Goodbye and good luck

After worrying in my last post about what will happen after i leave NSG it turns out I needn't have worried as I have found a job and start next week :). I finish at Novas Scarman today :o(

I have really enjoyed my time here and feel it has been a great stop gap for me in between finding a new job. I have learnt so many new and interesting skills that will help me in the future such as working with CRM systems, collecting and writing content for the company website/intranet and so much more.

I'm very grateful to the Future jobs fund and Novas Scarman for giving me this opportunity over the past 5 months.

Future Jobs Fund is a real worthwhile scheme if you put the hard work in. You can learn a lot and gain a lot of experience and confidence which was quite important to me after being out of work for so long it did have an effect on my confidence.

I hope my experience will help others and realise that if they work hard there is a work life after NSG and FJF.

I want to thank everyone at NSG for their time and effort especially Justin Morris who was my manager in the coms dept for his time and effort with me.

I wish the rest of the FJF guys all the luck for the future.

Katie Williams, 24

Half way point..

I have reached the near half way point in my employment contract and I have continued to fulfil my previous duties amongst new tasks which include: ensuring record keeping and fundraising database files are managed and maintained to give accuracy and a high quality source of information for use of the group, as well as researching new funding streams and fundraising activities. In this part of the work my main responsibilities are to maintain the work I have produced so that it is up-to-date, Also I have been doing research into sourced contacts i.e. obtaining contact details and assisting my manager to stream line her processes and workload to give added efficiency.

Jerome Prince, 24

May Already.....

So it’s May already can’t believe how fast this year is going. Soon it will be half way through the year than dare I say we will all be thinking about Christmas again…Eeeek!!! Scary. Also very conscious that my contract here at Novas Scarman will be coming to a head in July. I hope by than I have a full time job lined up I don’t want to have to sign on again and visit the dreaded jobcentre :-O

It’s a shame FJF contracts are not longer than 6 months because afterwards if you don’t have a job lined up what do you do? Go back on the dull? Do another 6 months somewhere else? It will be nice to have some job stability again.

Over the past few weeks I have been a busy bee. I have been working on our new Intranet system, getting to grips with the functions, updating staff directory, and adding content. My boss described as the “intranet guru” the other day hehehe not quite sure I’m up to guru status but I’m grateful for the praise.

One of the other tasks I am working on is an internal communications strategy and how to get people engaging with their colleagues. It is very important that people communicate with other’s something that I think doesn’t always happen in places. If anyone reading this has any ideas please feel free to comment and let me know your ideas. Two heads are better than one as they say.

Right back to work now will update again soon. In the meantime also look out for other FJF employee’s and their blog entries.

Katie Williams 24

Developing my skills

It has been over three months since I started my FJF placement at Novas and I now feel comfortable within my position and more confident about my ability to carry out assigned tasks. One advantage to being an FJF recruit at Novas is that I have the opportunity to attend a number of training courses, each aimed at developing my skills within a particular area of work. The courses are varied, for example, some are designed to improve confidence and communication skills, skills that are essential for progression in any job, whilst other courses like find your focus, encourage you to think a little about your own specific goals. I have attended three of these courses so far, Find Your Focus was particularly useful as I left with a better understanding of the sort of area of work I would like to go into. For me this is a significant step forward as not knowing what I wanted to do was really hindering my progression.

Holly Inch, 24

Over a month working at Novas Scarman

The six weeks that I have been working for NSG seemed to have flown by at a fleeting pace. My two previous jobs were nothing of the sort- at stadium leisure, every minute was uncomfortable, and hours dragged at Debenhams, whereupon my experience mainly revolved around 'recovery' (in other words tidying the shelves every five minutes). NSG is nothing like this- finally I've found an occupation that I thoroughly enjoy, and one that is challenging-one to look forward to waking up every morning, which is something I never expected.

I seem to have moulded to the shape of my job almost effortlessly, naturally, unconsciously. A workmate said to me that because of how laid back and comfortable I seemed, she said it felt like 'I had been working there for ages'. This was a warming comment, and only then did I begin to realise that I felt that way too. Sometimes I'm so comfortable that I accidentally stay an extra half hour by accident without even realising!

I am happy to have this Easter holiday to relax and also reflect. Though with a cold, I feel a sense of purpose in my life again, and feel comfortable exactly where I am in my life now.

steve fretter, 24

Half way through....

Three Months in and everything is still going well. I can’t believe I am half way through my contract here at Novas Scarman.

The training courses have started. A list of the courses we could attend throughout our time here was sent to us to choose and I have attended 2 courses so far, one on Project management and one on new media & Social networking both have been really interesting. Project management gave me a really good insight into the best way of planning projects, like what you need to think about before and during, and different tools to use. It was also nice to meet some more FJF employee’s.

Over the next coming weeks I have booked on to attend Confidence and assertiveness in the work place, working with management and communicating effectively and relationship building.

As part of my day to day job I have been given the task of updating the intranet which is a really big job, I will also be attending some training sessions on this and possibly running them for other people as this is something I will use a lot. Also I am working on ideas for an external newsletter something that I have never done before. I think this will be a good opportunity for me to liaise with other members of the organisation and learn some valuable skills which can be transferred into my next job.

Katie Williams, 24

My Confidence is back...

It’s been 3 months since I started working for Novas Scarman I feel a lot better about my work and my skills. My confidence is back and I can express my ideas and know that they will be taken onboard and acted upon.

Like my plan to generate more business. This plan was the development of a cinema night at the CUC that is open to the staff and the public. I saw an opportunity and acted on it. It did take a while to put the action into place as I wasn’t too sure who was in charge of what in our department. I feel I have joined a really good team. I have met difference types of people outside of our marketing team who know a bit about something. I usually like to think of myself as a self proclaimed “know it all” but I have learnt a few new things about the use of social media and podcasting. To me these seemed like places that people went (online or radio) to have a moan about something and take no action. But I was shown by my boss that it could be used as a business to business communication tool. I was still unsure at first why businesses would want to use this tool. But with new media increasing in use, businesses have to adapt keep up with the trend of the customer.

I think I joined Novas Scarman at a good time, the organisation is currently looking at rebranding and as this was an area I wanted to go into when I left Uni. My boss has invited me along to the branding meeting to see what I can pick up and I have also been told about the opportunity to work one extra day a week at a new media agency.

Watch this space.

Victor Ohene, 23.