‘Yeah, my name’s Sarah’ I said in a rather weak tone, I could feel the blood rushing to my face already, what a dazzling first impression.
I went back downstairs and I met two other girls who had work experience there, one of whom had already done a week there.
When Portia finally arrived, we were given a tour by one of the juniors and shown what jobs to do. These jobs included sweeping up hair, making foils, putting products back on the shelf, cleaning sections, washing towels, washing bleach and getting clients drinks.
I was told to go and stand of the salon floor and look for jobs that needed doing. So I stood there, that’s all I did just stand there, every time I was a job that needed doing it was already being done, I felt completely useless.
My break came and I was glad I would be able to sit down, at long last it had only been a few hours but my feet were killing me. I went to sit outside in the courtyard with some of the staff. I sat there for 15 minutes, nobody looked at me, or made any acknowledgement that I was even there.
The rest of the day continued in much the same fashion. The last few hours of the day really seemed to drag on and I couldn’t wait to leave. I was out that door at exactly five o’clock, and it wasn’t a moment too soon. I hated the first day, but I know it can take a while to settle into a new job, so I wasn’t too worried about the remainder of the week.
I didn’t arrive so early on the second day, the thought of waiting around in the pokiest sweatiest staff room in Britain didn’t really appeal. As soon as I got there, I was asked to do towels, I’d been shown how to do these the previous day. As I opened the tumble dryer the stench of damp was unbelievable, mixed with the hot, sweaty air of the staff room the smell was intoxicating.
When I returned to the salon floor, there was nothing to do, between four work experience girls and four juniors the jobs were few and far between. When Portia and I returned from our lunch break there were piles of washing up, sections to clear, hair to sweep, the towel bin was overflowing and spilling its contents all over the floor. We worked frantically for the next half hour trying to return the salon to order, on one the hottest day of the year, working in oversized cupboards and running up and down three flights of stairs was not the most pleasant experience. Standing there folding what seemed like hundreds of towels, I could feel my feet aching, my legs felt like they were going to give way, my head was throbbing and I was swelteringly hot. I was secretly dreading the next three days, today had been even worse than the first
By the next morning I was starting to loose faith, all this work didn’t seem worthwhile and I wasn’t sure what I was gaining or learning from this experience. It was becoming easier to find jobs to do, however the work load was still divided by 8 eight people. When I found out they were going to teach us how to wash hair I was really nervous, once again I could feel the butterflies and my stomach was tying itself in knots. Of course it looked easy enough but I know it would a lot harder than that, sure enough it was. I was trying so hard not to drench this lady with water, shampoo in the correct soothing directions. It was then she approached, the manager, Jill.
‘Aren’t you done yet?’ she questioned, staring deep into my eyes.
‘Err, um, no I’m sorry.’ I answered just loud enough for her to hear me over the constant moan of hairdryers. She starred at me with disgust and anger, turned on her heel and left. I was horrified I quickly let one of the juniors take over and I skulked off to wash brushes in the bleach cupboard.
Over the last three days I’d started to notice that most of the juniors and stylists seemed really put out if we asked them a question, or tried to talk to them during a break, it seemed to be inconvenient to be polite towards us. The staff didn’t seem very considerate or understanding towards us, all we were doing was the mundane jobs for free, I mean part of this wonderful experience and opportunity. I really hated work experience by now and just wanted this awful week to be over.
The next morning there was a team bonding exercise, so as a valued part of the team we were asked to sit at the opposite end of the salon and keep quiet. By now it was quite easy to find jobs, this was probably because the other two girls were starting to get really lazy, by now these menial tasks were really starting to bore me. Even the juniors thought of us as slaves, one said to me when I was sweeping the stairs at the end of the day ‘Where are the others, skiving again, you’re the only good little worker’. I really can’t wait to get out of here!
The next morning I dragged my feet along the pavement walking as slowly as possible praying I would never get to work. But this morning wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated. I was asked to go and get 40 one-pound coins from the bank and sent to WH Smith to buy magazines, however I was given no money which proved to be a I was told slight problem. While I was there, I was asked to return several CD’s. Finding the CD’s in what is possibly the world messiest, hottest, and smallest office in the world was not an easy task, and took several attempts. When I finally returned to the salon floor, there was once again nothing to do.
I could hardly wait for my lunch break, I stood there watching every second tick past for a full hour, when my break finally came, I ran out of the salon, I was so relieved not to be in there, I couldn’t face going back.
I feel that work experience is quite pointless, as it didn’t really teach me a lot about a career in hair dressing, I’d have been better off working for my actual employer, as I like the people and the working environment there. What I did learn, was that I want go to college and do well, so I will be able to get a job I really like, then I’ll never have to be a hairdressing junior again. I also learned that you should always make an effort to get on with, and be polite as possible to people you work with, as it makes your working life a whole lot more enjoyable.