Rotherham College Student – my work experience
My name is Charlie Creed, I am 19 years old, and I’m currently studying level 3 business at Rotherham College of Arts & Technology. I have come on work experience with Jackie Cook who is the owner CQ Strategic Marketing so that I can gain some knowledge and have the feel of what it is like in the world of work and in a work place environment. I expected work experience to be boring just like those other times my teachers sent me out on placement but this time it was actually fun, exciting and learnt a lot from it.
This week on work experience had been great. I got to visit manufacturing companies such as Rollem, LBBC Technologies, Red Dog Linings, Newburgh Precision which are CQ’s clients and learnt about what they manufacture, how each of the businesses operates differently to each other. I also got to meet some of the Managing Director’s that told me their story about how they got to where they are today and I now know that with hard work that it is possible to become a business owner.
Jackie took me to University of Huddersfield to a Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) event about business, the speakers taught me about how they got into starting up their own business, CIM qualifications and gave me advice on how to make a CV that stands out to get the employer to notice you.
Before I finish college, I wasn’t sure what I was going to be doing next year and at first I thought spending the week on work experience was a waste because how was that going to help me decide what I was going to do next year. But spending the week on work experience with Jackie had opened my eyes up to the real world. That there are so many opportunities and that there aren’t just one but many other routes such as CIM to take me down my career path into business.
She had also taught me what it’s like to operate in a working environment and that it takes time, dedication, confidence and hard work. I learnt very valuable skills and knowledge which gave me a better understanding of business which I probably wouldn’t have learnt in college. This week was worth it because of how much knowledge I gained but it also gave me a lot to think about and helped me to decide what I am wanting to do next year.