What life skill do you wish you'd been equipped with to help you face the world of work? Share your thoughts with MN and Barclays...

[AnnMumsnet]

Here at MNHQ we are pleased to be involved with the Barclays LifeSkills programme.

This is a new programme giving young people the skills, information and most importantly the work experience opportunities they need to get ready for the world of work.

LifeSkills employs hands-on learning to give young people from the age of 11 to 19, the confidence they need to get started" . It's paid for by Barclays but works with loads of partners to develop and promote the programme.

Mumsnet will be supporting this initiative by hosting students at MNHQ for work experience, so we'd like you to share your top tips and experiences on this thread.

~ If you could go back and whisper in your own ear the day you started work, what would you say?!
~ What skills do you wish you'd had before you started work?
~ Who helped you before you started work with advice and support? What sort of support do you wish you had?

All comments very much welcome and we'd also love you to pledge your support for LifeSkills - just click below

If you're a teacher or have connections to children aged 11+ please also do spread the word and sign up here

If you're a business owner you could make a real difference for young people in your area, by offering work experience opportunities through LifeSkills register here

Or get in touch with your boss or HR department to see what work experience opportunities they can provide to help young people.

And remember, getting the message out there to schools, friends, family, whoever you can will give LifeSkills the push it needs to start moving. This is a nationwide move to get young people ready for work, and it needs your support.

thanks, MNHQ

Practice interviews to help you actually get the first job!

Finance management, when to speak up and when to keep quiet. How to use email effectively and its many limitations! But mainly doing something I was interested in rather than something just for the money.

Confidence! You wouldn't have got the job if you weren't capable, you got the job, well done - just do it. The only difference between you being unsure about the task and someone doing it well is that they're doing it - just learn it and do it. We all have the same capabilities, we can all do anything if we are shown how.

I wish is been taught more about budgeting- I look back on my late teens and early twenties and just have no idea what I did with all that disposable income when I was living at home- now with DS related crosts and rent etc I have so much less and wish I had saved when I had the chance. I also (despite being a seemingly confident person) struggle to make small talk, so networking skills would have been helpful. I didn't really get much advice, probably a bit from my parents but can't remember anything significant- I plan to encourage DS to save from when he gets his first part time job!

It is not about you. Talk less, listen more, you might learn something.

My parents gave me some very good advice, mainly:

• keep your eyes open and mouth closed until you learn the politics and group dynamics of a workplace
• noone is too good to make the tea
• do everything you do as well as you can.

One thing I could have done with in my first shop job is to realise that I didn't have to take every shift I was offered to keep the bosses happy.

Oh, and I also knew to always be friendly with the receptionists and caretaking staff. Not that I wouldn't have been anyway, but they're the people that keep things going. I've seen some people be quote snootily dismissive to them, so rude and always comes back to bite them.

Someone should have sat me down and said:look, you know how it is like in the playground,yes? Well, my dear, it's no different in a work place. The only difference between playground and the office is the length of trousers and the hairdo. Grown ups too pick their noses and wipe it under chairs, nick each other's lunches etc.

Before you leave school learn to play chess. Really well. You'll need the skills, the tactics, the patience, the foresight.

Make a plan, have a target, an aim and focus! I don't know what I want is not good enough. Make 'making a plan' your plan, take it from there.

Cultivate your networks like you would a vegetable garden.

Be empathic and human.

S**t happens. Own up and do your best to rectify. Learn from your mistakes. It's ok to make them. Just nit the same ones again and again.

Have a hobby outside work.

Chances are your mum/dad/nan/uncle/godmother have faced what you're facing now at some point, do listen to their experiences and take what suits you.

First impression counts. A lot. Dress accordingly.

~ If you could go back and whisper in your own ear the day you started work, what would you say?!

Don't panic, keep your mouth shut and ears open for a couple of weeks and it'll all fall into place.

When people employ new graduates with no work experience they know you won't have a clue and will handhold you a bit, and be pretty tolerant. Particularly in an industry which has a huge annual intake of recent graduates.

When you move to future jobs they will expect you to get on with it.

~ What skills do you wish you'd had before you started work?

Budgeting, this is vastly the most important one. Something like the CAP Money system being taught in secondary schools would be great.

Luckily I never messed up too badly on this one - but it would have helped to know that you should keep relationships and work separate. Especially if those are fleeting one night stand types of relationships. you have to see these people when sober the next Monday morning. Some of them might be appraising you in a few years time.

It would have been good to have some training on the differences between average male and average female psychology in the workplace, e.g. asking for promotions / raises, being happy to be in a team vs being singled out as the main achiever etc. Not sure i'd do anything different but I didn't realise for a long time that my approach was non-standard in a mostly male workplace, and my promotions probably suffered as a result.

Lastly, having babies will interrupt your career and your peers will progress whilst you are out of the office. Choose what is important to you, prioritise, and you can get back on the career escalator once the DC are older. Or find a stay at home partner and go back to work after 2 weeks. Life is about choices and priorities, there are few absolutely wrong decisions but many which don't suit your outlook / beliefs / preferences.

~ Who helped you before you started work with advice and support? What sort of support do you wish you had?

Very few people really, I made it up as I went along...

I wish I'd realised I could leave! I stayed in my first job far too long. I was unhappy and so was my employer.

It just didn't really occur to me that it was ok to leave - I wasn't a quitter and saw it as failure, rather than looking after my own career and happiness.