Why did you decide to enrol on the course?
I wanted to make writing a business and felt a qualification would help with credibility.

Did you make any contact with the Institute before enrolling?
Don't think so

What was your impression of your course when it arrived?
Good - well presented

Did you consider any other courses?
No

Ultimately, what do you want to do?
Write from home, with the copywriting as back up to writing fiction/poetry

How are you progressing with your course?
Completed

What might you say to someone who was thinking of enrolling on the course?
It's fine - not difficult if you have confident written skills and with enough detail to help if you haven't.

It gave me the confidence to approach my local press when they advertised for freelancers, and my tutor gave my first piece of work for them a look over, which was really helpful. I worked for them for 6 months and only stopped when the money was not enough to warrant the time it took.

I had earned more than the cost of the course before I had completed it.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?
I felt some models of presentation would have been useful when taking on specific tasks - if I'm producing 150 names for a shoe company, is there a standard way that is presented? That sort of thing.

Also I did wonder if the pro bono projects were genuine - I did one for a company in Singapore who disappeared once I had done the work - not even an acknowledgment. That seemed ill-mannered enough to be genuine! But I did wonder, as the next one I was offered was also somewhere exotic.

When I asked my tutor, he was a little vague and as he was so clear the rest of the time, I wondered if he knew they were notional clients!

PS My tutor was good - fast turnaround, good advice and not too serious. (I checked him out on the web - he appeared to be genuine!)

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