback, will give them a bell today. 112811[/snapback] I knew Item 6 would get you started.................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smooth Operator 10 Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Anyone had any experience with that? Or is it for plebs? Thinking of taking a look at some of their courses as my qualifications stand at GNVQ 3 in business studies and management, a health and safety certificate and a NVQ in woodwork - none of which I bothered picking up and I'm not even sure they are proper qualifications anyway. I certainly have no use for them or they haven't stood me any use, well the business studies thing helped me a bit, but overall not worth the paper they are wrote on. I'm at that stage in my life now where I'm bored and don't quite know what to do, education seems the obvious move. I have no grades whatsoever though. Advice? 112523[/snapback] From my experience, you're definately not OU material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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