I turned up an hour early for my first day of work and waited in the car- park because I was SO nervous and did not want to be late. Punctuality and first impressions are everything in business. I wore my suit and repeated the mantra ‘I find doing work-experience easy’. I don’t know if my mantra helped but a lovely, smiley woman asking if I was waiting to go in was definitely helpful because I couldn’t actually reach the doorbell. Turns out that she also worked at Fitology, the gym where I’d be working. Fitology is a place where women can train with a female coach and improve their health, confidence and strength (I feel like I’m writing an advert!). When I got there, I wished that I’d researched a bit about the gym beforehand because even though I took my jacket off, I still kind of felt a bit out of place.
It’s not anyone’s fault that I felt out of place, it was mostly because I was wearing a suit and partly because not fitting in is a feeling I get everyday. The other challenge I faced was not knowing what I was supposed to be doing. My mentor (Simone Lia) arranged this scenario for me, so half the time I was feeling resentful that she might have been trying to set me up for a fail and the other half I was wondering if it was some kind of joke at my expense where I was supposed to be a ‘gym bunny’. Not funny. Not cool. I do not appreciate bunny puns.
Despite this annoyance, Cassie, the personal trainer, didn’t seem to mind that I was hanging around doing nothing helpful and being awkward; she made me feel really comfortable and welcome. Before her clients arrived, she cheerfully told me that to be a personal trainer you need to be a people person. That obviously ruled me out immediately and we both quickly realised that I might not be suited to working in a gym. She gave me some general careers advice and suggested that I get experience in retail, perhaps working in a pet shop. I would feel deeply uncomfortable about doing that, but I did appreciate the encouragement and the unquestioning belief that someone like me could actually get a job. She seemed to have a lot of belief in her clients as well.
At the end of the day at the gym I found something that I was good at.
Fitology didn’t offer me any work at the end of my work experience, which was a shame because I was really good at that vacuuming, but even though it didn’t quite work out for me, I left feeling happier. Watching everyone doing their strength training made me feel stronger and more confident, and I felt inspired to give it a go when I got home.
I’m not sure how I feel about my mentor setting up work experience for me again, I might have to see if I can get something on my own without her help. If you have any suggestions please get in touch. We’ll see what happens next.
Thank you and bye for now,
Fluffy Pulcino