One Student’s Perspective: A Glimpse into Will Walker’s Work Experience at Granby

Work Experience

In today’s competitive job market, work experience has become an essential aspect of any student’s education. It can provide valuable insights into the real world, help them develop essential skills, and allow them to explore potential career paths. Here at Granby, we understand the importance of offering work experience opportunities to students in our community. Recently, we had the pleasure of hosting Will Walker, a student with a keen interest in Business Studies, History, and Politics, for a week-long immersion into our world.

Deep Dive

Will’s own connection to Granby came through a friend whose parent works at our company. Will was eager to delve deeper into the inner workings of our company and gain hands-on experience. We wanted to ensure Will had enjoyed a well-rounded experience, so we arranged for him to spend time in various departments and interact with different team members.

A Future in Business Development?

Will had the opportunity to spend some time with our Head of IT, Paul Dunleavy. Although this area was outside of Will’s expertise, he found the experience fascinating. He also enjoyed interacting with Caroline Noblett, our Director of People and Finance, and her team, as well as Dave Saunders, who heads our Security and Warehouse team. However, it was his time with Victoria Pittman, our Head of Client Services/Business Development, that Will found most enjoyable. He was impressed by the variety of projects and the diverse range of people that Victoria and her team interact with. From clients to suppliers, the constant problem-solving and finding innovative solutions clearly sparked Will’s interest. At just 17 years old, Will already possesses a mature outlook on his career options. He understands the importance of gaining hands-on experience before committing to a specific path.

Will’s advice to future work experience students considering spending time at Granby is “Embrace the opportunity, get involved, and learn something new.”

He believes that even if the experience doesn’t align with their interests, they will still gain valuable knowledge and insights.

Eye Opener

One aspect that surprised Will about Granby was the diversity of roles within our business. It wasn’t just a typical shop floor and sales team; instead, there were numerous discrete roles across various departments. This realisation opened his eyes to the vast array of career possibilities within any single organisation. Will now understands that the business world offers a multitude of very different opportunities, unlike more traditional jobs.

Social Media, LinkedIn and Business

We also discussed the level of engagement that Will and his school colleagues have with social media, particularly LinkedIn. Will acknowledged the importance of young people engaging with LinkedIn, a professional networking platform although there is a natural reticence to engage with something he and his school colleagues don’t fully understand. However, he noted that schools often do not teach students how to effectively utilise this platform. Encouraging young individuals to engage with LinkedIn can provide them with valuable connections and opportunities for future career growth.

Interesting

Overall, Will’s work experience at Granby highlighted, for him, the importance of embracing new challenges, learning from them, and keeping an open mind when it comes to career choices.

Will’s one phrase summary of his time at Granby? “Interesting. Very interesting.”

For Granby, offering work experience opportunities is part of our commitment to the local community. We hope that by providing hands-on experiences, we can shape the future workforce and contribute to the growth and development of our community.