Technical Author Training and Report Writing Courses from ESTON Training

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06-May-2009 A Good Time to Change Careers?
“There has never been a better time for training to become a well-paid Technical or Commercial Author”, says Stan McKerron, ESTON Training’s Head Tutor.....
24-Dec-2008 Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
ESTON Training wishes all of its students a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. It has been a busy year and we all deserve some well-earned time off!....
08-Jun-2008 Letter of the Week (to the Tax Man) – Student TR
Dear Mr Taxman, I am not one of your recalcitrant customers; in fact I'm not at all sure that I am actually a customer. Has one of those social charter thingamajigs reached your neck of the woods yet? I hope so. Otherwise I've let your people....
12-Oct-2007 Licentiateship in Technical Authorship awarded
Edward King from KROHNE SAS has just been awarded the Licentiateship in Technical Authorship by the City & Guilds Institute (CGLI).....

06-May-2009 A Good Time to Change Careers?
“There has never been a better time for training to become a well-paid Technical or Commercial Author”, says Stan McKerron, ESTON Training’s Head Tutor. Since the company started back in the early 1980s, there have been several recessions. However, during these previous down-turns in the economy, there has always been a call for trained technical and commercial authors. The larger technical documentation projects, both in the UK and in mainland Europe, are generally “recession-proof” because they tend to be long-term projects and the budgets are already in place before these type of projects start. For example, once the UK Government has decided to build a new fleet of nuclear submarines, the technical documentation takes years to complete and the amendment of the manuals often goes on for thirty or more years. In addition, during periods of recession, governments all over the world are on the lookout for large engineering and construction projects (all of which need documentation), to keep their unemployment figures as low as possible. Commercial authors are also in great demand during bad economical times, because many companies produce various types of documents, mainly to advertise their wares and to entice customers to buy. For example, these days commercial authors are involved in the promotion of insurance products. It is they who prepare the offer letters that you get through the post, inviting you to buy various types of products from health cover to car and house insurance. “As we are in a recession, it is inevitable that many companies will not survive, and there will be redundancies. This, therefore, is a good time to prepare for another, rewarding career as a technical or commercial author. If you want to know what authoring jobs are available in the UK at present, type “author jobs” into Google and you will see just how many companies are looking for authors”, says Stan, who has been with ESTON Training for six years.	Top

24-Dec-2008 Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
ESTON Training wishes all of its students a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. It has been a busy year and we all deserve some well-earned time off! The Nantwich office will be closed on Christmas day and Boxing day. However, the office and telephone will be manned from Monday the 29th of December until 4.30 pm on Wednesday the 31st of December. We are all back on Monday the 5th of January, 2009 – hopefully refreshed and eager to start the new year.	Top

08-Jun-2008 Letter of the Week (to the Tax Man) – Student TR
Dear Mr Taxman, I am not one of your recalcitrant customers; in fact I'm not at all sure that I am actually a customer. Has one of those social charter thingamajigs reached your neck of the woods yet? I hope so. Otherwise I've let your people's friendly telephone manner lull me into a false sense of security. Anyway, whether I am a customer or your obedient servant, I want it placed on record that I'm happy to pay my fair share of income tax; whatever that might be. However, let me put the strength of this emotion (i.e. happiness) into perspective for you. On the Richter scale, it doesn't quite register. A couple of months ago, I received a tax rebate in my salary cheque. It came to three hundred pounds and some change. Thank you. My son, Jim (pronounced Jam), got boots at one hundred and thirty-nine pounds, ninety-nine pence. Not Boots the Chemist, or special boots that you might need in order to walk on the moon; just ordinary boots - so I'm told. The missus needed a skirt and top, as they all do at regular intervals. However, a British top was no good because... well, because it was no good; so Marks & Spencers had to send all the way to Thailand in order to obtain the only top that would match the skirt already purchased. With the change, I bought a book on Stress Management. Last month (I've been busy) I received a letter telling me that I owe you guys four hundred and ninety-five pounds in unpaid tax. Naturally, I rang your office to find out if one of your operatives had made a mistake (God forbid). And, you'll be glad to know she hadn't (can't remember her name - but you would have been proud of the way she handled me, from a Tax Inspector's point of view). Isn't it just the limit? I mean, if you drop a piece of bread and dripping (I nearly said a king prawn and avocado fritter - until I realised who I was writing to) onto the floor, it always lands greasy side down. In this instance, I've spent the very welcome rebate, and before I get to the chapter in my Stress Management book on how to handle income tax demands (from an emotional point of view) I've been stricken by a strapping, startling "Schedule E". And, to cap it all, I'm told that my file has been passed on to your debt collecting section (and the intonation here, if I'm not mistaken, is that these DCS guys eat social chapters for breakfast). So, where does all this leave me? I'll tell you where - and it's not in the pound-seats. I've sold my laptop and my wife's collections of unusual matchboxes and hand-fashioned pin-cushions. And, with the odds and sods that were lying around the garage (I drew the line at my treasured picture of our queen in working blue (unsigned) and my rare collection of contemporary flint-less lighters) I've cobbled together the five hundred quid you guys say I owe you. So, do I just send you a cheque - or, have I to wait for another schedule? I must apologise if I sound confused. You see, I was out of the country for many years before I joined my present company back in the UK. And, I was a P.A.Y.E. tax payer for ten years before I left England to struggle on without me. I remember those days (before I left) with fondness (well, we do as we get older). For instance, in those pre-computer days, when records were maintained by hand, P.A.Y.E. used to mean Pay as You Earn and you didn't get a tax return to fill in every year. I've only been back five years, and I've got a personal tax file that's thicker than a navvy's piece, filled with assorted assessments, several schedules and far from few forms. What's going on? I've only got one source of income. You obviously have never worked for “XXX”, or you would realise that we're all too knackered by the end of the day to put in a shift at ASDA stacking shelves. I don't know of any way to avoid paying tax and if I did I'm of a generation that would be too scared to try (and I've never been a cowboy-plumber, a plumber or a cowboy). Can you help me? I realise that you guys are only trying to do your jobs just like me and that the extra tax I've had to pay is associated with my company car (which, by the way, is five years old in a couple of weeks and is valued by our transport manager at £1 200). Is my company not obliged to tell you guys what I'm earning, etc.? Why is it that each year I get an additional tax demand and latterly a tax rebate followed swiftly by a bigger demand? Your lady reminded me only the other day that I'm responsible. I know I'm responsible - I hold down a job with “XXX” (that's not easy and it's not for long 'cos me and mine are being out-sourced) I've got a big mortgage (more in fact than my house is worth) and I've managed to bring up two kids (and all of us are still alive and relatively friendly (no pun intended)). Now that's responsible. As for being responsible for telling you guys every detail concerning my earnings etc., are there no perks associated with being a P.A.Y.E. person? Or (and, Mr. Taxman, before I finish this sentence I wish to point out that I intimate no slight to either yourself or any member of your staff, past or present, male or female, rich or poor, Protestant or Catholic, Liverpool or Everton, etc., etc.) are the perks reserved for the wealthy and famous, non-P.A.Y.E. tax payers (including cowboys, cowboy-plumbers, plumbers and the like) who, according to the Sun (found it in the office - don't get it or any other paper myself) don't pay enough tax between them to keep No.10's pantry stocked with cocoa? I have completed another tax return (enclosed); for this year. I pray that I have completed it correctly and have not missed an opportunity to save myself and family a few bob. I await your response vis-à-vis the five hundred pounds owed and hope that the Universal Architect will continue to bless you and yours. Yours sincerely,	Top

12-Oct-2007 Licentiateship in Technical Authorship awarded
Licentiateship in Technical Authorship awarded Edward King from KROHNE SAS has just been awarded the Licentiateship in Technical Authorship by the City & Guilds Institute (CGLI). He will be presented with the award at a ceremony in May, 2008. Edward sat the City & Guilds examinations in December, 2005 and June, 2006. He prepared for them by studying with ESTON Training.	Top