Matthew reflecting on his traineeship work experience placement
Matthew joined the Traineeship programme this summer and after completing his Level 1 in Workskills he joined the Ixion marketing team to complete his placement and learn more about marketing.
Find out how is first week went below!
“I have learned to be more confident with the work I’m given, to also feel better at doing some independent work and getting it done on time.”
My background
I am 23 year old, and wasn’t working before joining the programme. I had previously worked in jobs for around 1-2 months and my goal is to help people, for them to feel motivated and confident enough the get the help they need to get into work.
I started the traineeship programme in the summer, where I completed six weeks online training, going through various workbooks, how to make a CV, how to look for work through social media, interview preparation and how to be more confident in situations when you’re looking for work.
I obtained the Level 1 in Work Skills.
I was referred by my support manager, and I didn’t know anything about traineeships before I started.
My first week
Before I started the work experience placement I was in email contact with my new manager, Emma, she reassured me about starting the placement as I felt nervous and didn’t want to let anyone down. On my first day we went through my daily routine of start and end times and breaks and lunchtime. We also talked about what I wanted to learn and achieve during my placement.
Day 1 – My first task was to organise a calendar of key dates to support what the company does for special events which I really enjoyed. After my lunch, I met Steven as he was teaching me how to create posters on their design system, and I assisted in making a flyer for some events. At the end of day one I had learnt how to use new software – it was fun to do and to learn new things.
Day 2 – I was working and handling things on my own a bit more and I also had to prep questions for an interview that I had to do with one of the team members in the company. I met David who is in charge of making podcasts, putting articles and blogs on social media, and who proof-reads everything. He helped me in making some questions for the interview and was all up for new ideas for questions – this also showed him that I had a fresh mind for new ideas for future projects.
Day 3 -I did my first staff interview. This was with Pete, and he was my tutor for the traineeship course for 6 weeks before I started my work experience as a trainee. I had to get to know Pete by asking various questions so the audience could read about him and what he enjoyed in his role and get to know him more. We recorded the interview and I had to look through the transcript and made sure it all made sense for the audience to read and to make it as tidy as possible.
Day 4 – I finished off the transcript ready to add online and post to all social medias that Ixion used. I spent most of the morning double checking everything on the transcript. I was also asked to search for an image that was Pete’s favourite animal and the song that represents his time with Ixion. With all that work coming together, I worked with Emma to make an image for social media sharing, and I also wrote the text that was shared on social media. We were then confident and ready to post it online. I felt happy about this as it was such a big achievement for me, and I felt so proud to have the support for this work and the encouragement from the team. Read the interview with Pete Middleton here.
Day 5 – I started writing this article about my first week in my traineeship, and helped a little more with the poster and added a few new events on the calendar.
I’m so happy that the marketing team took me on as a trainee, and I’ve enjoyed every moment of it.
What skills I learnt at the end of week one
I have learned to be more confident with the work I’m given, to also feel better at doing some independent work and getting it done on time.
I have also learned to communicate with people and work mates, new design skills such as making posters and writing posts for social media and to feel happy in what I’ve achieved.
I have written business emails, using video calls to do teamwork and check work. I have also used some online programmes that I have never used before.
How I feel at the end of week one
I see the team as mentors and friends that have helped me find a place where I can have fun, create my own projects and share ideas to promote. To be given that freedom to have fun at work and to enjoy the work is amazing.
“I see the team as mentors and friends that have helped me find a place where I can have fun, create my own projects and share ideas to promote. To be given that freedom to have fun at work and to enjoy the work is amazing.”