By Rowan Ford, Work Experience Student, Ferndown Upper School 6th Form
I chose my work experience placement with the Economic Development Team because I am looking to go into Economics at degree level.
For the week, I aimed to become more knowledgeable about economics and to not only learn from my work experience placement, but from the people who I worked with. Every member of the team had advice to share, and worked on different projects. We discussed universities and different branches of economics such as Behavioural Economics and Macro/Micro Economics, which was a valuable experience for me.
On my first day I was expectedly nervous; however the people in the office were inviting and really helped me to settle in. I entered unsure of what to expect but I am leaving with a clear amalgamation of facts and a much broader understanding and respect for the people within the Council.
Throughout the week I’ve been made aware of the differences between public and private sector to do with economics; and how public sector is ran as a whole.
I also learned about the public/business interaction, and how meetings and plans are established to try and work with them to aid and support the local area, how the statistics that are acquired can map out and display the differences between two areas and how it simplifies comparisons.
As someone who is particularly interested in maths and stats; looking at the Data Dashboard and the direct comparisons of those stats was of most interest to me; however the other activities throughout the week were by no means boring, with every day providing new challenges and learning experiences.
The most enjoyable experience for me was being able to go out into the town and interact with the business owners. Being able to analyse and understand how a high street or town functions, as well as what can be done to improve the area.
I would like to thank the Economics Development Team for being so welcoming and making my work experience such a beneficial week.
In my opinion, work experience not only helps young people to understand and observe how a workplace runs; but it is also an opportunity to decide if the field they do their work experience in is the right one for them. It can be used as a good guide for the future, and should be used to ‘test the water’ and see if they are actually interested in the topic or not.
Mandy Payne, Economic Development Officer said, “Rowan has shown a real interest in the work we do in Economic Development and he has worked well with us on some of our current projects. Work experience is a great way for young people to gain insight into a work environment and to get a real idea of what it is like to work in a particular industry, trade or sector. It has been a pleasure having Rowan as a member of the team for the week and we wish him well for the future.”