There are many things I have learnt working in the office, so here are just a few.

1) It’s okay to make mistakes on your first day

I cannot tell you how many times I had to photocopy something to get it to come out correctly. But then a lot of that was I didn't know how to use the printing machine, but people are kind and often will take the time to teach you because the sooner you understand how to do something, the sooner they don’t have to help you do it!

2) If there's something you don't know, chances are someone else will

Learning who deals with what problem is a big help when working front of house, while if tend to deal with smaller problems, some of the time people come in with bigger problems that someone higher up can help with.

3) I cannot sort out every problem but I can help every person

While these sounds like it may be contradictory I have learnt that I do not know every answer and some problems don't have a simple answer but I can be warm, welcoming, calm and pleasant to every person who comes to see us. And by doing that, I feel I can help everyone, if only a little bit

4) The power of social media

Since attending the social media workshop I appreciated the use of platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Now, I get to update UMAX’s social media every week! It’s awesome to see what you were taught to be put into practise and benefit the service.

5) The joy of front of house!

I mean, have you seen me doing my job? I am smiling, constantly. SO constantly in fact that my cheeks hurt after my day in office! I am actually paid to be nice to people and say hello to everyone and help people in the office. I never thought I would make a good front of house person and have always seen myself as a “behind the scenes” type of person who could do all the work but didn’t want to be at the front the business, but here I am, 6 weeks in and feeling proud to be sat here, doing tasks such as social media updates and typing things up and sorting other things out!

So, there you have it, my top 5 things that I have learnt about my job, employment in general and myself since I started working as part of UMAX. Needless to say I love my job and you can bet your bottom dollar this list will grow exponentially before I finish for summer!

Catch you next time

Claire T

:)