6 WOW-ing tips for WOW!
So the time has come for year 11s to go on their WOW experience. Having done it myself last year, let me share some of it with you so that you get more out of your own WOW.
1. Get a placement. Any placement
What I mean by this is that any placement that's remotely similar to what you want to do in the future will be helpful. By this, I mean the nature of the job and not necessarily the subject matter it deals with. If you are looking to work in a specific field, don’t sweat it if you don’t get a placement that's exactly that. At this stage, there probably won’t be that much practical work that your employer will be prepared to give you. Just get a feel for what an office-based job feels like, or what a job that involves a lot of meetings/communication feels like.
2. Prepare to be bored. Chances are you will have down time, where you either aren’t doing much or doing something repetitive, athough the amount will vary from placement to placement. You need to be prepared for these moments and continue to put your best foot forward. After all, giving a good impression and developing a good relationship with your employer is always a good thing. 3. Prevent boredom. I don’t mean that you should bring your phone and start entertaining yourself with selfies or Facebook! Please, don’t do that. I mean that you should do your best to prevent yourself from spending too much time in situations where you do become bored, because you won’t learn anything no matter where you are. If you are asked to do something like stapling paper, filing pages, or replying to emails, do it in as short amount of time as possible. Perhaps this will lead to chances of doing more interesting jobs or shadowing your boss? 4. Observe. Connecting back to the previous points, the most you will get out of this experience is to take this opportunity to see and hear professionals at their job. You most likely will not be able to do exactly what other employees will be doing, since they are more experienced, so pay attention to what they’re doing. Observation is important here because only you know if you can work in a specific type of job in the future. 5. Ask questions. If possible, ask the other employees questions about how they got the job, why they chose it and things like that. It may be nerve wracking but maybe they can give you an idea of what you would need to do in order to get that job. This is useful if you have a placement that you might be interested in doing in the future. But if not, you should ask questions about their daily life, if they enjoy work, etc. It is also important to talk to your employer. They can give you an idea of what work is needed to succeed in that field, or perhaps a deeper understanding of how the industry works. Also, if you don’t understand what you’re supposed to be doing, ask! There is no shame in asking for help. Asking for clarification in order to do a task well is better than doing a task in the wrong way, wasting time and resources. 6. Use Google. Use Google Maps to find out where your placement is! Do this so that you can figure out what transport you can take to get there and back home again. Also, figure out a spot you might be able to have lunch, and know how to get there. After that, find out what your placement actually does, and what might be going on there! This will help you to come up with questions that will help you learn more from your experience.
These are the big things that I learnt from my work experience, hopefully you’ll be able to learn even more with these already down! Good luck to all of you.
By Christie Wong
