MEDIA RELEASE
13 OCTOBER 2010

Local Resident Attends Inaugural Course For Young Professionals

Thorndon resident Tim Aldridge was one of the first young employees in the country to attend an inaugural professional development course developed by Outward Bound.

Tim was one of 12 participants who recently attended the Compass course which was developed in response to a recent survey of managers from around the country.

For 24 year old Tim who works as an Economist at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ), attending the course gave him an opportunity to further develop skills needed to progress his career.

“I attended Compass because it seemed like a great way to improve a range of skills that I needed to excel in the workplace.”

Tim said the course was an enjoyable experience which he believes is already helping him at work.

“Before going to Outward Bound I wasn’t particularly assertive at work and I needed to increase my confidence. Attending Compass has helped me with this, and I’m now speaking up a lot more and have improved my overall work performance.

“During the Course, we were encouraged to step outside our comfort zones and build confidence through the various challenges we faced.

“We also learnt a lot about different personality types and how to work effectively with a diverse range of people. As a result, I now feel a lot more confident about dealing with people in the workplace and have learnt a number of useful strategies that help in this regard.”

Tim plans to continue his work in the financial sector and has his sights set on one day holding a top senior management position.

Outward Bound Chief Executive Trevor Taylor said the course, aimed at young employees aged 20 - 30 years old, was designed after Outward Bound conducted a survey of 70 managers from businesses.

“Last April, we carried out a survey which showed that a large proportion of managers believed young employees needed to increase their confidence, take greater responsibility and use their initiative more to succeed in the workplace.

“After reviewing the findings we designed a new course to help managers address some of these problems.

”Compass aims to give young employees a boost and help them to reach their career goals by helping them to realise their full potential.”

Applications for the next Compass course, due to take place on 18-25 November, are now open.

For more information about Compass visit: www.outwardbound.co.nz/professional

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