Choosing a training stage
We’ve just got past one of the little hurdles that come along every now and again – this time, helping younger daughter to find a place where she can do her ‘work experience week’ in February. These weeks are, in principle at least, quite a good idea – every 14 year old spends a week out with a local business getting a tiny glimpse of the real world.
The challenge is that in rural France the options for work are, let’s say, rather limited. People in our local town all seem to do jobs from children’s story books – policeman, shopkeeper, teacher, farmer and so on – and there is little hope of saying ‘I’d like to try a week in graphic design‘ or ‘perhaps a spell in computer programming would be interesting‘.
The whole range of ‘office’ jobs, from sales to finance, computing to banking, journalism to personnel etc, is missing from our small community – and that includes rather a large part of the real world, and is pretty often also the part of the world where people end up.
As a result the choice of where to do these ‘training stages’ is smaller that you might think. Then consider that estate agents, tourist offices, cafes and restaurants etc are pretty darned quiet in February – so they get ruled out as options because they will be exceptionally boring. So the question rapidly becomes ‘Can you think of anywhere at all that is lively enough to spend a week working?‘ rather than ‘Where could I pick up useful work experience?‘
One popular answer is the local ‘maternelles’ (nursery schools), so as soon as the training week dates are known there is a mad rush to the maternelles to try and be first to ask, beg, plead or pay for a posting. Hence given the stiff competition for places daughter 2 is very pleased to have got a placement in one of these local nursery schools. Mrs B promises me no money changed hands so I assume there must have been a lot of begging and pleading.
Net result? We can enjoy Christmas without having to pass time convincing local tradesfolk how charming our children are. They are charming, of course, it’s just not always easy to convince other people.
A week in the local bread-shop should go down well,and a way to meet more older people.
I think any experience like this is so very good for young people. Part time work whilst in further education is also s good thing. I have worked since I was 12. I had a milk round on Sat & Sun mornings from 8am till 12 noon for I was paid 30p for 8 hours work plus any tips as I was collecting the money. I loved it as it gave me money that my parents could not afford to give me. I had that job till I was 15 and went into 5th form and changed my job to a bakers delivery boy working every evening and all morning Saturday with Sunday and Tuesday off. I was provided with a delivery bike and paid 75p a week plus tips. I kept that job for 2 years before full time work. That experience was invaluable to me in showing me how hard it was to get on in the real world. thankfully its not like that any more, but there is nothing to beat real life experence. you do not need a university degree to be wealthy, but it should give you an easier life. I wish your daughter well and hope she enjoys it. I am retired now but ended up as a company executive without a degree and it was hardwork. We have lived all over Britain and Europe and we loved every bit of it.
I had a paper-round when I was quite young, 12 or 13, then later helped out Saturdays at a local market gardeners. I guess it was a valuable experience but I wouldn’t like to send our girls out now at 6am on a winter’s morning. It was OK in the summer but pretty tough when it was cold and raining, and very dark because a lot of the round was on the edges of a rural village. Still, I used to get a ‘bonus’ bar of chocolate every Sunday because the bag was so heavy, and Christmas tips were very exciting!
Certainly it will be a shock to both our daughters when they find themselves having to work hard for a living…
i would hope at 14 yrs old they are aware that life can be hard.If not i think you have failed them,