School Based Trainee

Bob brings up a good point. I think a lot comes down to engagement of the person and the task at hand.

When I did work experience I did one week in a restaurant and one week at the local pathology lab. The week in the restaurant was spent washing dishes and nothing else. I didn't learn anything and certainly didn't know by the end of the week what it would be like to be an apprentice chef. The lab was awesome - each day I spent in a different section learning what each job entailed and got hands on experience with a whole heap of different tasks and was taught along the way.

At the end of the two weeks guess which profession I preferred....

 

Your experience of a path lab was better than mine... checking in samples of sick peoples urine, faeces, other bodily fluids... I was supposed to be there for a week but I had enough and I didnt bother to turn up for the last 2 days... I also did a week at the Blood Bank and that was interesting, with experience in the office side, the cafe and in the lab but I realised the scientists only had to make sure the machinery worked and could read the barcodes on the test tubes... otherwise they were just talking about receipes for dinner.

 

I'm sorry, @Kinnon Bell, but I really had a little giggle at your post. You preferred the lab……so how on earth did you end up as finance broker?! That's a massive change in career choices.

 

I had similar too but was expecting all the gross stuff and the admin stuff. What possibly made it different was spending time with the pathologists and scientists and looking at the samples and them showing me "this is what a liver looks like when it has cancer" or "this is what lungs look like of a pack a day smoker" or "this is a golden staf infection under the microscope" and going into the science behind it.

Ha, yes, bit of a difference! I have issues being succinct but I'll try! Got accepted into uni to do bachelor of Science with a major in microbiology with the intent of of becoming a forensic scientist. But due to circumstances at the time I didn't end up going to uni and worked retail for a few years then owned my own dog grooming business.

I had always been interested in property and always said growing up I want to buy old houses and do them up. It wasn't until I bought my first property and used a broker did I think that job would be pretty cool but didn't really do anything about it. I started working for a bank in my mid 20's and did my RG146 compliance (kind of related to financial planning) and found that fascinating (which started the spark) so then did the diploma of financial planning for fun while doing Lending at the bank and realised I had found my calling and happy place. Frustrated by the lack of options for my customers ie sorry you don't fit the banks policy, the end, I realised it was time to pull my finger out and become a broker so then my clients could have a plethora of options. So here I am! I occasionally have a 'what if' moment where I wonder what life would have been like had I have gone down the other path/s but certainly no regrets as I love what I do now.

I still love cooking and all things science but it's just a hobby now and not career which is OK with me!

 

Thank you to everybody for the input. I have made the husband and our Factory manager read through your responses. We have decided to make time on a Monday morning to organise a work plan for the trainee when we comes in on a Wednesday. It most certainly will not be all sweeping floors.

I will make hubby and factory manager sit in with the RTO guy when he comes out too, so we can work out which jobs relate to each module. that way we can make sure the work is done for the completion target at 6 months.

 

Your 'start' sounds as disjointed as mine. My dad had me enrolling in a Bachelor of IT, but I enrolled in a Bachelor of Applied Science (Textiles Technology) - which I quit after 3 months - and then went on to become a high school maths teacher. And I also happened to do a week of work experience in a lab - but mine was in an R&D lab for creams, bases etc to be used for cosmetic, medical, and commercial functions.

And, just for kicks, I'm currently working on the last 2 assignments in my Dip FinPlan. Not sure if/how I'd turn it into a career change, though (while I love working with $$$ and planning/organising stuff, this past year has taught me that I don't have the same energy in my 40's that I had in my 20's).

 

That's a great start @moyjos - the RTO guy will really appreciate your time and effort in trying to ensure that the workplace competencies can be 'ticked off the list', too.

 

No - just know from experience as an employer, and also running an RTO

 

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