Work Experience with Gavurin

Please sir ….

Louis had probably read the newspaper reports – he asked whether he needed permission to go to the toilet. He didn’t. But we didn’t laugh his question off. Work is a disciplined business! Work experience at Gavurin reflects the way WE work but it may not be the norm. We think work experience is important partially because 14-15-year olds bring great energy and a fresh perspective. And yes, Louis has been great to have around for the short time he was with us. Our economy benefits from your people being positive about working and we’re always happy to help young people with an interest in STEM and small businesses.

The challenge for us

For a business like ours which offers such bespoke solutions, it’s challenging trying to outline to a student, who is only with us for a week, what an “average week” looks like, because no two are the same.

From the complexities of analysing data, testing software, delivering on projects, to the everyday tasks of running the office, Louis spent each day shadowing a different department.  At the end of the week, Louis said:

My time at Gavurin was very enjoyable. I am a young person interested in data science, computers etc. I learnt some valuable STEM skills in my week at Gavurin. I truly do wish schools taught more of these skills and how to apply them

We’re still learning too

More than half of Gavurin’s workforce is made up of STEM ambassadors. They volunteer their time and resources to bringing STEM subjects to life and demonstrate their value in the real world and to future careers. Our team has worked with code-clubs as mentors and they deliver learning workshops to many local schools. So offering a young student the opportunity to join us and learn in our environment is a logical extension of this.

Students working towards their GCSEs often have a vision of what they want to do when they leave school, but few realise that the journey isn’t always straight forward. Work experience can help turn the vision into a practical set of steps to achieve their goal.

 The skills that Gavurin were using were integral to what they did. This applies to many companies performing in similar areas. This surprised me, as schools do not teach many of these things. They are already incredibly vital skills most companies use today.

What’s in it for us?

As an employer, there are many benefits for us in enabling these schemes. Encouraging our team to explore STEM in education and mentoring young people supports our employees feeling valued, it develops their own supervisory skills and more generally understand their own role better. After all, how often do we go back to basics with our role and think about why we do things a particular way? Young people really do ask tough questions!

Throughout the week, Louis spent time with different departments but working with the project management team gave him a good overview of not just what we do, but how and why we deliver projects the way we do.

I learnt that Project Management has a very important role in the workplace. Project management is the task of making sure projects get done and how they’re done. Almost all projects take on one of two different models. The waterfall model and the agile model.

In our business, everyone makes the tea – including the Managing Director.  Work experience is not just about having an additional someone to perform this vital function, it is about giving a young person a real insight into the working world.  Working is about rolling our sleeves up and getting stuck in as a team of people to deliver projects. These are skills not necessarily learnt in school. By teaching them and inspiring our young people, we are benefitting our community, our industries and yes, it makes us feel good!

Louis …

…  we wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours and we hope to see you again. We know you’ll do great.