Telephone
the placement company before your work placement:
- to introduce yourself to your placement supervisor
- to ask for information about the company, what tasks you will be doing on the placement and to confirm some practical arrangements (e.g. clothing, start and finish times)
- to answer questions from your placement supervisor, which might include explaining what you want from the placement.
Practice Active Listening – pay
attention to other people so that they feel you understand what they are
saying. You may need to do this in the following situations:
- induction briefing – e.g. about health and safety procedures
- explanation of work tasks
- taking messages from customers or colleagues
- in team meetings where key facts and decisions are discussed
- listening and observing colleagues to learn new skills or techniques
- dealing with customers or service users
Speak
clearly and logically:
- think through what you want to say, making sure you get the information in a logical order and do not forget anything
- write down the key points in order
- How clear was the information? Was anything missed out? Was the tone and speed appropriate?
Prepare
for face-to-face meetings – you may need to do this with your supervisor to:
- discuss your progress during a placement
- be given specific information about a particular task that you have been asked to do
- report or discuss a problem that may have arisen.
Take the
opportunity to talk to people about their jobs, what they do and how they got
there.
