Networking - a students perspective.

Networking is an integral part of our daily business activity, it is also very important to maintain our presence in the business community. It was, therefore, very interesting to get a different view of what we do...one of our students who carried out her placement with Alison Benney of Enlighten HR agreed to write a short comparison of English and German business meetings. 

So here in her own words, is a different view of Networking by Lara Loeschmann

Business meeting England – Germany

My first business meeting in England was in Cockington. At first everybody went in a room, ate breakfast and had some small talk. In my opinion it was a nice beginning, but the small talk was at first curious. Because the people wanted to know many background information of my life. I thought why do they want to know so many things about my life? I asked one women why and she said: “To build business networks I have to know the person, I don’t like smokers or drunkard people.”  In Germany nobody in case of business networks is interested in your private life. The main things are your abilities. After the breakfast we went in the presentation room. The presentation was about trademarks. Sometimes it was hard for me to follow but I think I understood the main content.

Furthermore I went to a network meeting. At first I thought it has something to do with computers, but it’s a meeting for building some business relationships. We met in a nice hotel and had some small talk with coffee and tea. I think we were about 10 people. In case of small talk the people in England are open-minded, polite and friendly.  I don’t know something like that from Germany, but in my mind it’s good to build new business relationships, stay in contact with people, present yourself and get to know some other companies. The people will think about you and your business and maybe they’ll recommend your company to someone else.

So...it seems to me that the main difference is the 'small-talk', which is very interesting. The ability to indulge in information gathering chitchat prior to establishing a business relationship is the way we do stuff here. We all try to find common ground and then build on that - we do the best business with the people we like - what a great way to do business!

Work Placements and Opportunities

As another week draws to a close it is really good to see that we have been given a great article in our local newspaper The Herald Express - a bit of a shock to see a full page picture (we knew that we had an article to be published)  but great all the same, and brilliant to have such a good 'European Opportunities' and 'Workplace Options' article in the press! The guys in the office are still participating in 'Movember' and getting a bit itchy - only another two weeks :0)

Nadine and Debbie have been to Croatia and will be back with us next week - more about their trip in the next blog but I'm sure it will have been an interesting and exciting week for them. Wendy and Ian spent a day at Paignton Zoo with Powerful Performance - an interesting and engaging Leadership and Management workshop asking 'Are you the Silverback in your business' - an excellent day.

We have also had two teachers from Kiel in Germany visiting and I'm pleased to say that they have had an enjoyable week here in Torbay -

their group are all very happy and we have been out visiting them in their work placements - a really good few days.

Our Autumn Newsletter is out and I hope you have had the opportunity to have a look at it.

More next week but for now...stay safe and have a great weekend!

Our Autumn Newsletter - hope you like it.

Meet the Team - Andrea, our Accommodation & Welfare Officer.

Hello everybody...my name is Andrea Tolson and my role within the Training Partnership is Accommodation & Welfare.  This year has been extremely busy as we have had over 900 students and my task is to find host family accommodation for each and every one of them.

My job entails visiting and inspecting new host applicants and making sure that our students get the best possible experience.  Most host families I visit are lovely people who are happy to let students come and live in their homes and participate in their family lives.  I enjoy meeting the new hosts and chatting with them which helps me decide whether they will be suitable to look after our students.  Sadly I also visit some homes that are unsuitable   but don’t worry, I would never place a student in a home in which I wouldn't be happy to place my own children.

On a daily basis I receive student files from our work placement team and I then have to decide which host would be the most suitable for that particular student.  I base my decision on proximity to the students work placement so that they don’t have too long a journey to work each day.  I also have to consider which friends they want to share with and whether they have any allergies.  It is amazing how many host families have pets and how many students are allergic to animals.  I then have to key all information onto our computer system and produce detailed directions for the student so that they can find their way to work from their host family address.

On a personal note, I am used to dealing with teenagers as I have three of my own, all living at home with me and my husband.  I must say that (like most Mothers), some of the students I meet through the Training Partnership I would happily swap with my own teenagers - sometimes mine can be a nightmare (like most teenagers!).  But then again I was a teenager myself - a long time ago…. Say no more!

The love of my life is my beautiful Golden Retriever “Oscar”.  He is no trouble whatsoever. He does as he is told, doesn't answer back and never asks me for money! When I am not at work there is nothing better than going out at the weekends for long walks along the South Devon Coastal paths and beaches, getting lots of fresh air and enjoying the spectacular scenic views that south Devon has to offer. Afterwards I will cook a delicious dinner and open a nice bottle of Red! Life is good!

Movember is moving on!

Well the first thing we need to look at this week is the TTPL Movember moment...Hmmmmm I think Sam might be cheating!!! But the whiskers are progressing so please donate - its all for a very good cause! Have a look here on our TTPL Movember page.
This week also gave us the chance to present the prizes from last weeks Halloween party - Bea and Donatello were both worthy winners and we hope they enjoy their prizes...in fact, Donatello insisted on making an acceptance speech! Absolutely AMAZING! Well done both of you!

In 'other news' this week we have been out and about at Plymouth University Graduate Recruitment Fair - we still have a few places left for the fantastic GROWEurope project which will begin in January 2014.

We also attended the Institute of Hospitality 75th Anniversary dinner - a great evening at South Devon College Horizon Restaurant in conjunction with Mitch Tonks fantastic seafood event. Thanks to Brian from Number One Consulting for the invitation.

Have a great weekend and please stay safe...

Happy Halloween - a fun week for staff and students

This week we celebrated Halloween...and what a lot of fun we had! 

Sam, our Student Support Officer, really threw himself into the fun and organised a big party at a local bar - DTs in Torquay. On Wednesday we challenged him to create a Spooky Pumpkin with our logo and wow, what a result!

The party started early for any students who wanted to arrive early with any questions or travel refunds then went on into the night...Karaoke was the order of the day, with lots of amazing fancy dress costumes...lots of pics on our Facebook page here and a not so tuneful rendition of American Idiot that is her for you to 'enjoy'!

Thanks to all the students who turned up to create an fantastic fun party!

Finally...congratulations to Bea and Donatello who won the prizes for Fancy Dress - well done :0)

Have a great weekend everyone - stay safe and have fun

Torbay Hi Tech Forum MTI 13

Last Thursday we had a stand at the Torbay Hi Tech Forum at the RICC, and what a fabulous event it was. Such positivity and forward thinking. A really great opportunity to catch up with old friends and colleagues - and of course meet new people and find out what they do.
From a business perspective it was an incredibly successful day - our stand looked great, we had some great support from so many of our  business partners and the buzz from meeting young people just setting out on their career path was fantastic.
During the day we were able to speak to a great many people representing businesses from around the area and engage with some really positive young people who will very soon be entering the world of work and perhaps even travelling with TTPL on one of our outbound programmes like the current GROWEurope project.

Our sincere thanks Steve Harper from Bay Light Vehicle for this great testimonial to what we can achieve with our students...Brilliant