Jessica worked in local primary school BEFORE

Jessica – worked in local primary school BEFORE DURING AFTER Went downhill as I was kind of disappointed of how the job was going to be. Just photocopying and laminating, but maybe it was because it was the beginning of the year. I did ask to get transferred to nursery, it was slightly better as I had contact with children and helped them to adjust. It was great before as we had lots of choices, we had a particular afternoon when someone came in to talk to us about how it works. We even had a website to go to full of work experience jobs. After the 5 days I felt as if I didn’t get the experience I wanted to be a teacher. I got lumbered with the boring jobs, and didn’t have much contact with the kids. We did have diaries to fill in abd health assesment checks, but I did do them and after had a feedback day but wasn’t there.

Zahid – Surestart (office based) BEFOR E Excellent AFTER DURIN G Making the calls! 1 st day Going really bad Arranging the work placement was great and a real good experience. Good it’s over. Not very good, slavery! Good, it’s over! Bad

Shadowing my mentor – week 2 Outward Bounds in Scotland – week 1 BEFORE Anxious Nervous DURING Enjoying the physical challenges Meeting new people AFTER Got a certificate Not recognised qualification by employers Going to Scotland Didn’t choose it Last minute organisation Boring tasks Typing Posting Getting envelopes etc Not much benefit to me. Not in different environment (still in my school). Still left with not much experience of being at work after 2 weeks so called work experience.

Kadeisha – Edith Neville Primary BEFORE: Organisation problems, originally opted for Hotel/Retail, only choice Nursery. Asked in PSHE lesson what I would prefer to do DURING: Good atmosphere/environment. (staff) treated on equal level. Enjoyed helping children, getting involved AFTER: Left with a good reputation. Follow up wasn’t good. Filled in bits of diary but it wasn’t checked. Teachers bought me a goodbye prezzie after.

Paris – REAL Hairdressing. (Cale St, Chelsea) BEFORE: We weren’t given enough time to get our own work experience, and the teachers said that they would help me find a solicitors to work in, as I wanted to be a lawyer. Noone contacted me about it, and when I asked if they’d found a solicitors they acted like I never asked. Without sufficient time for me to find another job, they found me another job in a hairdressers, which I really didn’t want to do. DURING: I was put in a hairdressers that didn’t even want me. They made me sweep up and make tea for the customers, and gave me dirty looks all day. They expected me to buy a uniform for 2 weeks experience. They made me feel really undervalued AFTER: They didn’t even ask me for my signed diary. They didn’t ask me how it went either, it was just back to school work and I was left with a bad experience.

Adam - Halfords BEFORE: Wasn’t really bothered. DURING: Good at some times, but did have to do some bad tasks. Got on with the people that worked there. AFTER: Didn’t learn that much. I learnt how it was in a real job and customer skills Before During After

Bukky – ‘working in the drama department in my school’ I was doing well at school, happy and looking forward to the 2 weeks of work experience. I was hoping at the end of it to be able to have a better idea of what I would like to do in the future. After my choice for work experience was messed up and I was stuck in the school drama department I was very disappointed and then after just being treated like a slave I became very demotivated. I was also upset about the fact that it didn’t help me with what I wanted to do in the future. The only excitement came when I could see the end of the 2 weeks coming nearer. After work experience I was still angry over the fact that my work experience wasn’t the one I wanted. Also hearing everyone elses work experience, so better but also some so good. After a while I got over it and started looking for my own work experience.

Samia – Working in the database office at Artsline BEFORE: Everything was unorganised. A lot of students were worried and unhappy. Placements were last minute. Many people did not get to work in their chosen areas. DURING: I inputted data most of the time. I answered calls. Spoke to the people in the office. Woman in charge of me asked me what I liked, photography, and got me to take shots for their website. Got to do some photography. Learned how to use the franking machine. It wasn’t a place I would have chosen but it was a good experience. AFTER: I went on holiday early so I didn’t complete my journal/diary book for work experience

Lia – Dechert solicitors Before During After - Started well - Nice people, treated me as equal - Back at school - High expectations - Didn’t really take much notice. - Got work experience I wanted - Jobs got tedious - No communication

Liam – Alan Day, Mechanic BEFORE: - Found work experience placement early, no late rush. - Bit nervous just before. DURING: - Better communication skills. - Tiring work, long hours. - Felt I learned a few new useful skills AFTER: - Felt a bit down to return to school. - Felt more determined to do better at school. morale low high

after during Lowly jobs expectations highest before Simon – Snowboarding Shop Flatline, dead boring lowest