Introduction
In the year 2018/19, I will be undertaking my 12-month industrial placement at Smethwick Youth and Community Centre serving as the financial analyst of the organisation. Smethwick Youth and Community Centre or SYCC for short is a multi-agency and cross-sector resource centre whose sole aim is to support the Smethwick community with its deprivation problems. SYCC provides a passionate yet professional service to the local community with the intention of supporting the development of its core strategy. The organization aims to support people on their steps to success. They have a popular slogan which is known as “Here to HELP”. HELP stands for Health, Employment, Learning, and Poverty Reduction.
Role in Smethwick Youth and Community Centre (SYCC)
I have a number of different roles within SYCC. To begin with, some of my colleagues and I work together with the manager in recording and retrieving the financial details of the organization. This consists of carrying out projections, developing analyses, and, managing clients’ accounts.
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Apart from the role I mentioned above, I am also responsible for finding funding bids online and presenting them to the manager in order for both of us to determine the kind of projects we can undertake to support the community. The funding bids provide the center with enough cash flow to run projects for the community and also carry out its daily activities.
Finally, I am in charge of the homework club sessions organized by the center. At SYCC, free support is offered to GCSE students in need of assistance with numeracy and literacy and as such, I help the young people who come in for the service to polish their reading and math skills. To add to this, I provide extra support by helping them with their homework from school and also go through topics they may have learned from school but still have some difficulties with.
Below is a breakdown of all my responsibilities within Smethwick Youth and Community Centre:
Funding duties:
- Regularly searching online for funding bids and new project ideas to diversify the provision of the organization
- Presenting suitable bids and projects to the manager for consideration
- Liaising with the manager after writing funding bids to ensure they are up to a good standard and have covered all the necessary elements stated in the guidance notes of the funder
- Storing all funding information in the right folder and making sure the funding schedule is always up to date
Homework Club duties:
- Supporting young people to improve their literacy, numeracy, and reading skills
- Providing help and support to the youth who visit the center with their school assignments and homework
- Catering towards each individual needs and requirements for their respective exam boards and examinations
Finance duties:
This entails of providing a complete finance service to the whole of the organization, addressing all issues of a financial nature, and providing all relevant information to meet external demands. These duties are completed with other colleagues to ensure deadlines are met and errors are kept to a minimum or eliminated.
My responsibilities under this section include:
- Planning, organizing, and managing my own workload to ensure my contribution to the organization’s monthly financial reporting process is achieved in a timely and accurate manner
- Working closely with the Finance Manager to ensure the smooth operation of all financial matters
- Presenting financial information to managers and clients
- Analyzing trends in revenues and expenses
- Preparing spreadsheets, graphs, and charts to help illustrate financial trends
- Making sure the production of invoices and payments are done in a timely manner
Aims and objectives
Upon the completion of my placement program, I expect to be confident in dealing with a variety of financial information. In addition, I am looking to improve my creative thinking alongside my decision-making and analytical skills. I also aim to build strong lasting relationships with my supervisor, client contacts, and work colleagues so as to open up future routes for the progression of my career. Aside from the aims I have described, I also want to achieve the following:
- To be able to perform tasks and assignments simultaneously to improve my ability to multi-task
- To meet and exceed given targets within the deadline given
- Utilize the knowledge and practical skills I acquire to build a strong foundation in order to enhance my dream of becoming an entrepreneur
- To build upon my values and potential as an individual by learning how to integrate my placement and university study in ways that facilitate critical reflection.
- To increase my confidence and boldness when dealing with clients and senior staff and to also improve my presentation skills
- To boost my IT and computer skills by learning how to use different systems and software to improve productivity and efficiency at work
Development of Personal Skills
During and after my work placement, I plan to further develop and improve on the skills I already possess to a higher degree and also learn new techniques that could prove helpful in my chosen career path. My target is to at least have the minimum qualities needed by a financial analyst to function in an organization. These qualities include:
- Analytical skills
- Communication skills
- Math skills
- Detail oriented
- Computer skills
- Decision-making skills
Appraisals
Appraisals offered at SYCC are mainly in the form of verbal feedback. The manager speaks to the staff sometimes to determine where they are currently with their work and what more they can do to improve. Aside from this, I believe there is more room for improvement in terms of recognition and appraisals within the organization.
Training, Learning, and development opportunities provided
SYCC offers its voluntary and paid staff a number of incentives to keep them motivated and ensure a healthy working environment. For instance, I and a couple of my colleagues were presented with the opportunity of taking a safeguarding course within the first 2 months of the placement. We completed this course and were congratulated with a certificate. By doing this, I have not only gained knowledge of safeguarding but have also received a reward that will benefit me in the future. That’s to say the achievement can be added to my CV and make it look more presentable to employers. Aside from this, SYCC offers other types of training and learning opportunities. Among these is a First Aid course which is very useful to me because it will enable me to deal with accidents and injuries not only at work but also in my daily life.
Blog 1 - “It has begun”
Before getting into the content of the blog post, here is a brief history behind the title. This isn’t going to be like a history lesson though I have a feeling my history teacher from school would be disappointed if she ever heard me saying this but never mind.
[image: Mortal Kombat Host - It has begun]The title is from the movie ‘Mortal Kombat (1995)’. “It has begun” is a line said in the movie by the famous Shang Tsung to mark the official start of the Mortal Kombat tournament. The phrase is meant to highlight a new phase in my life. Enough of my rambling then, let’s get on with this. (Tsung, 1995)
It was a damp and chilly morning when I first arrived at Smethwick Youth and Community Centre. I was eager yet nervous as I didn’t know what to expect.
Smethwick Youth and Community Centre (SYCC for short) has strong ties with a religious establishment, to be precise a Gurdwara; at first, I thought this would make me a little uncomfortable being a Christian but to my surprise, I settled in really well as the staff were very friendly and respectful. In addition, there were other placement students at the center so I fitted in easily. Although I was and still am a student, I already had some experience in the work environment due to the part-time work I did in conjunction with my secondary school.
My expectation when I first got the call that I had been accepted into SYCC was very low since I was of the mindset that it was only a community center, however, this changed quickly in just my first week of starting. The first week was like a reflection for me; I say this because I was given the funding manual of the organization to read through as I was going to be in charge of funding (finding grants and bids that SYCC could apply for to support current projects or start new ones). This reminded me a lot of my time at university when lecturers ask the class to do their reading for subsequent lectures. There was a bit of nostalgia if I were to say so myself.
To reiterate the point I made earlier, I have been working since winter 2015 and as such, I had a feel of the workplace, nevertheless, being at SYCC is a different experience altogether. In my mind, I was only going to be in charge of the funding aspect of the organization so you could imagine my surprise when my manager told me he wanted me to take up other projects just 3 weeks into my placement.
To cut things short, I now head the homework club and also help manage the finances of the organization on a daily basis. All of these responsibilities were a bit much at first but I am used to them now and hence grateful to my manager for giving me the opportunity to develop my employability skills even further.
Blog 2 - “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate”
‘Sigh,’ what a couple of months it has been! What we have here is something I never would have imagined would happen anywhere not to talk of it happening at Smethwick Youth and Community Centre.
Communication, I believe, is the foundation of a successful relationship and thus should not be overlooked in any type of setting. If I were, to be frank with you, I myself have been taking it for granted until recently. There was a certain incident at work that attributed to this sudden change.
It was like any normal day in the community center, it was a busy atmosphere and I was in the reception alone attending to a client’s request. All of a sudden the phone rang, I picked it up and it was my manager at the other end of the line. He urged me to pop into his office right away and so I quickly finished what I was doing with the client and rushed into his office.
This is where the fun begins “smirks”.
I noticed a worried look on his face and could immediately tell what was about to follow would not be good news. He went on to show me a funding bid he wanted me to write up; I was thinking to myself “Why does he look so stressed when it’s just a funding bid”. I had already written some bids prior to this moment so I was puzzled by his demeanour. It was not until he told me the deadline of the bid that I understood his expression.
Apparently, the Chief Executive of the center had told him about this bid almost 2 months ago and he had totally forgotten about it. The deadline was for the next day at 12 noon and the application form contained a lot of questions that required detailed answers. I said to myself, “There is no way we are going to complete this bid to a good standard by the given deadline date”. Sure I still said yes and accepted the task, however, I ended up rushing through the bid because I was working towards a tight deadline and did not even have the time to go through the poorly written document with my manager. We ended up sending the bid to the funder the way it was and I’m sure I will never forget this moment even after I leave SYCC.
I know for a fact that this unpleasant experience has taught me the significance of communication within an organization and why it is important to let others especially people you work with know of any changes or tasks as this could affect not only yourself but also the organization as a whole.
In closing, this whole debacle reminded me of a quote by Strother Martin “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” (Cool Hand Luke, 1967) and I couldn’t agree more.
[image: https://www.azquotes.com/picture-quotes/quote-what-we-ve-got-here-is-failure-to-communicate-some-men-you-just-can-t-reach-strother-martin-62-87-81.jpg] (Martin, 1967)
Blog 3: “Life’s simple. You make choices and you don’t look back”
Anyone who knows me knows that I love watching movies. One of my favorite quotes from the Fast and Furious franchise is “Life’s simple. You make choices and you don’t look back”. The quote was said by Han Lue, a character in the movie, and ever since I heard it, it has become a part of me.
Not to be a gabber but there is a message I am trying to get across so just bear with me and continue reading to the end. Working at Smethwick Youth and Community Centre has been an interesting experience for me. Ranging from dealing with a variety of clients with diverse cultural backgrounds to mentoring the youth, there’s rarely any dull moment within the center.
On a certain cold afternoon, I received news that one of the other placement students whom I worked with was being transferred to another site to finish his placement. The explanation I got for this was that they were short-staffed on the other side so they needed more people. It was a sad moment but I quickly remembered my colleague who was being transferred was head of the Homework Club (One of the several projects offered by the center to the community). Immediately I dashed into the manager’s office and asked what was going to happen with the homework club after his departure. He had not considered that yet since he only just found out about the move a few minutes ago.
All this happened when I was still fairly new at the center however, I suggested to my manager that I could take over the Homework Club when my colleague left. That’s how I ended up being in charge of the project. When I took over the project, we only had one person attending on a regular basis nevertheless, I was determined to boost the numbers so I put together some leaflets in English and Punjabi (over 50% of the people living in Smethwick speak Punjabi) and showcased them at the reception of the center, in the local library and the Gurdwara with which the center shared the same building. In addition to this, I also talked to the heads of other projects such as youth club, football, and English classes to encourage their members to attend the homework club or to encourage the parents to send their kids to the club.
[image: drivingline-8lifessimple]My manager gave me a target of 10 registrations and at least 5 participants (people who regularly attend 20 or more sessions). In the first month of taking over, this seemed to be quite challenging however, I kept on persevering with the quote from Han Lue in mind. As time went by the leaflets and word of mouth began to bear fruit. Currently, I have managed to gain over 10 registrations with 13 participants attending sessions regularly. In summary, the one thing I want you to take from all this is Han Lues’ quote and keep moving forward no matter the circumstance (Lue, 2015)
Blog 4: In the words of Alex Trebek “Started from the bottom now we’re here, started from the bottom now the whole team here”
If I were, to be honest with you I don’t feel like I have achieved anything at Smethwick Youth and Community Centre. Don’t get me wrong I have learned a lot at SYCC including acquiring new skills, forming new bonds, and building upon the attributes I had prior to joining the organization. However, I personally do not consider these as achievements. I will explain the reason why I think this down the line.
To be clear, when I said I felt I have not achieved anything at SYCC, I was only referring to the now; meaning at the time of writing this blog. However, there are still 6 months left on my placement and I am positive there will be something I can achieve in regard to the degree program I am doing at university.
Throughout my time at SYCC, I haven’t had the opportunity yet to handle any financial tasks. The only time I take a look at finances is when I am writing a funding bid or researching potential projects the center could pick up. This has been a little disappointing for me being an accounting student and sometimes even demotivating.
[image: 'I'll take 'videos I never knew I needed' for 800, Alex.']Nevertheless, I still carry out my duties efficiently. As described in my other blogs and personal development plan, my responsibilities within SYCC vary a lot. I have achieved quite a lot in my other projects. First, let’s take a look at my role as the head of funding. I have managed to find and write up at least 5 funding bids since joining the organization. Out of these, the center has been granted over £20k to help facilitate its services and introduce new projects. In addition to this, I have had the privilege to meet several key councilors of Sandwell including Councillor Simon Hackett and Councillor Wasim Ali. (Trebek, 2017)
With regards to the Homework club, there has been a turnaround in terms of participation from the youth since I took over. There isn’t a session where we don’t have over 10 students present. This outcome is mainly due to distributing Punjabi leaflets and speaking to parents who visit the center and the Gurdwara on a face-to-face basis to encourage their children to participate in the club.
I am very optimistic about the future and hope to achieve more in my area of interest (Finance) soon. The manager recently assured me I will be taking on more financial roles since it has already been six months since I joined the organization. This gives me hope for the future and motivates me to work even more diligently.
I am not one to brag but when it comes to setting goals, I like to aim high and set nearly impossible goals for myself. Some might say I am arrogant or naive but what I say to those people is that I am not here to follow the norm; I am here to set a trend so others can follow. Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur and I know I am going to do it. My time at university and SYCC is just preparing me for that day. I am always learning and improving myself and as such even when I leave SYCC, I will continue to contribute to my community whilst also taking care of my family. In short, I want to be known as someone who impacts the lives of people and gives them the inspiration they need to succeed so that even if they start from the bottom, they can have hope that they also can make it.
References
- Lue, H., 2015. Driving Line. [Online] Available at: https://www.drivingline.com/articles/top-10-most-quotable-one-liners-from-fast-and-furious/[Accessed 27 March 2019].
- Martin, S., 1967. AZ Quotes. [Online] Available at: https://www.azquotes.com/author/34519-Strother_Martin [Accessed 19 March 2019].
- Trebek, A., 2017. Observer. [Online] Available at: https://observer.com/2017/02/alex-trebek-raps-jeopardy-drake-video/ [Accessed 5th April 2019].
- Tsung, S., 1995. Meme Generator. [Online] Available at: https://memegenerator.net/instance/56194358/mortal-kombat-host-it-has-begun [Accessed 21 March 2019].
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