Anyone taken this course ? has it helped find work/promotion ? your views would be appreciated.

Certificate in Terrorism Studies training course - Course Home

No, not brainy enough to understand that some fucking ragheaded, beardy, islamic dickheads are determined to undermine Western Civilisation and bring us all back into a new dark age. There are some others I believe but fuckface Blair let the the twats out of chokey and gave them a place at the trough.
This scholarly assessment won't get any prizes I know, but am I warm?

Originally Posted by Cyclic

Anyone taken this course ? has it helped find work/promotion ? your views would be appreciated.

Certificate in Terrorism Studies training course - Course Home

Never did the certificate as I already had an Honours degree, but completed the PgDip and MLitt in Terrorism studies. Good course, I recommend it.

Originally Posted by Cyclic

Anyone taken this course ? has it helped find work/promotion ? your views would be appreciated.

Certificate in Terrorism Studies training course - Course Home

Given it's run by St Andrews it's probably more than worth doing from an academic perspective.

It's a good university but I can't see the all the details (without filling in more forms than I care to) so don't know if it is simply a listening/reading thing? If it is, then I'm not sure who it would impress? Not me - I would expect to see some evidence of you having to do some reading/research on your own.

If you want to go down this route why not look at doing a part-time MA? I know several unis offer this with variations on the terrorist bit, and will take folk without a first degree if they satisfy certain criteria. Might take longer, might be harder work, might be more expensive, might be more use in the end.

It's something I've been looking at, but I can't see what doors it would open if you were to do it with absolutely no background in anti terrorism.

It looks like it will enhance a career rather than as a way to start a new one.

I'll probably complete it in the future, when it has found it's place and has competition from other establishments (I'm always dubious when something like this is only offered in one place).

I'm looking at a Masters in Explosive Ordnance Engineering first.

Done it. Good course very interesting, can't say it has helped with promotion. Personally I done the course for personal development, and future employment.

Friend of mine has done it for personal development and some professional interest. He said it was worth the effort.

Its worth would entirely depend on who you intend to show it to, and what they think of it. TBH, it looks to me rather like a way to earn a few bob by getting a couple of academics to throw a few themes together and have the actual work done by PhD candidates. Universities are coming up with many wheezes like this at the moment, few of them worth much IMO.

Before signing up, I suggest approaching potential employers and asking them whether or not they rate it as a qualification. My guess is you could learn as much from a week trawling through some journal articles, three or four books, and a newspaper archive.

Depending upon your educational level you're likely to have to complete the certificate prior to being accepted onto the PGDip or MLitt programmes (as suggested by Nickhere). As for promotion prospects, unlikely. For wider employment outside of the Mob it will show current learning on your CV which is very important and also serves to show ambition and ongoing personal and professional development. Furthermore, if you're likely to seek employment in a large global organisation after leaving then anyone with a qualification of this nature, combined with the relevant experience for the new job, is likely to be looked at. What global organisation isn't affected by terrorism nowaydays? None...

My advice, go for it! I don't recommend using your ELC for the Cert because it is "relatively" inexpensive (for an academic qualification) and you might want to go on to study ther PGDip/MLitt if the Cert proves to float your boat.

St Andrews is a highly respected university in this area (as well as a number of others) and is one of the few ancient universities to award the Master of Letters (MLitt) rather than a bog standard MA or MPhil. I'm considering the MLitt and have done a lot of research into it. PM me if you fancy a chat about it.