Jenny’s Work Experience

    

My name is Jenny and I am 22 years old.

I would like to tell you what I have been doing since leaving school.

I did a few work experiences – at Grundfos pumps, Gentoo and Portland College café. I really enjoyed Gentoo because I met some new people and got to know them. I made friends with them. I had my own desk and I worked with big maps, sent emails and the post. I felt that I was useful and doing a really good job. I felt proud.

I was a bit nervous to start with but now I feel more confident and now I feel less nervous when I start new things.

At Grundfos pumps I was nervous at first meeting more new friends and getting to know them but they were really nice and we had a great laugh. It was an amazing huge place with a lot of machines but I soon got used to it.

At Portland College café at first I still felt nervous serving food and different kinds of coffee. I chopped vegetables and stirred the hot food so I learned about working safely. I put tablecloths and cutlery and napkins on the tables and made sure everything looked nice. We had a great laugh together and we got to have a talk as we worked.

At Sunderland Royal hospital I got a place on Project Choice and my first placement was in the pharmacy. When I heard I was going there I was a bit nervous and shy. I was very happy when I was working there. I did shredding, photocopying, the pods, and I took the drugs to the patients on the ward – I felt really, really nervous about that but because I had somebody with me I was fine. Now I know how important that job was I really feel proud of myself. I made lots of good friends there and I still get invited to their nights out and parties. All of the girls and the boys are really nice and they all say hello when I see them around the hospital, but some of them support Newcastle and we joke about that. I learned how to travel independently and I feel happy and confident when I use the bus. I could not do this when I was at school and I feel more grown up that I can travel home and let myself in with my own front door key.

On Ward B21 I had lovely mentors they helped me to feel confident quickly. I was still a bit nervous and shy but my boss Carol was really nice. With my mentor Gemma we served tea and coffees, breakfast, hoovered, damp dusted the bed bays, mopped the floors and worked in the office with Emma. I talked to the patients and I think they liked to have me to talk to. Some patients were deaf and I know sign language so I could talk to them when the nurses couldn’t. I helped a man called Malcolm who supports Newcastle. I helped the nurses do the beds and I learned how to check how many times the patients breathed in a minute, I opened the doors for the patients. The people on B21 made me feel like I was doing an important job. I felt really proud and my confidence was really high.

Then I went to the Pathology lab and was an apprentice for a year. In 2012 I was interviewed for a permanent part time job at Band 1 which I was successful at, and now work five days a week part time. I have a list of tasks which I can perform independently although am still close to my mentors who I love working with. I’m so proud of myself to have a job – I really like working and being busy, it keeps me out of trouble! All the girls are nice in the lab – the boys are too. I’m getting to know everyone and having talks with the boys as well as the girls. I’ve got a lovely boss and everybody takes care of me and makes sure I’m alright. I’m doing a very important job in the lab – receiving patients’ samples through the pod and getting them straight to the scientists. I get the samples ready for the machines and I take them off the machines and cap them. I’m helping train Chris – a project choice intern and Caitlin, a work experience student – I show them that there’s no need to be nervous. I follow the rules in the lab so that I’m safe and if I’m stuck I ask for help.

I received a bouquet of flowers from the hospital trust in recognition of being one of the first students to gain a job through the project choice programme, whist attending our annual prom.

I also work as an ambassador for Project Choice, promoting the programme through my experiences, and have learnt to present to groups of people about my experiences. I found this stressful at first but now feel confident about this and have done it lots of times.

One of the best bits of the job of ambassador has been going to awards ceremonies. Even better that we seem to win a lot, and I usually collect the award on stage with Stephanie (project choice co-ordinator) and my mentors in my prom dress.

I have had amazing times since starting my works experience and have fulfilled my ambition of getting a permanent job (and the money is great too).

This year 2013 I won National learner of the year for work in Adult Learners week. I went to London for a big award ceremony and was presented with a certificate it was amazing (my knees were shaking), I met the MP for Sunderland and was given a tour of the houses of parliament all on the same day!!!

But the best bit is coming back and doing my job.