Emma's Work Placement

Ford & Etal Estates, Heatherslaw 2008

On the 31^st March I started my work placement at Ford and Etal estates.  I woke up feeling nervous but excited at the same time, although the excitement overpowered my nervousness I was looking forward to the experience.

I arrived not knowing what the day had in store for me as this was my first taste of a real job, talk about nerves! I went into the office my mouth all dry not knowing what to say. Elspeth the head of tourism introduced me to the shop manager Marlyn and gave me my first job which was to check all the leaflets display units for the local attractions were filled up and that the visitor centre was clean and tidy.

By this time it was around 10.30am and I had my induction which included Health and Safety, which it is fair to say is common sense e.g. in manual handling, not carrying to many boxes down the stairs. I was then introduced to the rest of the staff in the area. My afternoon consisted of photocopying documents, guillotining posters, answering the phone, making spreadsheets and typing letters.

This is what most of the first week consisted of, and I have to admit I could have done better at answering the phone or when you’re talking to possible customers and trying to promote the attraction.

My second week was almost similar to the first except we needed hoover bags and we didn’t know what kind we needed so we took the whole hoover with us to Wooler and we trundled up and down the High Street with a hoover on wheels just like the one in the teletubbies. Week Two was also my first time seeing how the Estate dealt with groups as it was the ‘Daffodil Walk’ to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care and I saw how all of the staff were great dealing with the public and I learned so much from them.

Week three saw a new person employed to work in the visitor centre so I didn’t have to top up the more relaxed and becoming better every time I was given a job to do which is great confidence wise and my confidence was slowly building up every day.

In the fourth week a new element came into the day, engaging with visitors to the centre and dealing with their enquiries. At first I wasn’t so keen and when the first person came in and asked a question my mind just overcrowded with words, so it came out all mumbled and rushed, almost if someone was talking a different language. I couldn’t even properly understand what I was saying so they probably didn’t either. Not a good start.

By the fifth week and my confidence on the phone was growing and I became much more relaxed. I had lost the hesitant tone I had been using replacing it with a bouncy, upbeat voice.

The final week went just as fast as the others, maybe too fast. Like being on a rollercoaster, one minute you’re at the beginning saying I don’t want to do this,  next you’re at the bottom saying that was great let’s do it again. By the end of the week I had gained so much confidence in talking to the visitors and would talk to them without giving it a second thought.

I’ve loved every minute of the work placement and would do it all again if I had the chance. I have gained so much from being at Ford and Etal Estates especially in terms of my confidence, also in talking to people, answering the phone and enhancing my computer skills. This work placement has helped me make up my mind on what I want to do with my career in the future.

Back to Top