This weeks blog is written by 16-Year Old Aaron McCarthy, who has just completed his 2 week work placement with Expect Talent.
"I remember the day when Samantha Rathling, a local Entrepreneur, came into my business class at Coláiste an Spioraid Naoimh (local School here in Cork) and taught us about the ins and outs of business. She told us the history of her recruitment company Expect Talent and shared secrets to her success.
Four months later, and I have just finished two weeks of work experience with Expect Talent. My honest opinion? It was absolutely class. Stepping into the office for the first time was like entering a new world. I have always wanted to be in charge of my own company when I’m older but, the thing is, I had absolutely no idea of what an office even looked like.
I expected to see grey walls, kind of a warehouse type building and very little sunlight. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Stepping into the Expect Talent office really was like stepping into a new world. While the employees were hard at work, they seemed to work in a sort of relaxed manner. This surprised me, but in a good way. Throughout the two weeks, I realised just how friendly everybody seemed to be. There is a really great team spirit at Expect and I was delighted to be part of it.
But, it wasn’t just the laissez-faire setup that made me love Expect. I mean, on the first day alone, I partook in an online BNI conference with people from all over the world; from America to Japan to Dubai Dubai , I had thought Dubai Dubai
The following day, I went to a local BNI meeting; this time in Silversprings Hotel. Again, I found that this was a real eye-opener. I wasn’t even here two days and I had already decided that I liked working better than I liked school. So much for the seven dwarves complaining about having to go to work all the time!
During the two weeks, my principal role was to search for candidates for companies and I worked on a brand new online project. It was really quite amazing. I also did internet research. I also listened in when Margaret, a Talent Manager was interviewing a candidate, after which I wrote up a candidate profile. Most people don’t get to see the other side of the interviewing panel. I was learning all the trade secrets!
During the second week I went to a large multinational client, a huge call centre!! Incredible to see the size of the companies that Expect Talent works with. On the second Thursday, Expect had their annual strategy day, which started with us watching "The Secret", a philosophy which Samantha the Managing Director lives and breathes by. We then had to apply what we had learnt and set our personal goals and dreams for 2011 on paper. Then Samantha outlined the plan for 2011 and the team contributed with ideas and analysis on moving the company forward.
Today, we had “Friday club” and went out for something to eat locally as a team. It was delicious! I also did an video email with Samantha. It was my first video email, my first time with a webcam to be exact, and I found it really cool.
To put how great I found this placement down into words would be very, very difficult. I learnt more from these two weeks than I arguably did during my whole time at secondary school. I had a brilliant time. I was given many chances of a lifetime; from online conferences to trips to huge companies. I got involved with the start up of an online business, the list goes on...
I did a lot of work but had a great time doing it. The team were great, Samantha was great and everybody was fantastic to work with. I had an amazing time and learnt many things that will help me with my future plans. All in all, I loved my time at Expect Talent. But, as I said, it is very difficult to put into words how fantastic I found this work placement. I suppose, the only short and concise sentence that will work is: It was class! Thank you Samantha and the team."
Aaron McCarthy, Aged 16
No comments:
Post a Comment