Work Experience Joe...

Photo shows Swavesey Village college student 'work experience' Joe with BBC Radio Cambridgeshire presenters Jeremy Sallis and Dotty McLeod. This week I've had the pleasure of being shadowed by Joe, so a big thank you to my clients who kindly allowed Joe access to their premises during this week's photo shoots including a Norwich based Wholesaler, Academia, Aerospace engineers and the BBC. Joe has summed up his week here -

Monday. Awoken by the early morning alarm and squinting and ambling my way through the kitchen trying to get to the cereal, I had already seen why they say schooldays are your best days. Before I knew it I was dressed in my best clothes and out the door, off to begin my first day of work experience. My place of ‘employment’ for the week was at a small photography business and was headed by my new ‘boss’, Phil.

To be honest, I was on countdown the minute I arrived. Maybe that was the voice inside of me saying “Well done mate you’ve got another eight hours of this” or the fact that I hadn’t grasped what it was like to do what my parents have done for years. As soon as I had entered then door I was straight back out again and ferried off to the first job of the day: a local international boarding school for people my age. My first challenge arose when conversation came my way. An adult? Wanting to talk to me? I froze for a moment and then came out with a somewhat intelligent response. Yet I didn’t feel stupid and the person I talked to looked as if what I was saying made sense and that’s when my first lesson hit me. In the workplace it seemed that I was treated as an equal unlike being at school with teachers. That block was gone and - as the week went on - I even instigated conversations and became involved in what was occurring as if I had been doing it for years.

I came out of my shell more and more each day. I even began to get up less groggy and miserable than the day before. People I met were no longer strangers or people I would avoid. Also, my mentor was more than keen to pass his knowledge on. Not only the challenges of running a small business, but how important it is to involve yourself with others and the key fundamentals to succeed. I understood that I had to be less like Day One me, the clock-watching misery, and more like the following days. Optimism, positivity and confidence are the key fundamentals I’ve learned in the short time I’ve spent at the business. These are attributes I can bring forward with me for years to come … and to think, I had started the week thinking that I preferred school!