For many years the Caen-Portsmouth twinning link has had the opportunity to send a young person from Portsmouth to Caen for a month's work experience and we have also received a young person from Caen to work here in Portsmouth.
This year being the 75th anniversary of D-Day Caen has hosted the intern from Portsmouth for two months on a one off opportunity, so the Portsmouth intern is currently still there. Hopefully we will soon have her 'rapport de stage', but in the meantime here is the report from Margot who spent August with us here in Portsmouth working at the Spinnaker Tower.
An amazing work experience at the Spinnaker Tower
I was a little stressed out when I first arrived at the Spinnaker Tower on the 4th of August. I was nervous about meeting so many new people, working in a place this spectacular, and living in a foreign country for longer than I ever had. As natural as it was, my nervousness was unfounded. The entire team welcomed me as one of their own and, thanks to their help, I adapted very quickly and was able to get the best out of this experience.
On the first day, I was issued with a shirt and a badge saying "Work Experience", and later with another shirt, which would be part of my uniform. I had never worn one before, and it made me feel part of the team even more.
The first few days were quite unusual as the lift was under maintenance. On the first day, I worked at the souvenir shop. There weren't many guests as access to the view-decks was restricted, but we still had work to do: re-stocking the shelves, cleaning, pricing...etc.
From the second day, guests were allowed to go to the decks by the staircase, which is 500 steps long. My job was to stand in front of the entrance and warn people about it. I got to practice my English a lot that day and to experience British humour. Most people were very understanding of the issue and even joked about it.
From the third day and forth, I was no longer outside. I soon had a rota, which indicated in which position every employee should work, hour by hour.
I spent most of the time at the Photo Desk, which was the position I liked best because there was a lot to do there.
When guests come into the tower, they can have a photo taken in front of a green-screen and are issued with a blue ticket with a number on it. When they come down the lift, they can come to the desk and give us their blue ticket. With it, we can find their photo with different backgrounds featuring the tower. If they like it, they can buy various items from simple photos to magnets, key-rings, USB sticks...etc.
Working at the desk requires patience and resourcefulness. Guests might take a while to make decisions and since they all come out of the lift in groups, we have to be quick and efficient to prevent them from waiting too long. Some items, like the magnets and key-rings, take a few minutes to be made.
I can say that working at the desk has taught me to be quicker and better organized. It has also given me sales skills as I tried my best to find what would please the guests.
I also spent some time on View Deck one, which is the one on which the glass floor is, but also the best views of the city and beyond. I learned a lot about Portsmouth and its surroundings so that I would be able to answer the guests' questions, even though sometimes I didn't have the answer, but a colleague was always here to help me.
Of course, none of this would be possible without the lift, in which I spent some time as well. In it is always an employee whose role is to take it where it is needed for guests or members of the Food and Beverage team, who work at the Café in the Clouds. Their role is also to explain to the passengers going up or down where they are going and where they can find what. I got to give that speech once in English, and a few time in French when we only had French-speaking passengers.
This work experience gave me the amazing opportunity to learn new, useful skills and discover what it is like to live and work abroad. As well as enjoy the beautiful views from this majestic building. I can't be thankful enough to everyone who made this possible and welcomed me as a friend there.
Margot de la Broise
The internship in Portsmouth and Caen is generously supported by Brittany Ferries and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Fund.
