Thinking Back

When I hear the words 'work placement' my mind tends to go into overdrive and a bit of a panic if I am completely honest. I feel there is not enough of this kind of much needed experience during young peoples times in education nowadays, and that it is something that people would greatly benefit from.


My first example of 'work experience' was the two weeks that you are advised to do during year 10 at school I think it is, and at that age a lot of people have no clue what they want to do, and I think many people just end up in a placement they are not happy with. I think back, everyone comes back after those two weeks and thinks about what they have done, and many people say 'I spent two weeks making tea and doing some filing'.


So on hearing the words 'work experience', I do get myself flustered thinking about:

• Where? Where would be suitable for me to do a placement? What kind of place would I like to go into? Is the location suitable for me?
• Who? What kind of people would I like to be working with? Would they like me? Who  would be a good resource for me to make during a placement?
• How? How do I go about setting up a placement? Do I send emails? Do I make phone calls? How do I make an impression? 

During one of my first tutorials back in February for this module, it became clear that the task ahead was very daunting to me and that there was a lot of things I had to think about first. I had briefly been thinking about what opportunities for work placement would be available to me in the immediate area:

• Schools in the area?
• Regent Theatre?
• Victoria Hall?
• New Vic Theatre in Newcastle?
• Community groups?
• Youth groups?

On my initial meeting with Barbara I discussed these ideas I had about things in the area which may be possible for me to do, and what I would like to do. We both agreed that the New Vic Theatre would be a good point of call as they are well known in the area for having lots of Applied Theatre type sessions, and doing lots of things with different community groups.

Barbara gave me some valuable advise about how to approach people, and come across in the right way:

• Do your research, make sure you know who it is you need to speak to
• Always Plan ahead- when making a phone call make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to say, and what you want the outcome of the phone call to be 
• Try to build a relationship- be approachable and flexible
• Ask if you can visit- some people may be put off by someone asking straight away to do a placement- ask if you can visit and take it form there
• Let them know what you can offer them
• Leave a lasting impression 

I found this information useful as I do get easily stressed when having to make important phone calls. We decided that it would be best for me to find out who I needed to speak to about this at the New Vic Theatre, I knew I wanted to be involved in community drama groups,and this was then my next goal.