Placement overview
Name: Jack
Vocational area: IT
Duration: 4 weeks
Location: Vancouver, Canada
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It will help me stand out during job applications; having the chance to travel the world and complete work experience is a once in a life time opportunity and shows initiative, drive and independence.
The motivation
I believed that having the opportunity to gain an experience such as travelling abroad, meeting new people and gaining new skills would assist me with my independence and work experience. I was fortunate enough to travel abroad with the college before, to Prague, only a couple months prior and so that experience also helped as I already had a grasp on how to approach certain elements.
The placement
My role description was to perform social media tasks for multiple companies through the business ‘SSU’ (Support Services Unlimited), particularity in relation to posting and promotion to help businesses expand and reach new audiences.
During the first week, I had some challenges in the placement, but I raised this with my manager and I was finally able to work on social media work for a number of clients- primarily in relation to their social media analytics.
My biggest learning experience during the placement was adapting to new environments, interacting and working with a wide range of people with different ages and backgrounds and working with tools I was unfamiliar with at the time (Formaloo, Alchemer etc),
The location
My favourite element of the trip was the people I met and the new friends I made along the way. We all came from different areas of study, which made me worried it would take a lot for us to get along. But we all instantly clicked and got along really well, so much so that we feel like a family rather than just friends. This also applies to the co-workers I met during my work experience.
The impact
This work placement will help me professionally in the future, as the work I completed relates to the field I am keen to pursue; most notably digital marketing. It will help me stand out during job applications; having the chance to travel the world and complete work experience is a once in a life time opportunity and shows initiative, drive and independence.
My next steps includes my new part-time job, as well as my logistics apprenticeship opportunity.
I have learned so much about myself and also developed my technical skills from this experience and hope to do an apprenticeship in the UK next. My advice for future participants would be for them to just be themselves and to treat others how they would like to be treated.
My Erasmus+ placement was the first time I had worked in my field and I was able to apply the knowledge that I gained from the course in the company that I worked at.
Outcomes
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Improved language skills
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Exposure to cultural experience
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Confidence building
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Improved people skills
Collaboration and partnership is at the heart of what we do.
If you would like to find out more about the way we work, get in touch.
