Work experience students... what to do with them?

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Here's the deal. I have a work experience chap shadowing me all day, to find out what I do at work. So far he's seen me post to this board, answer my e-mails, take a long lunch break, and do very little else... Any ideas? I'm worried he's getting the impression that I actually don't do anything...

― Paul Strange, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Do you actually do anything?

― Ed, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ah, but yesterday, he got to see you meet Meatloaf, Bob Geldorf and Chris Rea, and nearly lose your firm two major clients in the process! Surely that was exciting enough for him!

― masonic boom, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Two words: "work experience" — don't understand the problem

― mark s, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Isn't there some kind of busy work you could give him, and dress it up as something very important and interesting?

― Nicole, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Usually I'm very busy, and yesterday I did get to introduce my work experience person to Chris Rea. I've been with all sorts of famous (and not so famous) people of varying degrees of annoyance all week, but today I'm in the office with very little to actually do. Still, get to see Tom Jones tomorrow...

Maybe I should be honest, and explain that work is basically killing time for the day whilst being paid. And that he's getting good experience of that.

Oh, and you don't want to know what my job is, if you don't already. I'll lose all indie-cred I ever had (which isn't much)...

― Paul Strange, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I have him summarising cases at the moment, by the way. The work was so menial I had to buy him a drink to compensate...

― Paul Strange, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Dammit, Paul, you're just not getting the office politics of your workplace! Instead of being nice to him, you should realise that you've finally found someone lower on the totem pole and treat him like shite! Lock him in the deeds cupboard... or, erm, the media equivalent thereof.

Tom Jones, wooo. Better than Stuart Murdoch anyday, eh?

― masonic boom, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Are Stuart and Iris Murdoch related?

How come every Scottish band has a grumpy one called Stuart in?

― chris, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Get your work experiencee to go and post some 'urgent' letters or photocopying, it'll make them feel important (like Nicole said) and get them out of your hair!

― james e l, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I've sent him off to deliver a document. Problem solved.

Bit worried tomorrow. My work experience student is the boss' daughter. Have to look really busy then...

― Paul Strange, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

You could always shag the boss's daughter and REALLY get in trouble...

No, wait, I didn't say that. Even THINK about shagging the boss's daughter and I'll Bobbit you. ;-)

― masonic boom, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The funniest Bobbit-related quote I ever heard was from a female friend in college:

"Who in their right minds would cut off their husband's dick? I mean, I'm not trying to cut off something that I could use."

― Dan Perry, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

There is no way I would sleep with my boss's daughter. Like, lose my job and my significant other in one go?! She's probably a monster if she's directly related to my boss, too...

― Paul Strange, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

So clearly, Paul, you need to persuade Meat Loaf to sleep with your boss's daughter. Hilarious consequences!

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Thank you, Ned. Paul will now wonder why there is coffee spat all over his nice, pristine monitor.

― masonic boom, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I aim to bring merriment into a sad, grey world. ;-)

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh, I thought that was doompatrol's job. ;-)

― masonic boom, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh dear god. Never has someone so thought they were funny when in fact they are so clearly NOT.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

No, but he is actually HYSTERICAL because he believes so fervently that he is funny, when in all truth he is not. Remind me when you are in the UK, to make me tell you the rabbit and the cold coffee joke.

― masonic boom, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The only time I thought he was really funny was when he threatened to ruin Robin's career. WTF?

― Nicole, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I thought it was Mark S that he was threatening. But yeah, hysterical either way.

― Patrick, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

He said I gave my English tutor his single moment of happiness in the university toilet. Kind of sweet, really.

― mark s, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

They got me licking envelopes when i did work experince
Biggest Gallery in town, and all they could do was get me to stuff enevolpes
But i ended up seeing the vaults so it wasnt aful. Do you have an interesting off limits to the public place ?
Bring them their .

― anthony, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

briing in an emergency services radio to your office and get him to monitor the conversations in case something newsworthy happens; either that, or give him 10 bucks and tell him to go and find the most dispicable novel he can find - tell him john grisham and barbara bradford don't count, and tell him you don't want to see his ass, unless it's anked, back before two hours are up...and get him to make you strong coffee.

― Geoff, Friday, 29 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Paul's not in the office today. He's taken the work experience student to meet Tom Jones. Paul was doing his Tom Jones impression this morning while getting dressed, and I was worried because it sounded EXACTLY like the John Cale impression he'd been doing the night before.

THEN he told me that Tom Jones was just the pop John Cale and I chased him out the house with a meat cleaver. Humph.

― masonic boom, Friday, 29 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Well, they *are* both Welsh. So you're going to have to accept that fact. ;-)

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 29 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

ah, yes, nicole. thanks for reminding me of that. the threat to 'crush' robins career, was, like you say, wtf?

― gareth, Friday, 29 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Unfortunately at the moment I wonder where my career has gone, though I don't think DP had any role in the process.

― Robin Carmody, Friday, 29 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Tom Jones is the Welsh Fonz. I have proof of this.

Friday night (after dashing in a taxi halfway across town in an attempt to prove to Paul's boss that yes, he had been working, and had not been at the B&S show at all, oh not him) we were standing in the wings of that silly charity Lieber and Stoller tribute thing, watching Tom Jones wrap his tonsils around Kansas City. The moment he got offstage, he went running up to Paul, addressed him with a huge "HEEEEYYYYYY!!!" Fonz stylee then dashed off again in the direction of backstage.

Tom Jones = Welsh Fonz.

He is a very large man. Scarily large. Elton John, however, is a midget, I swear. OK, this should all be over on the "random celebrities you have met" thread, but it was at Paul's job, so I'll put it on the Paul's Job thread instead.

― masonic boom, Sunday, 1 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

seven months pass...

Don't fancy giving me a work experience placement at your law firm do you? I am serious, y'know.

― David, Saturday, 2 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

two years pass...

Is it a no no to make work experience students do your filing for you? I mean, it won't exactly show her the inner workings of the organisation, but it will give her an idea of something we have to do a lot of in this line of work...

(That and pootling around on ILx of course.)

― Archel (Archel), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 12:01 (twenty-one years ago)

I really don't want to do the filing...

― Archel (Archel), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 12:07 (twenty-one years ago)

No, I think that's a very good idea.

If I had a work experience student *with a car*, I would get them to do my filing for me because it involves driving a mile and a half down the road to our other building.

― MarkH (MarkH), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 12:07 (twenty-one years ago)

get them to post on ILX for you.

― Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 12:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Curses. Someone else has nabbed her for photocopying duty :/

― Archel (Archel), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 12:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Damn right you should make them do the filing.

Also, get them to make any phone calls. It's a confidence-booster for them (as well as one less thing you have to do).

― robster (robster), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 12:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I know have visions of Archel and her colleague FIGHTING over the work experience student.

― MarkH (MarkH), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 12:12 (twenty-one years ago)

We had a kid who didn't want to answer the phones. (And not for the whole time.. just if no one else was free.) He said, "I'm here to learn about [work] not be a glorified secretary." He was let go on his first day. Lesson #1 about [work]: Do what the boss asks you to do, mkay?

― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 12:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Wow. I would never have had the balls to say that during my work experience. He will go far.

(Update: colleague with the alleged photocopying need has gone AWOL, leaving a hovering WE girl with again nothing to do. Maybe I will gazump him.)

― Archel (Archel), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 12:38 (twenty-one years ago)

It's a confidence-booster for them

when i was put on the phones at my first internship it pretty much smashed any remaining confidence i had to shreds ("what do you mean you don't know how to transfer a call? what kind of idiots do they have working here?").

― stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 12:40 (twenty-one years ago)

i was 17.

― stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 12:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, receiving calls for the first time in a work environment is terrifying. My suggestion was more to do with outbound-call type stuff.

― robster (robster), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 12:48 (twenty-one years ago)

If they program in JAVA have them clean up all the imports.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 12:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I find a really good thing to do with them is to give them a shadowing/consultancy job. Namely - watch what I do and make suggestions about what would mke my life easier. Then drop hints like "I wish someone would do the filing/data entry/tidying/photocopying" - they soon get the hint and don't mind cos they think they thought of it themselves.

― Pete (Pete), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 13:07 (twenty-one years ago)

*reads upthread* Ah yes, I remember this thread.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 13:19 (twenty-one years ago)

I draw up a schedule for my work experience kids.

Monday - Break spirit.
Tuesday - Crush youthful enthusiasm.
etc

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 19:46 (twenty-one years ago)

I have a stack of filing a foot high im waiting for a summer clerk to have the time to file.

― bill stevens (bscrubbins), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 23:32 (twenty-one years ago)

five years pass...

how old is too old to do work experience? been wondering if i should do some work exp somewhere for work prospects but feel a bit too old (late 20s) for this shit (cf danny glover). esp when i already have paid exp in this field. prob need to swallow some pride.

― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Tuesday, 12 January 2010 17:16 (fifteen years ago)

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