Tips for young people to survive the workplace

I am fortunate to do what I do – always opportunities to learn for me but more importantly, add value to the quality of a young person’s life.

One of three programmes I run is Shaping Attitudes and it targets 16-19 year olds starting work placements, apprenticeships or internships; improving their employability skills. The programme focuses on attitudes covering issues on behaviour (ethics, diversity, appearance etc) and relationships (teamwork, challenges and interaction); and offers tips for the workplace.

So with the apprenticeship/placement/internship session coming to an end, I thought it would be a good idea to ask professionals on LinkedIn what they were looking for and/or tips to pass on that could improve the quality of young people offered work experience.

Over 60 professionals contributed to this comprehensive list – a huge thank you all for taking the time, and providing the depth and breadth of suggestions below.

This might read like a wish list – impossible for everyone to have or be like this, right? Honestly I don’t think so – this should be the quality we should expect from our young people we are willing to provide work experience to.

To some, this is not complicated – common sense, but for those who come from traditional households where working in an office is not the norm, then he/she may not have met the mark sadly – not because it wasn’t his/her desire to do so but because they may not know any better.

As promised the list is for all of you out there who work with and support young people; please feel free to use the list to improve the chances of young people starting out in their professional career.

1. Research the company – knowledge on how it was set up, number of employees
2. Be interested in what they do
3. Have a plan on what you want to get out of the experience – make it enjoyable and beneficial
4. Make a list of questions and try and get answers from different people across teams to gain more understanding of the business
5. Smile, Introduce yourself
6. Make eye contact
7. Make sure you are smart and clean
8. Be enthusiastic and go the extra mile even if the work is not that exciting
9. A positive attitude goes a long way in making you stand out
10.Show a willingness to learn – all learning is valuable
11. Work hard – Be determine to be the best intern, apprentice, or trainee the organization has ever had
12. Don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions to clarify what you are doing
13. If you are shy – use email – it’s a great way to communicate with busy people
14. Take responsibility for your career
15. Do your best to do exactly what you said you will do
16. Follow-up on action items before you’re asked for them
17. Be punctual – Be on time 95% of the time and then the times you are late, (for genuine reasons,) won’t matter
18. Don’t rush out the door immediately at the end of the day
19. Look for opportunities to show you are helpful
20. Show you can be a team player
21. Don’t just do what is expected – think outside the box
22. Think of ways to improve situations, even if you won’t be involved in it
23. Be someone who has a good ethical standard – Honest and Trustworthy
24. Stay out of office politics
25. Network….everyone you meet is potentially important
26. Be kind to receptionists, PAs, finance people and canteen/IT staff! – they know where everything is and how it all works