Boundless Work Experience
Better Together Alliance - Melbourne Boundless Work Experience
Monday the 1st of May was the start of a unique Melbourne experience for Year 10 students across the Better Together Alliance. Students from Mooroopna and McGuire Secondary, Shepparton High School and Wanganui Park Secondary College had the opportunity to apply and be chosen to work in a professional environment that demonstrated the diverse jobs available in a city culture organized by the amazing Boundless team (Sonia, Melanie and Cameron).
The Work Experience camp runs for a week and involves students working for 4 days in a range of workplaces such as Mercedes Benz (Marketing), Maurice and Blackburn (Law), Elenberg Fraser (Architecture) and Math Pathways that relates to their particular career interest. We took part in normal tasks that the other employees were also completing such as sketching technical architecture drawings, changing and updating websites, researching and reporting on Victorian Laws, creating posters and even looking over medical procedures in a hospital. These tasks, gave us students the ability to learn and develop our overall perception of what our future could hold and demonstrate the types of careers we could pursue.
It wasn’t just the work that was great, so was the food. In the evenings we went out for dinner we ate a variety of pizza and pasta at busy and glamourous restaurants especially on the night of our ‘celebration dinner’. Meals cooked in front of us, plastic cards swiped, it was a taste of how diverse and technically advanced Melbourne’s restaurants are. We also were able to go shopping at Melbourne Central when we had time and were given periods of free time on Monday, the first day.
This opportunity has exceeded the expectations of myself and other students, as we were surprised by how inviting and comfortable our workplaces and work colleagues were. We also shocked ourselves with how much we achieved and learnt in the short period of time. Before working at the Victorian Law Reform Commission I had no idea what their role was in our legal system. After 4 days I came out of my workplace, at the Victorian Law Reform Commission, with extensive knowledge of their system; being able to describe it to others, I came out with an expanded vocabulary and a respect for their passion and continuous effort into making our State a better place.
Work Experience Camp was not just a way to connect and develop relationships in workplaces but to also experience the city life and meet new people. We definitely met new people, as most of us slept in a room with 11 other people. At first no one was very enthusiastic about this arrangement but it grew on us and strangers from other Alliance schools slowly became friends. I started this week without being close to anyone on this camp but by the end of it I had developed friendships that will endure. Coming home from work after a 9-5 day we were able to engage in intelligent conversations about our day that made us feel like adults. Our independence grew and shortly these 11 other people became like a family, helping each other get ready in the morning and grabbing a coffee together. I would recommend this camp to anyone that has the opportunity.
It’s not only an opportunity to help you understand your career options but to also help students recognize that we shouldn’t set limits on what we can achieve and where we achieve it, because there is a much bigger world out there. There are jobs we didn’t even know existed and there are workplaces that aren’t meant for us. I wish I could do this camp a thousand times!
Lainey Sutton
Advertising - Publicis
Jack & Georgia - Creating ads for tissues, creating ideas for ads, attending a briefing, research and create sketches for idea, presenting finalized ideas.
‘I enjoyed creating the sketches and learning more about different companies and how they operate, also being able to compare the difference in lifestyle to what I’m used to’.
Photos of Jack & Georgia below:
Law - Allens Linklaters, Victorian Law Reform Commission, Maurice & Blackburn
Hannah - Completing activities based around corporate law, analysing case studies (civil negligence), research news article and reflect the effects of parties, make a resume and attend meetings.
Josh - Visits to Supreme Court and the Library, meeting a Commission member and the Attorney General, undergoing legislation research.
Photos of Josh & Hannah below, also Shekinah, Seth & Lainey.
Architecture - Metier3, Elenberg Fraser
Sketching designs, site visits, drew floor plans, technical drawings, interior designing, attended project briefings.
Writing briefings. Disliked using computer programing, as it was frustrating and repetitive. ‘I thoroughly enjoyed visiting architectural sites, whilst also completing a series of apartment designs that have a representation of my design flare’.
Photos of Tapiwa, Kamran, Pat & Brodie below:
Marketing - Mercedes Benz
Learning about truck safety, learning about performance based systems (heavy trucking industry making vehicle safety more effective). Interacting with other senior employees, designed poster about PBS to update website. I enjoyed interacting with others in the workplace as it gave me a better understanding of my career opportunities.
See photos of Mitch & Riley below:
Math Pathways -
Education consultants
Jorja - Computer program, designing social media posts and advertising, puzzles, math equations, attended meetings.
Enjoyed talking to everyone in the workplace about their careers and how they have become to gain their job.
Royal Melbourne Hospital Medical research
Brooke - Attended consultations with patients, helped monitor sleeping routines of patients, oversaw medical procedures including bronchoscopy, took part in administration tasks. Most enjoyable task was taking part in administration.
See Brooke's photo below:
