Work experience @ Roundhouse - first hand
It’s often difficult for young people with no experience of what life in the workplace is like. We at Roundhouse try to be as supportive of young people as we can and so each year along with university students who come to us on an annual placement, we also take on a school pupil to give him or her a taste of what a busy week at our head office is like. Here our most recent student, Jacqueline, tells us what she experienced first hand.My name is Jacqueline, I’m 15 years old and I chose to go to top British bespoke kitchen design company Roundhouse for my work experience week, in order to gain a deeper understanding of design, designing and the arts.
As it was my first time in a professional workplace, I was very anxious on my first day but I was made to feel very welcome. I visited a Roundhouse showroom in Fulham and there I met designers and some of the technical team and Victoria my supervisor, explained about the company history. I learned that every talented designer or artist must work very hard to achieve his or her dream.
I also went to the biggest showroom located in Wigmore Street where I was based and where I met more designers and the marketing team. During the week I got to know the designers more and saw how passionate and devoted the team were as they worked, truly wanting the best for their customers.
My work also involved using skills I had used previously in product design; some CAD and CAM knowledge was helpful as it was required when drawing up designs on Vectorworks , which is a computer design programme used to develop initial designs.
These drawings are used to show Roundhouse customers the plan and how their future kitchen will be set out. It required a lot of patience to get used to the programme, but Victoria explained and showed me how they were drawn out and taught me how to use elevations, which required more patience and skill to complete but I think I managed to do ok.
In comparison to my first day, the feelings that I now had were dramatically different, as anxiousness turned to familiarity. The week I spent working for Roundhouse has helped me to develop and gain new strengths. The team and my hosts were all so friendly and willingly helped me with different tasks. It is an experience I will treasure and I hope that I can come back to visit, as it has strengthened my future plans towards designing and interior design.