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i need work experience

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
for uni i need work experience in a health and social care setting.. but the thing is i need to ring up a few places and that is one thing i struggle with.. i cannot go in and see them that is WAY too much for me to cope with in all honesty and they never reply letters or emails my health and social care teachers refuse to help me yet they helped someone else who doesn't have an issue with the phone.. my teachers are aware i have a mild anixety disorder.. i could go to my tutor but she might tell me i need to go through my health and social teachers to get a placement.. sometimes i am fine using the phone if i plan out what i am going to say..

what can i do? it feels like no one understands..

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    What's your course, and what have you already tried?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    well at uni i am planning on doing mental health nursing - i have applied at several old peoples homes asking for work experience and none have gotten back to me.. i really struggle using the phone i am going to try but i don't think i will succeed
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I you want to do nursing of any kind, you need to get past your confidence issues one way or another. Pick up the phone, and start calling places.
  • Starry nightStarry night Posts: 674 Incredible Poster
    I think that you are just going to have to just get it over and done with to get the best. Do you have a car? If so, why not try some options which are just a little further away so that if you mess up a phone call you don't ever have to worry about them (if all goes well the car can help you get there), they will just be practise. Then, you'll be ready for approaching the closest and most important ones. You could think of it in the way that you will never have to talk to those people down the phone again if it goes wrong, pretend you are someone else in your mind to give you confidence, write down prompts to guide you what to say and get the most out of the conversation.
    Shyness is endearing! Sometimes, people just want the chatty ones to shutup, someone who is quiet is a welcome relief, especially when you are dealing with medical care and mental health.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    no i do not have a car i couldn't afford to run one unless i have a job.. but yeah i guess i could see making phone calls in that way also i could remember those moments i am not as shy and i am feeling loud and confident as i have those moments.. but it is a general fear i have of the phone but i am slowly over coming it.. as i managed to book a very important meeting **with some help** which will help me a lot health wise... so i am slowly getting there i guess and i am building on my confidence too :d
  • **helen****helen** Deactivated Posts: 9,235 Supreme Poster
    Hey Louise,

    Well done for recognising that you're not always shy - that's progress right there. :D

    I was afraid of using the phone for years and it definitely held me back until I found ways to move forward that worked for me - it was usually that first few moments when I got through to a person that were tough. It took time getting over the fact that some people are just rude on the phone, but if that's the case, then recognising it's their problem not yours is key and that you have every right to be heard. Here are a couple of practical tips that have helped me that you might also benefit from:

    1. Keep the purpose of your call at the forefront of your mind and make sure you establish another method of follow-up if needed. E.g. often a cold call might at first be to establish a meeting with someone face-to-face or to send them some information via email. For example, if the person you wanted to chat to is busy, ask if you could maybe email them instead or find out when the next best time to call them would be. Try to avoid getting off the phone without another lead to go on.

    2. Write prompts as Starry says (in my case it was often a rough script!) for what you're going to say once that call connects. Having something to read helped me to establish more confidence for those first few moments until you know you've got the persons attention and they're engaged in what you're saying.

    Do these make sense?

    Congrats on making the important appointment - what was the help you received - would be good for others to know about. :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Thank you Helen I think I will bare that in mind as I need to make another important phone call in the next couple of weeks. I like the idea of writing a rough script I do something similar to that :)

    I had to phone up the eating clinic as student welfare wanted me to make an appointment there as she believes I have an eating disorder and she wants me to go for an appointment, I think it will be like an assessment and to see what further support I may need. It looks like a nice place they have a site which I also find very helpful and I have read through it and yes I am still in denile about having any eating problem but the research I have done shows that I might.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I dont have any advice for the anxiety thing but my advice would be to follow up your phone call with a letter and CV even if they say no. If you ring, its so easy for them to put the phone down and forget about you the moment they do but if they get a letter and CV through the post they may file it away for future reference.

    When i wrote to people for work experience, i said that i was looking for voluntary work (and you can mention that you are studying for x course and hope to start a career in y) and please keep my CV for anything that may eventually come up. Then write again a couple of months later and if you have done any extra work then add that on. Its depressing when you get no's but its worth keeping on at them
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