D2
Evaluate own development of transferable business skills
When I received my work placement, I was overjoyed because my chosen career path is to work in PR and my placement was to be at a PR Agency. I entered with a positive attitude that I would work my utmost best to leave an excellent impression in the hope that I would be able to contact them in the future.
Referring to one of my transferable skills that I already had, I wanted to always bring a sense of energy with me to the work placement to show my employer that I had a strong interest. On my first day they asked that I could steam the products that the photographers were to use as part of an online brand. This I was a little surprised as I didn’t know that it was part of my job role working in PR, but then again I knew little about that sector so I took any work with an open mind and made sure that whatever was given to me that I was always enthusiastic and happy to do the work they required me to complete.
One skill that I used consistently throughout the 3 weeks that I was on placement, was that I was inquisitive and asked several questions when I wasn’t sure about a job or just to confirm that I was to perform the job correctly. This became one of my positive aspects of going to that particular agency, as my colleagues were always happy to explain and even when I thought I was becoming a nuisance they reassured me that it showed that I was eager to understand and that they would have preferred me to ask rather than make a poor judgement and not perform to good standard.
A factor that I was very appreciative of at my work placement was its location. It required me to venture out of my comfort zone, especially as when I hear of a new place I assume the worst that I will not be able to get there. It required me to become more street wise and use my existing knowledge of the over ground. This may not be the most impressive achievement but it helped me know more about my destination and for future job placements.
One thing that may have affected my performance at my placement was my colleague’s attitudes towards each other which left an uncomfortable atmosphere for me. Despite saying above that they were willing to explain, other than that they weren’t very friendly and were not interested in me as a person, they ignored me the entire time I was there apart from when they needed me to do something. I felt very isolated, it is a small agency with only 6 people and they had close relationships that offered no room for anyone else. The agency was more laidback than I predicted and this sometimes led them to be unprofessional, which gave me a negative image into what other PR companies would be like. This helped me to apply one of my skills which was to be prepared that people like things done a certain way, which was true in this case as most of my colleagues were perfectionists. Unfortunately because of their attitude towards me I often resented the work they asked me to do, I didn’t want to go out of my way to help people who weren’t appreciative, and I didn’t enjoy having that attitude towards them or even attending the placement.
Overall I think my work placement taught me to not have high expectations of what to expect when starting somewhere new. I can’t expect everyone to be instantly welcoming much to my dismay, and I shouldn’t take it as personally. This will definitely be a transferable skill that I can take with me anywhere, and to know that not every company is the same, there is no comparison. Looking back it is always my performance that matters the most above anything, and this was definitely a learning curve.