Enrichment Week - F.5 Work Experience Programme
This is the fifth year that our school has organized the Work Experience Programme. The programme was held from 2nd July 2 to 8th Julywhich provided a valuable experience to our F.5 students in the job market.
154 students joined the programme and teachers were divided into 5 teams to visit 66 job placements at various locations in Hong Kong. The students had to write a reflection of this experience after the programme. In addition, the mentors assessed students’ work performance on an appraisal form, so students could further develop their strengths and work on their weaknesses. We believe that this workplace training is beneficial for students in choosing their future careers. Katia Dionisio ,Nicole Martin and Sneha were interviewd by Ms. Charmaine Leung and Gery de Guzman (5C) to share their experience.
Sharing by Katia Dionisio and Nicole Martin
Workplace: Raffles International College
Job: Event Organizer & Event Promoter
It is without a doubt that Katia Dionisio and Nicole Martin are the perfect duo to work for Raffles International College, a premier design education provider. The two seem more than happy with their placement and have been enjoying working under the company. “I mainly work with admin people and I feel like they’re kind of like my older siblings,” says Nicole about her employers.
Katia on the other hand has experienced working with those regarded as the highly respected employers in the company. “You have to be more serious and more professional,” advised Katia. The two fashionistas have been satisfied with the workload they have been given throughout the experience. Katia said, “At first I thought it was too much but I then kinda just underestimated myself” but she saw that as an opportunity to gain certain skills from. Both Katia and Nicole were satisfied with the fact that one week was enough to gain experience from. “I think a week gets you the hang of it and the experience,” said Nicole about her satisfaction with the number of days given to work for Raffles. For first-time job appliers, Katia advised them to “never expect anything” while Nicole said to “just keep trying because even though you’re good at school or academic, sports or in other areas, these employers wouldn’t know that.”
Sharing by Sneha Hotchandani
Workplace: Cartus Corporate Relocation Management
Job: Intern for administrative work
Sneha Hotchandani spent a week in Cartus Corporate Relocation Management, the same company where her aunt works, as an intern. Doing Filing, paperwork, and organizing simple tasks. She didn’t mind though, “I like that kind of job.” She said about the duties and work given to her. The employees working for Cartus had been extremely welcoming, especially on Sneha’s first day. “They took me for a welcome lunch so it’s great.” She had been rather shy on the first day and was hesitant to walk around the office. Eventually, she had got to a hang of the work environment after the second day to the extent where she can hold casual conversations with other employees.
By working at Cartus, Sneha had obtained a skill which she has never encountered at school. “I had to work under pressure on the job because I had to fill in these airway bills and they had to be really accurate,” said Sneha. “I was a bit nervous but I got it done correctly so that’s good.” When Sneha gets older, she plans to pursue in business and economics. “But if in the future there is an opportunity for me to continue here I would like to.” When asked what advice Sneha would give to people applying to jobs for the first time, she encourages them to “apply to as many jobs as possible because I tried a few and I guess I should have applied to many more so that at least I can get some for a reply.”
