Work experience

Someone I know, I will not name them to save their embarrassment, is considering a career change and has sought out some work experience to see if their preferred choice would suit them. 

I am full of admiration for what they are doing. Accepting that where you are in your career is not where you would like to be is one thing, many of us have been at that point, but making a determined choice to do something about it is another. It is a brave move and as you get older it becomes a more and more difficult thing to do. Not that they are old.

Yet today, there is no guarantee of a life-long career. Many of us, me included, have had to make a change later in life and it is likely that this will become much more common. Perhaps we will all be working in the so-called gig economy and will look back on the latter half of the last century as either a utopia or a period of highly restrictive working practices.

That they sought out some work experience was an act of genius. We tend to think of this as something that school children do, two weeks of wasted holiday for dissolute and disinterested teenagers who have no concept of work nor really understand what it is they want to do in life. Who does at that age?

It is also a huge feather in the cap of the organisation that took them on. It is as brave a decision for them as well though I suspect that having someone who has some experience of work and some idea that this is what they want will make a much more interesting participant. They offered four days of work experience over a month.

This is something that all of us should do and all companies should offer. Many of us dream of doing other jobs yet never have the opportunity to see if it would fit with our skills and interests. If you are unhappy with your lot and think there are better options, why not give it a try before you make that huge commitment?

I will never know if I was cut out to be an engine driver.