Navigating the World of Work, or at Least a Week of It

World of Work is scary.

But first, what exactly is World of Work? Well, it’s a program that the Western Academy of Beijing (WAB) offers all Grade 10 students towards the end of the year, a week-long program that encourages students to find an internship they’re interested in – either one they organize themselves or, the more common approach, one organized by the school. The preparation for World of Work includes writing up a CV, taking online career counseling tests, and learning about professionalism in the workplace. But what is the experience actually like?

For most WAB students it serves as a whole bunch of “firsts:” the first time they intern somewhere, the first time they write a résumé, and perhaps even the first time they consider life after high school. Which is a point that feels a lot closer now that next year’s IB preparations are underway.

Unless you can land your own placement, you simply inform the school of your interests and skills and they set you up with a place to work. Simple as that. No visiting places beforehand, no knowing where or what you might end up doing. You’re just assigned a job roughly based on your interests and off you go for a whole week, with a randomly assigned teacher checking in on you during one of the days. This is definitely enough to freak out any high school student who’s simultaneously worried about exams, course selection, clubs, after-school activities, and maybe even moving away and saying their final goodbyes to WAB. The point is, there’s a lot of stuff to worry about at the end of Grade 10.

But…

As it turns out a lot of that stress was unnecessary and caused by the additional things going on with school and the end of this year. In fact, after exams are done and a mere two weeks are left before summer break begins, maybe an internship and some time away from campus are just what we all need. Because yes, CV writing and signing up for internships that you don’t know anything about is daunting and feels like they should be happening a couple of years in the future, at least. On the same token, however, there isn’t any risk to it. It’s a good opportunity to go out into the world and do something that pushes us outside our comfort zone, instead of staying in the sheltered environment that is school.

For my internship, I was assigned to work at Jingkids International for a week (as some of you might’ve guessed by now). And I’m really happy with my placement. I am very interested in writing, and this feels like an environment I can see myself working in. WAB seems to have gotten it right for the most part – at least they definitely did in my case. It’s really quite impressive how, year after year, they can manage to assign 100+ students individual internships for a whole week. And so far, at least in my experience, it’s going well. All the people are nice and the work feels meaningful and enjoyable. After all, I’m writing this article about it!

What’s more, a quick inquiry of my fellow interns suggests that I’m not the only one enjoying my time at Jingkids and they’re all very excited for the rest of the week. “I’m really looking forward to having the opportunity to write about things that I’m interested in and passionate about,” says Charlie V. Likewise, San H. is looking forward to “being able to see what it really is like in the real world and how a media company like this really works.” “I’m excited about getting new experiences and opportunities in a real workplace environment,” says Claire K. And Amber K. says she’s most excited about “[learning]from people who already have careers in fields that I am interested in potentially pursuing.”

Really, the most important thing any student should get out of this week is a fun experience, one in which they enjoy the work that they do and take something meaningful away from it. Even if it’s something as small as finding a new and great Mexican restaurant down the street.

Images: San Hofstede

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