Win your employer’s approval while on a learnership

YOUR lecturer may not have cared whether you showed up for class o time or not, as long as your results were good. But whatever you do as a learner completing-in –the –job training, pitch up-and on time. This is the advise of Byron Watts, a placement consultant at Boston City Campus and Business College.

Watts, who dedicates his working hours to helping learners on learnerships get workplace experience, has compiled a list of do’s and don’ts for learners. “The single most important thing is to pitch up; to be at the place and time specified by an employer,” he says.

“Unlike lectures, employers are not impressed by learners who do not take their on-job-training opportunities seriously.” He explains that people on learnerships before they can receive their or diplomas. But employers are under no obligation to accommodate learners in their places of work.

“We work very hard to negotiate agreement with employers – from the small business owner, to the big corporate company –so that learners can get workplace experience. Whenever a learner doesn’t pitch up or fails to perform, an employer becomes reluctant to remain involved in the training of learners on learnerships.

Such a learner can thus ruin the chances for other learners.” Having to the learners the ropes costs employers time and effort as employers need to provide a workstation for learners-in-training as well as allocate members of staff to mentor and supervise them.

Understandably, he says employers are only interested in learners who are prepared to work hard and hard and who make it worth their while to train them.

“It’s crucial to make a good impression at the interview stage so that you get in,” says Watts. “But once you are ‘in’, you not only have to do whatever you’ve been tasked to do”.

Going from learner to worker-in-training overnight is a tough call, especially when you have never been exposed to the world of work before. To prepare for their on-the-job training stints, Watts suggests learners to take heed of what impresses employers the most:

• Pitch up at the right place at the right time.
• Show respect for the company, the company’s way of doing things and its employees for the duration of your stat – be it six or 12 months, depending on the learnership requirements.
• Learners who show they can overcome obstacles are regarded as highly desirable. This includes finding transport to the workplace no matter how difficult this may prove to be.
• A positive, can-do attitude wins employers time and time again. It’s not what you say but what you do that counts.
• Enthusiasm and willingness to communicate.
• Dress the part – even if you are still officially a student, dress in a way that fits the working environment. Wear what you like at college, but respect the dress codes of employing companies.
• Learners are usually rotated through a company’s departments so they can gain a good understanding of the company business. Rotation also makes it possible for learners to identify where they would fit best in terms of their interests and career ambitions. Learners who ask questions and make the effort to understand the bigger picture earn good points with employers.
• Willingness to go the extra mile to learn and to help others.

Watts has also enlisted what puts off employers:

• A don’t care attitude and learners who have a sense of entitlement
• A lack of computer literacy
• Dishonesty and lack of personal integrity.
• Learners who claim to be able to do something they are not able to do can mean the employer will stop trusting or believing in the learner.
• Chatting and socializing excessively, and keeping other employees from doing their work.
• Arrogance and lack of respect towards the company, its way of doing things, and its employees.
• Being late is unacceptable. If something makes it impossible for you to get to work, phone immediately with a good – and true explanation
• Learners who don’t show enthusiasm and look as though they are “doing time”

Boston City Campus and Business College offers over 80 qualifications at 48 branches nationwide. Unisa degrees, media studies and learnerships are available at selected branches. Call 011 551 2000, e-mail info@boston.co.za, or visit www.boston.co.za, or Boston Facebook group.

blog comments powered by Disqus