Hi it’s Maddie here! At my school all year 11s are required to complete a week of work experience -As I am a Pony Club Member myself I wanted to spend my week working in The Pony Club office!
Here’s how I got on:
Expectations
I was very unsure of what to expect to be honest as this was my first experience of the world of work and it was 9-5 each day in an office – completely different to what I am used to.
I was very nervous, I was expecting to just be following someone around all day or getting everyone cups of tea just so that I would be out of everyone’s way – I hoped this wouldn’t be the case as I am pretty poor at making tea! I was also scared that I would do something wrong and annoy someone, or affect the running of everything.
Monday – Merchandise
Kirsty (Events Executive) gave me a bit of a tour and introduction to everyone. Mondays are very busy in the Merchandise Department because all orders made over weekend need processing and sending out. I helped to package up people’s orders and then put together some Coaches Folders – I used to think that these were just made by machines and sold!
Tuesday – Young Equestrians
Today I spent most of the day helping Bronté (Young Equestrians). New Young Equestrians groups receive marketing packs so I put together a fair few of them. I then got to write articles for the Young Equestrians website which was exciting! As I have just completed my GCSE exams we decided to use this experience to put together some guidance on coping with exams. I also put together an article on combating competition nerves – as we can all suffer with these from time to time!
Wednesday – Road Trip
Today I travelled from Warwickshire to Hampshire with Becky and Lucy (Centre Membership Officer and Executive) to put on a Pony Club Centre Workshop. It was actually really interesting because there were talks on different aspects of running a Pony Club Centre. Information was given on qualifications such as the UK Coaching Certificate; I would like to do level 1 soon so that was useful. We had lots of good food; we even popped for a cheeky McDonalds on the way back. I have to admit I fell asleep in the car and left Becky and Lucy to chat – it had been a pretty tiring week so far and I couldn’t stay awake!
Thursday – Admin
I unpacked the car from the event the day before. Bronté and I decided it would be cool for everyone to know about my experience at The Pony Club Office so I spent the afternoon writing this article.
Friday – Last day!
My day started with sorting out press cuttings for Vicky (Membership and PR Assistant). I don’t know whether you know but every time something Pony Club related is mentioned in a newspaper or magazine the office are sent the article for their records – these cuttings need to be sorted weekly and this week it was my job!
I packaged up some Young Equestrians banners for Bronté and then packed the car for Becky and Lucy’s next Pony Club Centre Workshop as my last job.
Thoughts on the week
The days are very long and I am very tired, but I have really enjoyed the week and I feel like I know a lot more now. I’ve learnt that there is a lot of hard work that goes in at the office each day to keep The Pony Club running!
All the team have been really supportive, Kirsty brought homemade cake in as well which was a bonus. To top it off – I have not been asked to make one cup of tea all week!