School Work Experiences

[Hedgecutter]

Overheard some folk talking about their school work experience earlier (sweeping up hair at a barbers), which had me reminiscing about my own experience, but more importantly being a nosey beggar about what you lot did.

 

I had the luxury of being able to rank preferences based on subject. Adding chemistry first, I pulled a lab technician role at Longannet Power Station (gone but not forgotten). Being no way near qualified in H&S for any of the lab work at all, I learned only how to play Solitaire on Windows 95 whilst in the lab, maybe punching numbers into a spreadsheet for half an hour of a week.

 

What Scottish Power had failed to inform the school about however was that it was also the technician's job to head out and collect samples to be analysed. This had me out and about taking pH levels from the ash pits around the Forth and various dubious nooks and crannies around the power station itself, but more entertainingly going down into the adjacent deep mine networks (that were to close in the next year or so), taking numerous samples from the coal face. They had all the spare PPE from the exception of the full piece suit to get dirty, but the guys evidently thought it would be good to send me down in one of the white lab coats for a laugh.

 

Anyway, what form of slave labour were you forced into in the name of education?

[ICTChris]

I did my work experience at the Press and Journal in Inverness.  I went around with reporters, went to court, went to a few photo ops, went to an auction where they reported on the sell off of some BT mini-exchanges.  I wrote a couple of stories and got paid for them.  It was great.

[Cardinal Richelieu]

I had a brilliant work experience, mainly because I organised it myself. 

Spent two weeks at the Ulster Newsletter... made a fair few cups of tea, but also got to interview a couple of celebrities - Phil Coulter and far more importantly Dannii Minogue. My fluff piece on her visit to Belfast even appeared on the front page under my name. 

Edit: Never got paid like ICTChris. Now I'm raging. 

[Widge]

Worked for a week in an architects firm, first morning in, bumped into my uncle who I never even knew was an architect let alone worked there and suddenly I got better jobs to do. Learnt to play about on CAD, visited site meetings and folded a lot of A0 drawings. Think I got about £50 at the end of the week, which was quite nice.

[DA Baracus]

As I recall we had to put down 3 choices, in order of preference. Think my first choice was 'sport's centre', can't remember what the second choice was and for a laugh put 'bakery' down for the third choice.

Of course I ended up in the Asda St Leonard's bakery. Dull, pish and an utter waste of time. I learned such vital skills as how to put muffin mix in to the trays then put the trays in the oven and how to put raw doughnuts in to the fryer. I didn't even get any free samples and obviously didn't get paid. Were I not a bit of a pussy when I was younger I would have just not went.

The only good thing was a free bacon roll each morning in the staff canteen. But as I said, a colossal waste of time.

[List_of_Jericho]

IT Department at the local Council, it was brutal.

[Sergeant Wilson]

12 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

As I recall we had to put down 3 choices, in order of preference. Think my first choice was 'sport's centre', can't remember what the second choice was and for a laugh put 'bakery' down for the third choice.

Of course I ended up in the Asda St Leonard's bakery. Dull, pish and an utter waste of time. I learned such vital skills as how to put muffin mix in to the trays then put the trays in the oven and how to put raw doughnuts in to the fryer. I didn't even get any free samples and obviously didn't get paid. Were I not a bit of a pussy when I was younger I would have just not went.

The only good thing was a free bacon roll each morning in the staff canteen. But as I said, a colossal waste of time.

 

[nsr]

I ended up in the Finance dept of the public sector organisation where my mum worked. I don't think anyone actually knew I was coming and it took them a couple of days to give me anything to do. I discovered QBasic.exe on one of the computers and programmed some games to keep myself amused.

[Gaz]

Mate's mum owned a shop. I 'arranged' to 'work' in the shop for a week and stayed at home on the PlayStation all week. Got a glowing report as well. Good times

[Waspy]

Worked for a week with a car crash investigation company. Spent the week out and about with a trundle wheel measuring tyre marks on the road. Spent one afternoon working on a case with a drink driver, he had killed a young lass after she had ran out from behind a bus. I think he got a few years in jail at the end of it. Think I got £25 at the end of the week, which was alright going by what the rest of my class received.

 

 

 

[DA Baracus]

39 minutes ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

 

No, that's not Asda

[Billy Jean King]

A week on the pictures desk of a major UK porn mag........................I also watched far too many episodes of the Inbetweeners !!!!

[Dosser-fae-the-shire]

Motherwell Trading Standards. It was brilliant. First day got a box of videos and we had to see if they were on a list of legal/illegal films. Got to watch a cartoon called "Mushroom Magic" and an educational film called "Emmanuel and the black sex slaves". Another day we had to go to some gypsy place and they set the dogs on us as soon as they saw us. Got to the car safely though. I don't even remember why we were visiting them. A great week.

[Tommy Nooka]

I did a week in the testing lab at the Hoover factory in Cambuslang. By the end I could take a Hoover apart and put it back together again with only a few screws left over, a very productive week. I think I also got paid £20 or something but that was clearly just out of my 'mentors' own pocket.

[EdgarusQPFC]

I bullshitted that I had something lined up and instead spent the week sleeping instead, it was great

[Venti]

Got mine in the IT dept in IBM Greenock.

Was before Google when Lycos was the search engine. Just fannied about on the internet. They had a Pizza Hut in their canteen which was pretty cool.

[flyingscot]

I did work experience at Glasgow Airport. Actually was good, shadowed the aircraft maintenance guys for a week and they let you get involved. You'd never get to do that now for security reasons I guess. 

We get work experience kids in our office fairly regularly, so we have a programme of stuff for them to do. Feel sorry for them as it's not exactly exciting work. Some just sit bored out their minds, but the occasional kid really enjoys it. 

[tamthebam]

I did mine in a solicitors' office. Ended up in the post room so I know how to fold a letter into an envelope and use a franking machine. Was taken up to the High Court to see a Civil case involving maintenance. One of the witnesses, a bird from Bradford, started chatting me up - it must have been the cut of my second hand suit that swayed her!

I later went out with a bird from the post room. Miserable cow

[DI Bruce Robertson]

Mine was pretty decent to be honest.
Long lies every day, got food preparation & retail sales experience, including up-sell.
"Do you want a pickled onion/ egg with that" was quite easy tbh.
I loved my time in the chipper- free meal at the end of the night, which consisted of whatever was left over, one night I had 3 steak pies, 2 mock chops, 2 king ribs & a heap of chips.
Mmmmm chips.

[Honest Saints Fan]

The Winter Garden cafe at Crieff Hydro. Absolutely shite but did get free cake and juice. Was also allowed to leave at 2pm every day. Wasn't allowed to keep tips though.