A Week in the life of Virtual Work Experience
Last week saw the pilot of “Global Youth Construct” – an international virtual work experience pilot delivered by Bristol WORKS, Bell Group UK and Black Professionals in Construction. It was a fantastic week filled with industry talks, live Q and A’s, skills development sessions and the opportunity to undertake a project as teams bringing together students from the UK with students from overseas. Rather than take our word for it, we would like to share blogs written by two fantastic students who participated in this week long programme.
Kirah is a 15 year old student. Read her blog post below.
Hey, I’m Kirah. I had the amazing opportunity to attend virtual work experience with Bell Group UK. During the week, I had met some very nice people and I was welcomed by lovely mentors. Initially, I had no interest in the construction industry, but Bell Group had made an inspiring impact on me and my future career plans.
The first day was the hardest, but once its over things tend to get easier. I found myself very shy when I first started. For me, it can take me awhile to get used to a new environment, but the mentors all played a part in making me feel more comfortable. Monday taught me to be brave, and just put yourself out there because once you’ve gotten past introductions, things normally become way easier. Monday was filled with introductions to ease into the week.
Tuesday went by quicker and mostly because I felt less anxious to talk and to get involved more. I participated in some activities and one I remember well was the speed interviews. This gave me a chance to practice my interview skills one on one, with one of the mentors. At first, I wasn’t that keen on the idea, until I was being asked the questions, I didn’t feel pressured at all. This experience taught me two great skills. To be a good listener and engage in what’s going on and to speak out and just be myself.
On Wednesday, I felt completely myself. I was asking and answering more questions and I found myself to be more inquisitive. We all had the chance to ask Craig Bell, who is the CEO of Bell Group UK, a series of questions about his role. It was interesting to have an insight on what he does, and the things he has achieved and things he is yet to achieve. It was a refreshing experience.
The main project was focused on throughout the week. This project brought out many skills from me and my peers who I was working with. I felt more confident, and we all worked as a team to come together with a finished product. This taught me to be creative and to come up with ideas. It also brought out the competitive side that I had in me.
Thanks to Bell Group, I now know who I want to be and what I need to achieve to become that person. I am so grateful that I was able to be a part of this work experience and I hope that I can be a part of this wonderful company in the future.
We are so pleased the pilot ran well and it could not have run as successfully if it wasn’t for the hard work, dedication and creativity of colleagues from Bell Group in making this happen! Likewise, the students were fantastic ambassadors and representatives of both themselves and the school. We will be looking to pilot future virtual work experience programmes and would love to share learning from this with other organisations. If you are an employer who would like to hear more or a student who would love to take up such an opportunity in the future, then please email WORKS@bristol.gov.uk