to think a work experience should make the tea?

[LouiseD29]

I work in a large-ish agency in central London. It's fairly competitive and as a result we have a steady stream of youngsters all keen for a work experience placement. Some good, some not so good, but I am increasingly noticing that most of them NEVER offer to do a tea round for the team!

It's not like I'm expecting them to be churning out six rounds a day for 25 people, but AIBU to think that it shouldn't be beyond them to spot that 1. People here like tea; 2. If you do a nice thing for people it shows manners and team spirit and they're more likely to remember you and bear you in mind for future vacancies and 3. Everyone else has made a round today so GO AND PUT THE KETTLE ON!

When I was starting out I was constantly looking for opportunities to impress and wouldn't have dreamt of letting someone more senior make me a cup of tea.

AIBU and hopelessly old-fashioned, or do these youngsters have no clue?

Toys Well, 15 year old work experience students are not likely to be able to draft a pleading or appear in court so I assess them on basic things like timekeeping, being presentable, initiative, enthusiasm, ability to work as a team and importantly knowing how to get on with other people. Offering to get someone a drink (not necessarily me) might tell me that they were observant and willing.

My son works in a place where they have office runners.
You are expected [if you want the high fluting jobs after 1 year] to clear up after beakfasts at work,, hump furniture around, deal with post, whatever. And you do it for 1 year, sometimes more. Until there is a vacancy in the department that you want to go in or are creatively suitable for.
And these, mainly men ,are grateful.

Should have said that it is paid work.

In our office (11 plus the boss) we all, bar the boss, take it in turns more or less depending on workloads eg some days I make all the tea, then none for a week. We have one of those instant boiling water machine things so there is no hanging about for kettles. No one would expect not to do their turn.

Miss: All the worse, then. If they're that young and (therefore) uneducated, having them around in a law firm is a bit useless. It will not give them a work experience that differs in any way from other office environments (apart from possibly having even less to actually do because of client privacy etc. so they do end up the tea slaves - how convenient for everyone!). Why are they being assessed like that? They are there to learn about these things - they are not psychics, and at 15 some can be quite timid (unless you think timid people are no good, of course)! They are not psychics.

'Office junior' is an age old right of passage. We all start on the bottom rung and go up step by step.

Sadly, today, even graduates expect to walk in to 50K management jobs on their first placement.

Welcome to the real world, waving your bits of paper round do not suddenly make you qualified to lead a team, executive decisions, possibly impacting on a the company financially.

I hear it all from Y11 and work placements "I'm not working there, they expected me to file".... "I don't do cleaning - that's what blacks are for" (oh yes indeed!) ... "McDonalds is for thick people". Some people expect the world delivered on a plate. All money is good money if it's honestly earned.

Oh, and those black cleaners? The ones with the demeaning jobs? Make a roaring side line out of us older more civilised staff, moonlighting as window cleaners or carpet cleaners for a very reasonable price.

Back to work experience - yup, make the tea, frank the letters, smile at the postman and visitors, wash up the cups, sharpen the pencils, do the shredding and laminating then if you are efficient, friendly and show a work ethic you'll get a perm placement or a damned good reference.

If you think any of the above is beneath you - exactly who do you think should be doing it?

I'm with toys. Y the hell take them on when they can't do anything. Some kids have no idea what they want to do. My dd decided a year ago what she wants to do. Some of these kids who show up will have dreams of being lawyers:barristers or drs or whatever and their whole idea if the job and their excitement and enthusiasm is crushed by being used as dogsbodies. I'm all for showing that you work from the bottom up and that teamwork is helping out and sharing the most dull or mind numbing tasks. But to use them exclusively for your refreshment needs is disgusting. Don't agree to take them on if you can't give them actual experience.

My first experience of what I wanted to do was being ignored, bitched about because I dared talk to the one staff member no one liked and to have to watch while student number two was allowed to assist in all sorts put me off completely. I was punctual I smiled I made drinks I got biscuits I cleaned, not one thing was recognised at all. Thankfully the second placement was much better and I enjoyed it.

I don't think there is anything wrong with everyone mucking to make the tea but i sense from your OP that you see people doing work experience as inferier to you and they should be making tea for you as a senior (therefore superior.)

My attitude is they are human beings too and i would of course expect them to respect a person in a senior position but i wouldn't expect them to be treated as inferier. If you want a cup of tea and feel guilty for asking them to do it you should feel guilty, especially if they didn't drink tea themselves but are being asked to make the tea because the senior feels too important to do it themself at that moment in time. I wouldn't dream of asking someone else, on any level, to go and make me a tea.

If they aren't mucking in then someone needs to say to them that everyone makes tea at some point during the day.

I, personally, don't think any task is beneath me. However, can't people sharpen their own pencils or is that beneath them? Do they need someone to wipe their bums as well (Prince Charles certainly did - wonder if the guy got great references, maybe he showed initiative and offered to wipe his cock as well ? He probably wasn't 15, though) ?

'Some of these kids who show up will have dreams of being lawyers:barristers or drs or whatever and their whole idea if the job and their excitement and enthusiasm is crushed by being used as dogsbodies.'

Goodness, you're being just a tad dramatic there. There are limits to what exciting tasks a 15 year old can undertake out during a fortnight's work experience in a barrister's office.

I think that you're spectacularly missing the point Toy

Work experience is about giving the opportunity to someone to see the job they fancied doing being performed rather than expecting them to perform it competently So lots of watching (at court, with clients etc), listening, learning and discussing.

Making the odd drink is probably within the capability of most 15 years old.

Intelligence and ingenuity is not learnt - you either have it or you don't.

If they are timid to ask then perhaps the law is not really for them.

Surely one of the key reasons for schoolkids to do work experience is so that they can see what qualified barrister's/doctors/beauticians etc. do during the course of a day's work?

Beat me to it MissBeehiving!

I'm aware there r limits squoosh which is why taking them on when they can only do tea coffee washing up and cleaning is pointless.

I would assume due to confidentiality and the severity of cases dealt with, that its not going to be possible to allow them to see anything. Making the whole thing pointless.

Squoosh: On top of e.g. doing some data entry or filing or binning old files (of non privacy stuff), and maybe even making the odd cup of tea , they could be taken around the office and be shown different people and be told about their work and how the legal system works, etc. If the WE is really for the students' benefit. But I guess there is little time for learning because of the incessant tea making and pencil sharpening. I know the barristers probably can't spare that much time to educate youngsters (they are losing £1000's from their vast salaries fgs!!), but then WHY indeed take them on if you're just going to use them as tea slaves?

I wonder how many of the even the keenest "work experiences" actually end up being offered a job with your agency?

If there are 25 of you, not everyone has made the tea!!!!!

Stop being so bloody unreasonable! And ignorant. The poor student! Why don't u offer them a cup instead!!!!!!!

YABU!!!!!!!!!

Jesus. Do you really expect every 15 year old to just walz in a work place like they own the place? It would have been my first job and I would have certainly done what I was told, but be wary of overstepping boundaries (but in the law business they are not really that important, anyway, are they). In my twenties I would have been more likely to show incentive, but, hey, you're either right for law or not. And you'll have already been able to tell I wasn't - AT 15 fgs!!! You were either born to be pompous and self-important or not.

To be honest, in my experience it creates quite a lot of work to have a work experience person in the office for the week as you need to plan a non mind numbling series of tasks for them.

Believe me, no one rubs their hands in glee and thinks 'whopee free tea making slave for the week'. I'm inundated with requests for WE but can only oblige quite a small number.

"are" that should be, not "were"

Why oblige anyone, Squoosh? Save them the embarrassment of being unwanted (they will sense it) and give them a chance to work somewhere else more willing to educate.

Poor old thrusting young tea getters.

Or not.

With all due respect Toys, you are talking out of your arse. We accept the ones we do as we know we can give them a full and hopefully interesting timetable for the week.

The reason numbers are limited is beacuse I don't want anyone to sit here stuffing envelopes for week, feeling bored out of their brains.