ONCE upon a time shorthand was THE prerequisite for getting a decent secretarial or personal assistant’s job.

The ability to produce those lines and squiggles at breakneck speed – or at least 120 words per minute – was a highly valued one.

But not any more, or so it seems. A brief survey of Dorset recruitment agencies reveals that there is little call for Pitman and Teeline, its upstart rival, these days.

“We do get the occasional boss asking for it, and we do have temps who can produce good shorthand but far less than ever before,” says a spokesman for Bournemouth’s Christchurch Road branch of Office Angels.

And who asks for shorthand? “Nearly always legal firms.”

However, there is one trade where achieving the magic 100 words per minute is a requirement. And that is journalism.

Not a lot of people know that aspiring reporters are still required to pass their 100wpm before they can even take the National Certificate of Excellence. But the National Council for the Training of Journalists is hoping to change that.

As part of National Shorthand Week, they have been promoting the dying art and reminding all aspiring newspaper reporters that shorthand is still an essential element of the job.

NCTJ chairman Kim Fletcher explains: “If you have a shorthand note you can find the quote very quickly.

“You go in with a tape recorder, or a digital recorder, and if you’ve spent an hour in there with your recorder you’ve got an hour of tape to go through – that takes quite a long time.”

Daily Echo court reporter Julie Magee agrees.

“Shorthand is essential for my job and I use it every day. You are not allowed to record proceedings at court or in inquests so you have to have a really accurate note. I couldn’t survive without it.”

Like most journalists, Julie uses her shorthand in daily life. “It drives my husband mad because I use it for shopping lists and he can’t understand a word of it.”

Modern shorthand was invented in 1837 by Sir Isaac Pitman as a means of rapidly recording speech although other forms had been around for centuries before.

Pitman reigned supreme until the Teeline system was invented in 1968 by James Hill, and that is the method adopted by most journalists.

The NCTJ’s figures show there were 4,424 NCTJ shorthand exam sittings at speeds of 60-120wpm during the 2008/9 academic year, 321 more than in 2007/08.

Marie Cartwright, NCTJ shorthand chief examiner and chairman of the NCTJ shorthand board, said: “The number of students taking and passing exams, at all speeds, has increased this year compared with last year.

“Shorthand remains a vital skill for a journalist and even though it can be challenging for some learners to achieve the NCTJ’s gold standard of 100wpm, the time and effort spent is well worth it.”