Reflections so far!

My reflections on the first week of the World of Work Internship Programme 2008!
Firstly, I’m very grateful and honoured to be part of this ‘WOW’ group for 2008. So far this experience has turned out to be very informative and fruitful. I have gained valuable insight about the world of work and I strongly believe that there is still more to come from this program.
We have had several guests coming in to have seminars that equip us with the necessary skills for our journey. We have had a range of topics covered in just one week. These ranged from the importance of using mindmapps for almost any task at hand to the appropriate dress code at work. Likewise, Elspeth reminded us about the need to use unconventional ways of writing such as using coloured pens and using paper in landscape format. These are useful tips that will come handy when one is stuck with a certain task like writing a report at the workplace.
On the other hand, Fiona McDonald came and showed us ways of developing our networking skills. Fiona provided 4 simple steps such as: purpose, identify, introduce and exit. These steps are meant to direct and to make networking easier for anyone. I particularly enjoyed this more as I have been looking for ways to develop or to improve my networking skills as I have realised the importance of networking in the world of work and in today’s global world.
We were also given ideas about how to create sustainable business by Abey from VWV. I enjoyed this presentation because Abey mentioned a few elements that have worked for them, which according to me are very crucial to the success and sustainability of any business.
Lastly, the first week has turned out to be highly informative and challenging as we also received some instructions from one of the guest coming in the second week. The instructions are very explicit, however the only reason why it’s challenging is that we are instructed to develop blogs, which to some of us it’s a new concept and we are still trying to figure it out as we have never heard about blogging before. So far this notion of blogging is giving me sleepless nights but I have learned that it is an innovative and essential way to communicate with people.