Work Experience

[Krups]

Hey all, I was wondering if any one could provide or knw of any one that can provide any work experience(willing to do non payed). On any mon + tues. As i'm currently doing the nvq at basford hall and need the work to build portfolio to enable me to pass the course(and of course build experience).
I'm based in leicester.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Krups

[WebRam]

Come on guys, anyone help this keen lad ?

[Krups]

cheers webram, bet all the ppl are aslp though... ready for work the next day, while am stuck here doing an assignment on the maintenance/service applications of an integral frozen food display case, woohoo !

Just another quick question, not really spoked to my course tutors about this yet, but when iv finished this course(assuming i pass).
Can i start working in the design side of things specifically a/c applications ? or does that require a "few" years of working in the field as experience ?
Or how about sales ? as service or products sales ?
I find these areas highly interesting and challenging and i think im pretty strong at both.
any ideas ?

[Jasper]

If thats the way you want to go carry on to level three, then do ONC / HNC / HND, Could take a few years, Talk to Mel, he can put you in touch with the right department.

Good Luck

Jasper

[FreezerGeezer]

Hello Krups, and welcome! I'm not in the right region to offer anything, but I hope you find someone soon. With regard to your question about going straight into design - yes, you can do that. However, from my own experience, it's a very good idea to get some service experience. Why? Because half the time the damned designers, builders, architects (and anyone else who can) will screw you up for service work!
Many's the time when service guys have wanted to strangle the designer of a case, or shoot the architect who decided that a space barely large enough to swing a cat was fine to squash a 300ton air cooled chilller into - after all, all service companies employ specially trained mice to work in tight spaces, don't they?
In short, everyone who hasn't been a service technician routinely forgets that these machines need regular maintenance!

Anyway mate, good luck and welcome to the club.

[chemi-cool]

hi krups,

FreezerGeezer is looking at things from a fun point of view but you will never know how right he is unless you take his advice.

my design engineer was the technical manager of a large refrigeration firm before he went to study. that experiance, made him one of the best in his field.

it is vital for you to see some bad design right in the field.

manufacturers are pushing new stuff all the time into design offices, some times it is real s**t, and many times a good design engineer will now how to make the most out of equipment, space, sevrice, easy controll, etc. etc.

have some serious thoughts about getting your hands into compressors oil before.

chemi

[Krups]

i hear fellas, plan is to definitly work in the field as a service eng, totally agree with ya, makes sense to be out there and see what works and what doesnt hands on, and im defo going to do the level 3 nvq.
i think tomor morn il get the yellow pages out and contact every1 in there around leics, to see if i can get that wrk exp rolling, really need to build this portfolio up as course tutors have said thats were most ppl fail the course.
thnx for all the advice folks..
any more is welcome

[Krups]

i called every a/c comp in the yellow pages bassed in leicester, majority could not help, and a few said they'd contact me back when appropriate person is available(fingers crossed).
would have thought i would have got a better response than this ?
seeing as its also non payed..
where to go from here ?

[Krups]

how about a job anyone ?
Ideally A/C servicing would be first choice although willing to consider anything.
I finish the course in june. (Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Lvl 2 Nvq + Rvq Technical Certificates + Safe Handling of Refrigerants 2078)
Have had some experience via the college with a few companies.
I'm based in Leicester, 22yrs old.
Anyone interested I can forward my CV and a covering letter.
Thanks.

[RogGoetsch]

Service, sales or design? Decide which interests you most and go for that. If you are open to all three, that is a plus. If you have the right personality, you will often be offered sales first, but especially if you want to know the field, I wouldn't go that direction unless you are a real "people person" who handles rejection well.

For design you will need more schooling and if you don't get field experience first, please don't design anything I have to work on!

I have always had my best experience in getting hired, both while in school and afterward, by showing up with my resume' in hand. I picked the companies who were doing the kind of work I was interested in, so I had some knowledge of their work and could say why I wanted to work for them ("because I need a job" is the worst answer, I assume you know!)

After sitting on the other side of the desk, I can tell you that resume's with no actual work experience are very common. Phone calls without a resume' are as welcome as any other unsolicited sales pitch: a distraction at best.

But when the secretary drops a resume' on your desk and says the person would like to speak with someone, you immediately know something about his attitude which distinguishes him from others. And in an inexperienced applicant, attitude is as important as education/training and is something that can't be conveyed by a resume' alone.

Forget about the non-paying position. There is no such thing and you won't make any points by asking for one nor are you doing them a favor.

Last point: that resume' is you on paper. No spelling mistakes. Everything we do shows who we are whether we like it or not. Take the time to make it and yourself look professional, if you want to be taken seriously.

Good luck!

Rog

[Krups]

thanks for the advice Rog, all that i pretty much knew, but had overlooked on some of the points. I know now what I must do and will let you guys knw on how it works out

[rbartlett]

it's such a shame you live there

i believe we would gladly take on such a person as you and with marc rambling on about the fundamentals, the education -refrigeration wise- will be second to none..

head south and we'll talk..

cheers

richard

[Krups]

if only it were that easy, rotherwicks abit too far from me