As a student an invaluable experience is a traineeship. You are provided work preparation training to equip you with knowledge and skills to start your work placement. Something you will learn is valuable work skills in a supported environment. You will learn from the traineeship what type of business you would like to work with. Skills you learn in a traineeship are often described as transferable skills and can be brought to any office in any part of the world!
Employers love seeing employees use their initiative and look for their own solution. Someday you won’t be able to lean on a colleague or a mentor and will have to think for yourself and make decisions yourself. Trusting yourself to solve a problem you should be able to do and have confidence in. If your ambition is to get into a leadership role or management role down the line this skill will help you out big time.
If you cannot work with others then you should decide to start your own business and run it yourself completely. Teamwork and delegation are two skills that most companies are built on. Working in a team helps you understand your strengths and weaknesses and improve on them. When you go for an interview you are almost always asked ‘give me an example of when you worked on a team’. By working in a team you also will improve on your interpersonal skills.
Basic IT skills are expected nowadays but knowing software isn’t expected to be a major skill that you will have when you get into the office. You will learn and improve on your practical skills as time goes on. The skills you learn in a traineeship are always going to benefit you in the long run.
Making an impression is very important in a company, just because you aren’t dealing with the CEO’s doesn’t mean you can’t make contacts. If you reach out to contacts such as clients or managers and impress them you might just have a job waiting for you in the end. Having business etiquette is something that isn’t taught in the classroom, it can be learnt by seeing and doing. Knowing how to present yourself in an email or telephone conversation may seem easy but if shown negatively it can leave a negative and lasting impression on you.
Therefore, you should always aim to take part in a traineeship. These skills will always benefit you later on in life. No amount of salary will pay for experience and skills you learn in a traineeship!
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