Jobbridge

greendevil8

Just out of curiosity I am interested to hear from people who are or were on a Jobbridge internship as regards:
1) What their daily tasks and responsibilities entailed?
2) Were you just left to do the jobs that others didn't want to do and left on the same tasks until you were bored silly, or were you given challenging tasks and decent levels of trust and responsibility which were meaningful and helped you develop?
3) Were you made feel part of the team or did you feel an outsider looking in because you were an Intern?
4) Did you have a mentor and were they helpful and make a difference?

pharmaton

I'm half way through my job bridge.
1. daily tasks - depends on where I'm placed. I was informed when I began that I would be rotated throughout several departments, I've been through three so far. The first was more of an orientation period of a week where I sat about and did nothing much, sorted some post, became familiar with names of people and departments and the building I work in. Then spent two months training in a department where I basically shadowed a colleague and learned by rote to the degree that I could cover for her when on holidays. Third department, the one I'm currently in I pretty much do bugger all and have received no training per say, but I brought the experience I acquired in my previous role with me and I don't even need half that much.

2. see above. I was given a greater degree of responsibility in the second department but I expect that was less about how much I could do and more about how much the colleague I was shadowing could be bothered doing. She had an injury which rendered her incapacitated for a lot of the time, which meant I did a lot of her running. While some might think it exploitation, I at least got a degree of hands on experience as a result and rather than feeling exploited, I used it as an opportunity to demonstrate how capable, productive and efficient I am. (even if for nobody else but myself)

3. I'm not sure how to answer that one. I did feel a part of the team but then again, I realize I was a convenience at the end of the day for one particular area (person) and the more I became aware of that the less inclined I became to be so. Everybody is different though, some people are just naturally patronizing and superficial and the area I work in (the public sector) can be quite ego driven anyway. In saying that, there are a couple of sound folks too, the lads I'm currently working with are a good mix and much more laid back.

4. yes. Luckily the HR manager is my mentor. I try to stay out of her way and not bother her too much however I have been able to drop in when I feel like it and I can contact her and get a response pretty much straight away. I'm aware that she is responsible for hundreds of other employees so I feel a bit privileged to have her as my mentor.

All said and done I think the experience has been a good one. I've learned a lot and feel confident that there would be work there when my job bridge is finished, however I would like to think that there might be something more out there for me too, I definitely feel capable of bigger and better things.


edit - don't know if I bigged myself up there enough but I am applying for other jobs as we speak so hopefully it will lead to better things

gormdubhgorm

greendevil8 wrote: »

Just out of curiosity I am interested to hear from people who are or were on a Jobbridge internship as regards:
1) What their daily tasks and responsibilities entailed?
2) Were you just left to do the jobs that others didn't want to do and left on the same tasks until you were bored silly, or were you given challenging tasks and decent levels of trust and responsibility which were meaningful and helped you develop?
3) Were you made feel part of the team or did you feel an outsider looking in because you were an Intern?
4) Did you have a mentor and were they helpful and make a difference?

I found JobBridge very beneficial

1) I was given a project that involved testing, querying and resolving issues on the with the developers of the application. I then was able to instruct my employers how to use it.

2) I was given guidelines of tasks that needed to be resolved over time I got more autonomy in deciding which tasks to prioritise. Or I created ones of my own in relation to the task.

3) I was made feel part of a team. It was a necessity for the project to "go live"

4) Yes I had a mentor to instruct me on the previous applications the organisation used and to show me how the organisation operates so I could complete the task better. The person was always there if I had any questions which was extremely useful particularly early in the project

In saying that I did find it a bit odd at times having to instruct people who had permanent jobs or a jobshare. In some cases the people were not as qualified as me yet I was the one on Jobbridge getting paid nothing but working extremely hard. It was an enjoyable place to work though so maybe I was lucky?

I can see how some companies/professions could be very exploitative so it is the luck of the draw in that sense.

reubenpk

I'm doing a 6 month internship in Dublin. I live an hour away and it costs me 100 euro per week travel expenses. I am now in my 6th week and still have not received the 50 euro extra a week nor have they backdated the 6 weeks money... I have received nothing, no help whatsoever from anybody. I am married with 4 children and using a quarter of our social welfare payment to get to work, I am actually paying 100 euro per week from my own pocket to work. The WORST SCHEME EVER TO BE INTRODUCED IN IRELAND............... A COMPLETE SHAMBLES.... A COMPLETE FARCE