Executive Summary

Colbourne College sees the role of higher education as critical for on-going development in
Jamaica as it provides significant opportunities to drive competitiveness both nationally and
regionally among students. Work placements are acknowledged as one of the early instruments
for instigating partnerships between higher education and trade. As the nature and scope of
businesses are rapidly changing, the capabilities that future employees will require are also
changing. Work placements afford prospects for more collaboration between tertiary institutions
and employers, in order to exploit resources and prepare graduates with required skills for the
workplace. Competences acquired from non-formal and informal situations are vital parts of
individual learning.
To contextualize work placements for this report, a review of the existing literature on work
placements was piloted. These literature findings are abridged and presented in the first section
of the report. One of the key messages arising from the literature search is that the global
economic downturn has placed a new emphasis on employability and exchangeable skills. Work
placements provide a unique and valuable learning experience for students to enable them to
gain the transferable universal skills that employers seek.
Blackwell et al. (2001) witnessed that good quality work-based learning has six characteristics:

Stakeholders students, employers, academic staff, and employees all understand

the underlying intentions. It is meaningful;

The quality of work experience is greatly improved by prior orientation and briefing for all
concerned; by enablement of on-going reflection; by debriefing, reflection and
identification of outcomes. Learning is the ultimate goal.

Work experience is endorsed so that it is taken seriously;

Developmental assessment is used to support the process of learning from work

experience;

Students build up a work-experience portfolio

Students can say what they have learned, provide illustrations and, if need be,
commentary. There is effective reflection.

Acknowledging the importance of the three stakeholders in the work placement experience
higher education institutions, employers, and students observed research was conducted
with these three associates to determine the current state of work-placement facility. The
findings from the research are presented in the second section of the report.

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1.1. Select a suitable host organisation

1.2. Explain the structure of the host organisation and the sector in which it
operates

Introduction
Over the decades, Jamaican education has undergone many reforms, endured many
strict reproaches, and managed to stay quite the same. Schools were intended to
organize students for work, the military, technical schools, and colleges. While the
importance was upon the academics, many tertiary institutions did participate in workbased learning, usually under the supports of the job-related departments.
Work-based learning was not then, and is not now new to the Jamaican education
system. Its roots lie in our agricultural past. When crops needed to be harvested, barns
built, and other seasonal chores completed; these youths left the confines of the
classroom and learned by experience many lessons not taught in the traditional school
setting. Over the years, students continued to leave school to go to work, but the school
basically ignored the employer and the student once the student left the school campus.
The host company in which I chose was Colbourne College. Colbourne College is a
Tertiary Institution that is registered by the Ministry of Education and is located in
Jamaica that delivers UK Higher National Diplomas awarded by Pearson BTEC
(Pearson of Pearson College, London and Pearson Edexcel one of four national
examination bodies in the UK).
Colbourne College operates in the service industry and as such is an ideal company for
me to garner skills and knowledge to aspire towards my career choice.

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2.1. Negotiate appropriate aims, objectives and targets for the

work-based project task

Objectives
To gain a greater understanding of the world of work and how businesses

operate
learn what an employer will expect of me as an employee ie punctuality, dress
code etc
To learn new skills such as sending a fax, using a photocopier, speaking to
customers on the phone, taking messages, working with others, following
instructions etc.
To make a decide on what kind of work I might choose when I leave school
To understand more about the skills needed for different jobs in order to make a
more informed decision about a choice of career

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1.3. Explain how the industry experience would support the development of
an appropriate management report
2.2. Evaluate how the aims, objectives and targets will benefit both the
organization and self
3.1 research suitable information to inform the work based activity
Literature Review
Locating literature which directly reflects student expectations is not as ample as
literature involving employers anticipations. Even though the student is directly
involved, most literature seems to revolve around employers expectations and
concerns, the schools addressing of curriculum changes to accommodate work-based
learning, and the set up and arrangement of such programs by (tertiary) schools.
Some literature did directly address students involved in youth internship programs,
which are work-based learning. I assessed my experiences as an active way to gain
skills for competitive work after college. In a related study, Schneider stated, Most
young people are not interested in running a Ferris wheel. This is not a long-term job for
them (Schneider, 1999). They perceived such low-skills jobs as working in a
supermarket, restaurant, or fast food establishment as ways to earn spending money,
not as means to later employment which is a typical scenario among young adults in
Jamaica.
When career focus is an integral part of work-based learning, the majority of students
accepted the value of integrating school and work-based learning. Students seemed to
be more motivated to engage in this work experience because of the career focus. They
also expressed appreciation for the opportunity to translate theoretical knowledge into
practical application (Phelps, 1995).
Schneider felt that if students understood more about the corporate side of the
organizations for which they workthe management, the industry, and other decisionmaking processes, they would then see the connections between this work and possible
careers related to their job (1999).

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When involved in work-based learning which demanded more higher level technological
skills, students generally found their work-based experiences to not only be rich in
opportunities to practice, but were providers of increased skills in problem-solving,
critical thinking, and teamwork skills. An analysis conducted by Scribner in 1998 found
that 92 percent of interns and recent graduates rated their work-based learning
experience as excellent. Much enthusiasm stemmed from opportunities to perform
hands-on learning at work which was not possible in the school setting.
Service related work-based experiences are dependent upon performing mundane,
routine tasks and customer satisfaction. Students often perceive these jobs as tedious
and boring, thus absenteeism and tardiness run high. Negative employee attitude
affects customer satisfaction. Customers have clear expectations of politeness and
cordiality while students perceptions of these qualities often clash. When an employee
does an unsatisfactory job, the customers are quick to register their disapproval. Other
service attributes such as physical appearances, responsiveness, and empathy can
also cause difficulty when they do not achieve minimal levels (Davis, 1999).
When involved in work-based learning which necessitated more higher level
technological skills, students generally found their work-based experiences to not only
be rich in opportunities to practice, but were providers of increased skills in problemsolving, critical thinking, and teamwork skills. A survey conducted by Scribner in 1998
found that 92 percent of interns and recent graduates rated their work-based learning
experience as excellent. Much interest stemmed from opportunities to perform hands-on
learning at work which was not possible in the school setting. They found their workbased learning provided opportunities to practice and acquire problem-solving, critical
thinking, and teamwork skills, as well as other soft skills such as working as part of a
team.
Literature which reports the assessment of personal transferable skills during workbased employment on the college level indicated students perceived an increase in their
proficiency in all skills better at the end of their placements than at the beginning. There
are significant increases in using appropriate communication channels for motivating
others, problem solving, and prioritizing. Students rating of job related professional
skills revealed a similar picture of development to that of general soft skills. Information
technology, report writing, and business presentations were all reported as improving
dramatically from the beginning to the end of placement (Smith, 1992).

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Historically, Jamaican education had viewed the workplace as the end result for
learning, rather than seeing it as a learning opportunity in itself (Hoye, 1999). As early
as 1985, industry and business legislatures expressed extreme dissatisfaction between
the gap of skills requirements for entry level employment and the skills controlled by
those seeking these jobs (Cotton, 1999). Most importantly, employers were not as upset
with the skills performance as they were with non-technical skills, also known as
employability skills.
These skills were identified as reading, basic arithmetic and other basic skills such as
problems solving, decision-making, and other higher-order thinking skills.
How students approach work-based learning also profoundly affects their opinions. If
their only intent is to earn money, their satisfaction with work-based learning is much
lower. If their intent is to learn skills which will benefit them in the future, their success is
far greater. When students could see the connection between vocational classes,
academic classes, and their work experiences, they quickly could see the transferability
of such skills to a number of future careers (Scribner, 1998).

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Methodology
This research was carried out using several different methods.
The data to be collected will be done in the most appropriate way to be analyzed and
discussed. Some of which were questionnaires, relevant literatures search, focus group
and interviews with company staff.
Talking one-on-one with inside personnel allows the researcher to get up to date
information that has not been publicly published as yet. Here the problem of the validity
of the information might arise but when used along with the literature text the
information was proven to be correct.
The literature search includes online databases (Website), newspapers and journals. A
challenge faced was that this method does not yield timely information.
The focus group which consisted of students is used to explore different ideas from
each individual. When this method was being used the researcher found out that it
created conflict and it was contradictory.
The main source of data collection will be done through means of personal experience.
The information needed will be gathered through the use of different on the job
methods. Also the use of online books will be used to collect some information that will
be needed. People within various businesses will be interrogated to receive vital and
firsthand information about the computer operations, the importance of management
within the business and all the project requires to be done.
A secondary means of data sourcing will be from company journals and their website.
Several management books will be used to collect data.

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3.2. Maintain a reflective practice journal to monitor progress

3.3. Assess how the development of skills and behaviours improved own
knowledge of working practices, making recommendations for improvement

Reflective paper
The organization which I chose to work, and gain lifelong experience is Colbourne
College. Colbourne College is a Tertiary Institution that has been in operation for the
past eighteen (18) years. The main office to Colbourne College is located in Kingston.
(Colbourne College)
Colbourne College employs the Bureaucratic structure as their ideal organizational
structure because this structure has a certain degree of standardization. Where, as the
organization grows, a bureaucratic structures are required for management. Colbourne
College is a private education institute.

Colbourne College has two main strategies which are to:

Ensure that the important traditions in the business and tourism core disciplines
are retained while the institution responds to the needs of its evolving student
population with cutting-edge academic programming and continuously improving
facilities.
Ensure an ambitious, three year plan called Colbourne College: Vision 2015
that is designed to enhance the overall student experience, increase the faculty
and student support staff, and upgrade and expand facilities.
My contribution to achieving these strategies is to recruit as many students as possible
and to complete any given task efficiently and effectively this will benefit me as an
individual by feeling a sense of accomplishment on my part as a member of staff.
Success can have a number varied meanings for different people. A successful person
may be defined as one who earns a lot of money in their job, or success might be best
found in a person working in an honorary post. Success lies in the eye of the beholder.
What we ourselves consider as successful might be very different from what other
people think about success.

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My colleagues say that Im confident, organized and outgoing. This has stemmed from
my experiences working for my mother over the past few years in various fields, which
has enabled me to develop certain key skills such as; customer service,
management/directing, marketing and sales, confidence, teamwork and
professionalism. I analyzed the skills which Ive already acquired and merged the skills
into a role which I would like to purse my future career in, customer service agent or
marketer. A marketer/customer service agent requires skills such as; Great
Communication Skills, Time Management, confidence as they pitch ideas to client and
the team, and to work well within a team. Therefore, I took this opportunity of work
experience to seek for future placement.
The work placement was accomplished by being chosen for a position during summer
break, which lead to a student officer at Colbourne College. The Initial meeting with the
student services office took place in June 2011 and to secure the placement I had to be
proactive and persistent in receiving the work experience. The work experience
consisted of a two months placement until the fall semester. As a University
requirement, the work experience had to fill a twenty day period and to fill in the extra
days I received a weeks work experience with Colbourne College.
The degree course that Im studying has developed my abstract knowledge of the
industry; however I would like to integrate my theoretic knowledge into real life
experiences. This was accomplished by three different work experiences which enabled
me to improve upon my degree and skills.
Colbourne College a private tertiary institution permitted me to work as a student
recruitment officer. This allowed me to put my marketing skills and knowledge to the test
as I had to conduct a competitor analysis for the organization, identify the market sector
and to complete research on competitors on search engines such as Google, Yahoo
and Bing and to make calls as a mystery shopper. The outcome of this task was to
develop my marketing and interpersonal skills.
In completion of the competitor analysis, it highlighted key words which competitors
were using within search engines and important rates and fees. I suggested that
Colbourne College could incorporate a tagline under their logo on the website as a few

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words could focus their marketing strategy and convey a clear message to consumers
what the business does. This wasnt part of the brief, but I drew upon my theoretical
knowledge and believed a tagline would convey a clear marketing message

The overall experience with Colbourne College was very insightful as I applied my
marketing knowledge to a real life case and a business. I learnt the process of time
management as I assumed some tasks were not going to be as time consuming as they
were and when doing marketing activities for a firm, the message which is transferred to
consumers needs to be straight forward and to the point. The reputation that I built
from this work experience was a positive one as I individualistically completed tasks,
managed my own time, had a professional attitude towards tasks and when dealing with
clients on the phone.
The weeks work experience as the Student Recruitment Officer; Colbourne College
allowed me to get a feel for the PR industry. The Student Service Officer Daren Dean,
he had a small project for me to complete. Mr. Daren Dean, briefed me on a new
assignment and my task was to answer call when he was out of office.
This exercise was testing my service knowledge, how I handled the pressured and fast
paced atmosphere as well as working independently on the brief. Mr. Dean wanted to
see how I communicated with applicants both walk-in or via mobile. I had to present my
findings on my last day of the work placement so I prepared a journal.
From this work experience, I learnt the importance of communication as I had to
communicate and conduct a market research and recruit the students for the upcoming
semester. I had to make the journal attractive and presented my findings with support
material such as facts and figures. During this experience I had to creatively think on my
feet and quickly think of a solution to any unforeseen problems that may arise. This
was handled well and the response from management was positive and they offered me
a second position within the organization. The skills which I gained from this work
experience were; problem solving- being put on the spot, working independently on a
set task, communicating ideas, and believing in my creative ideas.
Work experience at Colbourne College provided a taster of working in a tertiary
education institute. The company consisted of ten (10) to twenty (20) employees, which

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allowed me to bond with the team and I had a great opportunity to work with a number
of roles within the team such as Librarian, Customer service representative and Student
Recruitment Officer. Throughout the work experience I was involved in different roles
which developed my existing skills.
During the work experience, I started to engage in more in depth marketing as I
conducted my own research on individual campaigns and as well as looking at the
concepts why it is important to keep in touch applicants with special needs, such as
persons without CXC passes. As I showed my own initiative on a task, I was invited to
attend staff meetings.
The recruitment process provided data that had to be complied in to a spread sheet
document. This task put me at a disadvantage as I havent been trained to use Smart
sheet, but through a quick analysis and following instructions I was able to understand.
This identified a skill gap that needs filling before I enter the job market, as companies
look for computer skill when applying for jobs. To overcome this Im research all sheet
tools and learning them.
My passion for customer service has always been consumer based. However, from
completing my work experience as a student recruiter it has opened another path which
I need to consider for my future career. From this work experience, I have learnt the
skills required for the industry such as Excel, problem solving and have learnt the
importance of networking as I now have a considerably good relationship with the
contacts Ive met and have started to network with them, which will help me for my
future employability.

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4.1. Develop conclusions to meet the aims, objectives and targets

4.2. Carry out appropriate changes to improve the collection, formatting,
storage and dissemination of information and knowledge
4.3. Implement a strategy to improve access to systems of information and
knowledge

Reference
Blackwell, R., et al, 2001. Consumer Behaviour . 5th ed. Orlando: Harcourt.

Colbourne College. 2004. About Us. [ONLINE] Available

at: http://www.colbournecollege.com/aboutus.html. [Accessed 16 March 14]
Colbourne college. 2013. About us. [ONLINE] Available
at: http://www.colbournecollege.com/aboutus.html. [Accessed 15 April 14]

Cotton, K., 1997. Developing Employability Skills. School Improvement Research

Series, 7, 1-24
Hoye, J.D, 1999. Tech Directions. Career Education: The foundation for school-to-work,
9, 35
N/A. 2012. Windmills Programme. [ONLINE] Available
at: http://www.windmillsprogramme.com/what-makes-a-successful-person/. [Accessed 15 April
14].

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Phelps, C., 1995. Students indicatiors of quality in emerging school-to-work

programs. Journal of Vocational Educational Research, 2, 75-101
Schnider, J., 1999. The Ambitious Generation. 1st ed. Wolverhampton: Yale University
Press
Scribner, P., 1998. Internships. Youth Apprenticeships Experiences in Wisconsin: A
Stakeholder-based Evaluation., 1, 24-35.
Smith, L., 1992. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. The Development and
Assessment of Personal Transferable Skills during Work-Based Placements, 1, 108192.

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