Q&A with Stafford College's Curriculum Manager for Accounting, Business, Computing & Travel, Becky Sargeant

Q: Tell us about your background…

A: I grew up wanting to be a dancer, I started dancing at the age of 6 and for someone who was extremely shy I was at my happiest in the dance studio, it helped me to develop confidence. The Principal of the dance studio asked me to train to be a dance teacher at the age of 13 years old, I loved it, so at an early age I kind of new I loved teaching. After finishing my GCSEs I went for an audition at Alton Towers to work in their entertainment team where I did various roles, my favourite being Mrs Tiggywinkle in the Peter Rabbit Ice Show. Whilst working at Alton Towers, I managed to balance college life and achieved my A Levels. After four seasons at Alton Towers, I decided to go back to college and study the AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians), as a dancer you were self-employed so I’d already had experience of filing a tax return and I found that type of work interesting. After studying for a couple of months, I got a placement at Jacksons Accountants as an apprentice and I didn’t look back.

Q: How did you get into education?

A: When I was studying for ACCA, the training provider I was studying with explained that they offered a teaching scholarship. Up until that point, I’d not thought about teaching accounts, but then I realised that was the direction I wanted my career path to go in.

Q: What was your first job in education?

A: After making the decision that teaching was the way forward, Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group had a job advertised for an Assessor in Accounting. I knew instinctively that was the right job for me, I’d come through the apprenticeship route and knew I could support more young people to do the same as me.

Q: What sorts of roles have your previous students gone on to do?

A: I have lots of students who have gone on to do some really fab things. Two of my ex-students are now working at the college and are fantastic at their jobs. I have students who have set up their own businesses in various industries and one of my students had a business idea that they’d thought of in their enterprise unit go into production and is now a very successful individual.

Q: What challenges have you faced in your career and how have you overcome them?

A: My biggest challenge is public speaking, although I am very used to performing, when I had to a presentation in front of my peers I got nervous, so nervous in fact that I just couldn’t do it. For years as a Curriculum Leader when I had to do a presentation to parents I used to make the team wait outside. But I knew to progress to Curriculum Manager this was something I had to overcome, and in time, I did.

Q: What do you love most about the work that you do?

A: I love my job! I love the day the students get their results, I love to see them realise that sense of achievement, it makes everything worthwhile.

Q: What advice would you give someone considering doing a Business course?

A: The advice I would give would be to experience as much as you can outside of college, work experience is so important.

Q: What key skills do you think someone wanting to pursue a career in Business needs to have?

A: Good communication, honesty and integrity are the most important key skills to pursue a career in business.

Q: What do you enjoy most about working at the College?

I love the people, simple. The staff and the students are ace and we are very lucky to work alongside some amazing individuals. No two days are different, it’s never boring!

If you're considering studying a course in Accounting, Business or Computing, take a look at the courses we have on offer here: https://nscg.ac.uk/study-accounting-business-or-computing-at-nscg.