dreaded photocopying). However, it is a task that is fraught with dos and don’ts.


The most obvious problem for me is that I don’t actually drink tea or coffee. Therefore, I don’t exactly seem like a bundle of laughs as I sit there drinking plain water all day. The office probably takes bets over whether one day I’ll go completely wild and order sparkling. Worse still, my lack of experience making the drinks means that I am less than eager to volunteer to make them for other people, lest I give an entire office caffeine poisoning.


Then there is what I call the ‘Beyonce’ problem. As a strong, independent young woman, should I even offer to make drinks for my colleagues? Does this concession immediately relegate me in their minds to the role of ‘tea girl’, never to be trusted with more than going to the shops with the petty cash when we run out of Earl Grey? After all, knowing how to whip up a latte isn’t going to give me a great insight


into my chosen field, unless it is becoming a barista at Starbucks. Then again, if I don’t offer, I run the risk of being seen as acting above my station, unwilling to do the grunt work everyone else has had to do at some point.


Fortunately, I have experienced great internships, where there was


plenty of constructive work to do that made me feel like a valued member of the team. Indeed, there was hardly a spare moment for me to ask if anyone cared for a coffee, but that doesn’t mean that it’s something that I don’t worry about. So employers, I ask you to be nice to the poor work experience girl in the corner gulping her glass of water…


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74