Further Education and Training (FET)

Grades 10 – 12

Personal Issues - Learners

Hi to all FET learners. SABC Education brings you your very own web page! We aim to provide you with information and advice on a variety of topics that will make your personal journey through Grades 10, 11 and 12, a little easier.

Visit this web page regularly to check out our updates.

Let's focus on:

What a heavy topic to start off the year! No, not at all, this might just be quite interesting.

If you answer YES to any of the following questions, then you should read on:

   Do you want to get a part-time job to make some extra money?
   Do you already have a part-time job?
   Are you planning on having a job (any job) in the near future?

This is the time in many teenagers’ lives when they land their first job. This is a very important step in life when you take on a responsibility all on your own. What is so important about that? For the first time, you are on your own, no parent or teacher, just you and your job!

This is when you need to start making decisions about things like:

Ø      What image do I want to portray of myself to the company that hires me?

Ø      What type of worker am I going to be in the ‘working world’?

 ‘I don’t have to just become an adult,

I can become the adult that I really want to be!’

• Always arrive a few minutes early for work. This shows enthusiasm and a sense of seriousness about your job. This also allows a time to prepare for your ‘shift’, if necessary.
• Stay at your job until knock-off time. It looks very bad when your boss looks for you at the end of your ‘shift’ and you are nowhere to be found. After all you are being paid to be at work, so be there.

Dress according to your job specifications, e.g. if you are working with dirty machinery, wear an overall or an office job would require ‘office wear’.

• Young ladies, at risk of sounding a bit preachy, remember that there is a time and a place for all types of fashions. Your workplace is definitely not the place to wear as little as possible! You might think it looks great but there will always be a few people who raise their eyebrows when you walk past, and guess what, you ain't gonna have a job no more! 
• The bottom line is that you need to look respectable. You most definitely don’t want the embarrassment of being called in by a boss for a ‘talking to’ about the way you dress.

• Display the manners that you would like others to show towards you.
• Greet people enthusiastically (using their names appropriately will earn you a lot of browny points).
• Thank people for taking the time to show you how to do your job. Remember that the better they train you, the better you are able to do your job.
• You might be asked to do some ‘extra’ odd jobs such as making coffee or running an errand for the boss. Make sure that you know exactly what your job description is before accepting the employment. If you are occasionally asked to help out with an extra job or two, show some willingness to go the extra mile.

• Diligence basically refers to: doing what you have to do and doing it well !
• No job should ever be done half-heartedly. Rather don’t do it at all then.
• Check and double-check your work.
• What if you made an error in your work? Take responsibility for your mistake, apologise and start doing damage control (fix what can be fixed).

Make yourself an asset to the company, after all, they need an employee and you need the money. It could definitely be a win-win situation.

Last, but definitely not least, make an effort to enjoy what you do. This is a very exciting time in your life,make the most of it!