In The Nine to Five with Stacey Dooley on BBC iPlayer, Stacey takes five school leavers into four different industries that are crying out for young workers. They each get to spend two days doing the ultimate work experience. If the teens do well in the jobs they are given, Stacey rewards them with the national apprenticeship wage at the end of each day. But she also deducts money for poor performance, and so those who don’t make the grade can come away empty handed.
Here, Stacey discusses the experience of 16-year-old Louis who had dreamt of being airline cabin crew since he was six but discovered there were plenty of surprising and useful new skills to pick up in the industries he visited in The Nine to Five.
Goals, goals goals.
We live in goal oriented times. Obsessed with achieving perfection, we squeeze in ‘things you should know’ podcasts on the bus, post duck-face photos on a night out with our friends and whip up Instagram worthy banana bread on a weekend… I’m tired just thinking about it!
Setting goals is important to keep yourself on the straight and narrow and is a discipline everyone can understand.But on the downside, if you focus too hard on the end result you may miss out on some good opportunities just because they don’t fit perfectly with the goal you have set yourself.
This can really hinder you in a workplace. I’ve had a few jobs in my lifetime. Did I love them all? Absolutely not. But each one taught me values and skills that put me on track to where I am now and I am so grateful for that - hindsight can be a wonderful thing!
Watch The Nine to Five with Stacey Dooley on iPlayer. collection
Five teens, four industries. Will they thrive or struggle?
Transferable skills
Every job is a chance to develop transferable skills. So keep your mind open to whatever comes your way, because there will be lessons to be learnt and skills to take with you. One of our teens, Louis, joined us on The Nine to Five with high hopes of becoming cabin crew and flying the world.
Since he took a peek at different industries, his adoration for aviation hasn’t wavered. But he has walked away with some valuable skills that can be put to good use when he does make it up in the air as a flight attendant. He hasn’t given up on his dream, he has acquired more skills to get him there and he found those in very unexpected places.
Watch Louis' Bitesize story here!
Loius: Bing bong. Hello. My name's Louis, I'm sixteen from Grimsby and I've just finished my work experience on The Nine to Five. You might have already guessed, but I want my job in the future to be cabin crew. So I've learnt during this experience to embrace new opportunities and to take everything as it comes. Is it nearly lunch time yet? Although it didn't have much to do with the aviation industry, I think everything that I learnt was something that I could put into practice in the future. Sorry.
Phobe: No, don't worry about any of that.
Louis: Ickle bit stressful. On my Nine to Five experience, at the start I knew what I wanted to do and maybe I went in a little closed minded. Are we going to be brick laying again tomorrow? I'll have to quit. Hand in my notice. Honestly, do these hands look like working hands? Because I don't think so.
Gary: She's thrashing you at the minute. I ain't going to point nothing obvious but…
Louis: Don't.
Stacey: Louis is great fun. I really enjoy his company, but the truth is, you know, in a working environment you have to be able to deliver. He's just not pulling his weight.
Louis: The thing is the working world is not as easy as I originally thought it would be. I learnt that you really need to give a hundred and ten percent.
Louis: Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. And you've got to be consistent every single day. Now that's hard.
Jo: It is all about listening and asking those open questions.
Louis: It is the nineteen twenties.
Jo: Nineteen twenties arts and crafts movement.
Louis: It's always important to remember what your boss has actually asked you to do. Ok, so this is the Marlow. Got a bathroom with a shower and a bath so you've still got a bath. I prefer a bath to a shower so. I think I did a pretty good job. I'm so happy. It went so well.
Jo: It looked like that it was more you talking.
Louis: Yeah.
Jo: He missed out one of the really important things which was the price range.
Louis: I think obviously that's definitely something to work on.
Jo: Yeah.
Louis: I got hung up a bit on the details of the house and didn't really ask many questions, so I think it's always important to keep in mind the end goal. Hundred percent. I think it was really great to be able to go from scrubbing up penguin poo to going into something that I really liked. Pigs are often associated with being dirty, mucky, but they're actually not that bad, and you might say but Louis they all roll around in mud all day. Yes they do, and there's a very good reason for that. I found it so so easy because talking is one of my many great talents.
Stacey: Angela, he is absolutely smashing this.
Louis: My favourite thing being able to shine and being able to get some great great feedback on something that I'm really good at. Thank you. Goodbye. One of the biggest things we had to learn was that apprentices don't actually get paid that much, so I think we all needed to learn how to budget and thankfully it came naturally to me. Dinner tomorrow sixty nine pence.
Kieran: What am I eating? Dog food?
Louis: Everybody is going to have a budgeting Louis in their lives so I think it's important that everybody needs to budget. From this experience, the top three things that I learnt was first of all, consistency. I think it's so so important that I always give a hundred and ten percent. Second of all, to take constructive criticism so I could always always improve, and number three not to talk as much, but that's been pretty hard.
Take working on a construction site. You might ask what laying bricks has got to do with pointing out emergency exits! Not every job you undertake will directly link to your dream career; yet don’t let that put you off the task at hand. Louis got a bit grumpy laying mortar down to sandwich bricks together and that was a stark contrast to the upbeat Louis when he was selling a show home. But the truth is, the eye that sees the precision needed to build a wall is the same eye that can spot something missing on an airline ticket. The transferable skill? Observation.
And you never know what can come out of applying yourself! If you can prove to the boss you’re resilient and determined to solve whatever problem is put in front of you, they’ll be much more willing to give you a glowing reference for the job you really want.
Slow down and take it all in
An important transferable skill is the ability to focus on the task at hand. If you rush a job because you’re bored of it before you’ve even started, you’ve robbed yourself of the chance to show what you’re made of. If you can knuckle down to a task that you don’t initially like, then how much commitment will you show to a task you love?
It’s not always about impressing the boss either, it’s about impressing yourself. Have you ever gone into something half-heartedly and come away bossing it? What a feeling! It’s in the process of taking part in a challenge that we learn the most about ourselves. Being able to put 100% focus into the task at hand can unleash a hidden talent waiting in the wings to show itself. If you ‘can’t see the point’, stop trying to! See what’s in front of you, give it your best and come away with the knowledge that you’re not a quitter - a very employable trait in anyone, anywhere!
We ‘catch’ dreams for a reason
If you have a clear dream of where you want to be, then chase that dream and put in the legwork to get there. Unless your dream is to binge watch the entirety of a series in one night, you will have to leave your bedroom to start taking steps towards your goal. Having charm and a likeable personality is a stellar quality and it can take you far - but without the hard work alongside it, it’s not enough to bring that career to your door. Louis initially expected to swim through each industry on the back of his natural charm and wit. He was pleasantly surprised when he discovered he could learn something even from jobs he didn’t initially like.
Since the series, Louis is putting 110% effort into making sure his flight attendant dream gets off the ground and he’s delighted with himself for sticking at things which will help him get there.
The Nine to Five: Five teens, five industries. Will they thrive or struggle? collection
Advice and stories from Stacey Dooley and 16-18-year-olds on the ultimate work experience on The Nine to Five.
How to overcome your lack of confidence and believe in yourself - Allina's story. video
Watch 17-year-old Allina on The Nine to Five who struggled with her confidence, but she worked hard to overcome it and as a result was offered two apprenticeships.
