From Monday 19/10 until Friday 23/10, TY's were given the week to go out into the world of work and obtain some real life work experience. The reasoning behind this is to enable us see what it is like to be in a real life working environment and allow us to determine if we have a preference of career, by either eliminating or discovering jobs. The week of work experience also helps us to learn and practice new skills, such as punctuality, people skills, hard work, and character. The current situation that we are in this year made it very hard for us to find work, and a lot of people who originally found somewhere got cancelled on when the new restrictions came in. Majority of people who were lucky enough to keep their place in their chosen businesses had a family member working there.
I was lucky enough to find work experience and keep it for the whole week, despite the level 5 restrictions. I was working in a local family run company where one of my family member also works. I was mainly liaising with the financial controller of the company, who's family runs the business. She was very helpful and included me in every job she did.and also explained everything in depth which give me a real understanding of what that role entails. I did a variety of jobs and worked alongside a lot different people within the company. I answered the phone to customers, emailed customers looking for payment, placed orders, raised invoices, got a tour of the warehouse, rang in orders, dealt with couriers, learnt how to use the SAP computer system and lots more.
As a family member works there, I have been in the company countless amounts of times since I was really young, but it was really interesting to get an insight into the actual day to day running of the company. It has helped me a lot in understanding the day to day running of companies and has helped me to see the real working world for the first time.
The week has come back full of good reports from everyone who got work experience, and it has really benefited all of us. It was a great experience that will help us in the future, and one that we will never forget. Looking forward to hearing more details about what everybody else had to do when working 9 - 5!
"Dream of success and work hard for it"