Sad Face :0( Happy Face :0)

 

Why a sad face? well one of our long term trainees, Tanja has left us to return to Germany. During her time here at TTPL Towers she has helped produce a number of documents and flyers using her Graphic Design skills and has made a real impact here, not only for her skills but her great character and sense of humour - we will all miss her and wish her well for the future. Thank you for all you have done for us Tanja

Here is Tanja with the TTPL team.


Moving on to the happy face... we have the lovely Morgane in our office.. she has spent part of this morning taking control of our Chrismas decorations ensuring we are all feeling very jolly!
Here she is getting ready to attack the tree and then a nice pic of her with the results... Ho ho ho :0)

Her infectious cheer and enthusiasm and ready smile has caught the whole office ... So as it is nearly December can we be one of the first to wish you all

'Merry Christmas'

 

During the past week we have also begun to get out to visit as many of our Work Placements as we possibly can... we spent the day in Plymouth visiting our friends there and also found time to visit some more local placements with a visiting German teacher. Kathrin was here to see her group of trainees and we went out vist some of them. Thank you to her for travelling all the way to sunny Torbay and to all the companies that helped to make her vist so enjoyable.

 

To close this weeks blog it is only right that I take a few lines to praise the entire TTPL team...we have all been busy arranging a visit from some of our partner organisations from across Europe with all the logistic difficulties that this entails - there will, I am certain be more about our event in the next blog so I will save the details for then.

 

Thanks for reading, please follow us and share with your friends...stay warm and have a good week.

What can a European student bring to your workplace?

I am a very lucky person... (Not, as you might think, because of my youthful good looks or sparkling wit!!!!) But because of my job; my job can be frustrating, infuriating and sometimes almost impossible BUT it is always rewarding...the ability to help change someone’s life is amazing. As Work Placement Manager here at TTPL towers I am responsible for the work placements that our trainees carry out at the excellent companies around Torbay and South Devon that we work with; this means that every time one of our young people arrives in Torbay and begin their placement the team here have the opportunity to actually change that young person’s life - a big responsibility that we all embrace.
So how do we change lives?

During the last couple of weeks I have been able to attend a few events where young people have spoken about their experience, one was a young lady who became the youngest person to conquer Mount Everest and the other, another young lady, who used her graduate placement to carve a job for herself at a local travel company. Others have spoken about how their experiences motivated them to start their own business. Stories of how, in the midst of a global recession young people sieze the opportunities available and shape their lives. Inspirational stuff.

It got me thinking about past TTPL students and the companies they worked with...and how the 'life change' also happens for the placements.

I know of companies here in Torbay that have expanded into Europe, as a direct result of taking one of our students and having the courage to embrace an opportunity abroad. This means that we, TTPL, have helped a young person take their first career steps and also helped a business expand - what a result - but it doesn’t end there. Our students are often taking their first 'solo' steps away from home, away from family and friends, and away from all that is familiar. Consider that for a moment - you travel to a new country where you are unlikely to hear your mother tongue. Everything is written in the wrong language, traffic attacks you from the wrong side of the road, the food is different...in fact, everything is different. This is where the magic happens...when families wave goodbye to their young offspring they are often just that, young offspring - what they get back are young adults, people who have grown in themselves, become independent and appreciative of what 'work' and ‘life’ can mean. For the individual the 'germinating shoot' has begun to flower!

We have companies that, having offered placements,  have gone on to offer employment to students once their studies have been completed. Marketing projects that would never have been done. Translations that have made the difference between getting an export contract or not. I cannot leave out those companies that, quite simply, take great pleasure from having a student in their workplace to provide a fresh way of thinking that can revitalise their working environment.

Back to the question; what do student placement bring to the work place?

From an employer’s perspective the benefits are many and various; Motivated young people with a burning desire to learn; Enthusiasm; New skills; Language; Opportunity and good old fashioned Altruism. Never underestimate the motivation that people gain from helping someone.

For the student...Knowledge; Skills; a fantastic CV; Independence; the freedom to 'grow up' and so much more. Travel, contacts, stretching their minds and their confidence…taking the first step to being all that they can be.

Being part of that is a real privilege, one that should be embraced by everyone.

 

A wise man, (Frank Sobey actually), once told me that the students he has hosted bring 'Vibrancy' to the workplace, and that is a fantastic way to describe it. I have tried on many occasions to describe what happens when a student arrives at a new placement. tried to explain the difference it can make, the subtle change in the way your team interacts. The way that their young eyes view what you do every day and see the 'wow' in it all. It is very hard to explain but I think Frank did it.

The problem I have is that I could rattle on for hours about student placement - it has been part of my life for so long, part of what I do. I clearly need to condense my rambling to a single word of benefit to cover what a European student can bring to a workplace. So, what is the benefit of graduate/student placement...in a single word

VIBRANCY

A word we should all learn, appreciate and most certainly celebrate.

 

 

Romanian University Event

Well I am going to hijack this weeks blog for my recent vist to Bucharest...what a great city.

The event, British Universities Fair, was organised by The British Embassy Bucharest and UKTI and attracted Universities from all over the UK - sadly not from the South West which was a little disapointing. However, the event attracted a great many Romanian students all looking to study at British Universities and was, in my opinion, a great success. An excellent job from Adriana and Iliana organising this their first University event. Thank you ladies. In addition to the students, I met with a number of agents who offer help in applying for University places and are very interested in offering our Work Experience programmes to Romanian students... as we have found that our usual Romanian students from the RAU are among the best we recieve we are really looking forward to potentially more of these high calibre candidates.

Not wanting to travel all the way to Romania and see only the inside of an hotel I decided to travel a day early and visit the Romanian American University who we have worked with for many years. In fact, four years ago I first met Mihai Sebea from RAU and promised then I would visit...so it has taken me four and a half years to make a three hour flight to get this picture!

I was lucky enough to be given a full tour of the campus and discussed some exciting future plans with Mihai and the University Rector, Professor Ovidiu Folcut, PhD. We can look forward to more students and possible training programmes using our Cultural Awareness course delivered in both the UK and Romania. In addition to all this Mihai, along with Flavius Streianu the Erasmus Co-ordinator and Aiste, took me to lunch in a restaurant called 18 (its on the 18th floor) and offers an amazing view of Bucharest. I was also treated to an evening out with them at the incredible Caru' ca bere - what an experience!

I was also able to meet with Manuela Epure (and her husband Marius), a long time friend of Jayne (our MD) and Prorector at Spiru Haret University, I was again treated to a fantastic meal out and perfect hospitality...and once again we are looking forward to hosting students from Manuela's University, The University Spiru Haret in Bucharest.

All in all, we were the only non university attending the event and as such attracted a great deal of attention, it is amazing the high esteem that the British education system is held in, particularly in Romania. It can only be good for Torbay to promote our area like this - once again our video (thanks MGVP) was of great interest with people hardly able to believe that the area is in England! While I am offering thanks Quentin at Q-Ball Media and Jim at South West Colour Labs managed to design, print and deliver a new banner (only 600mm wide so it fits in a suitcase) in 3 days - can't ask more than that!

On a personal note, it was refreshing to find such a high level of customer service...it really is amazing how nothing is too much trouble - even at the airport the level of service was far beyond the standard we have come to expect here in the UK and you really feel valued in every establishment you visit. It's also quite nice to be able to have a smoke and a drink in smoking areas found in every establishment but its probably not politically correct to say that.

Cercul Militar, was built in 1911 and is the cultural headquarters of the Romanian Army. Cercul Militar is situated in the Center of Bucharest, in the university zone, on Calea Victoriei.

The amazing view looking down from '18' - a great restaurant giving panoramic views across Bucharest and a view over the central park area of the city

So, a really good event, an opportunity to visit partner organisations and my first, and I hope not last, visit to Bucharest. I was proud to be there to represent The Training Partnership Ltd, Torbay (and the South West), our Work Placements and of course our host families. I hope I have achieved some extra groups who will visit, work in and enjoy our area and in doing so help to aid the business growth in Torbay.