For my work experience, I opted to go to a local chemist, 'Health Serve Pharmacy', which is in Evington.

Work Experience Speech

For my work experience, I opted to go to a local chemist, ‘Health Serve Pharmacy’, which is in Evington. Initially, I wanted to go to a pharmacy for the first week, and a local community centre for the second week. However, due to the cost implications involved, the school said that it would be better if I remained at one place for the whole two weeks. For this reason, I chose to work in a chemist for both weeks. I thought that by working in a chemist, I would learn the key skills required in retail, and I would be able to boost my confidence. During the course of my placement at the chemist, I regretted my decision. I began to wish that I had gone to the community centre, because I would have been able to meet a wide diversity of people, whereas, in the chemist, I met the same people everyday.

My first day at the chemist went contrary to my expectations. I obviously expected to be greeted by my supervisor, and thereafter explained the health and safety regulations. However, this was not the case. When I reached the chemist, I asked to see my supervisor, but was surprised to find out that she was on holiday, and would be returning the following day. The other staff at the chemist had no idea which tasks to set me with, so I spent the entire day tidying shelves and restocking.

I worked daily, from 10am to 6.30pm, with a 1½-hour ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

I worked daily, from 10am to 6.30pm, with a 1½-hour lunch break.

My second day at the placement was quite different. As my supervisor had returned from her holiday, she explained to me the health and safety rules, and the fire alarm procedure.

Another member of staff then taught me how to take prescriptions from customers, and how to deal with them. I also learned how to unpack deliveries, and how to check them against the invoices.

I literally carried out the same tasks on a day-to-day basis. That is, I cleaned the chemist, arranged goods neatly, opened up pharmaceutical deliveries, and arranged invoices in chronological order. Due to this, I found the tasks at my placement quite tedious, monotonous and repetitive.

Except for learning how to use the pricing gun, which is not a very hard skill to acquire, I do not think that I learnt much else.

I think that my placement would have been much more interesting had I been able to assist the pharmacist in preparing the medicines, even if I was constantly supervised.

Although the chemist was rather busy at times, I felt quite bored, because I had nothing to do as such. The work that needed to be done had to be carried out by a professional, and so in many cases, I was of no avail whatsoever.

To conclude my speech, I would like to say that although my work placement was a good experience overall, I have decided never to go into retail, as the tasks are repetitive and tedious.

This has encouraged me to work harder in school and achieve the best grades possible for me, in order to be able to choose a career that I personally enjoy.