A STUDENT from Duchy College recently packed her bag to head off for a week of sunshine during a week long work placement in Spain.

Hettie Trott, 17, from Launceston, entered a European wide competition and battled against other entrants to secure one of eight places.

In order to win her place, Hettie had to put together a detailed presentation, outling her chosen career, the qualifications required within the UK and Europe to undertake her chosen career path, and the skills, qualities and competencies which are necessary.

The next step was to put together a video biography and an online CV. The best presentations were selected to be presented to a judging panel.

Hettie said: “It was hard work putting together the presentation, as it had to be very detailed and I had to do a lot of research. It was also a new experience for me to put together a video biography and online CV. I was excited and nervous when my presentation was chosen and had to be presented to a judging panel.”

Business lecturer at Duchy College, Julie Tucker, said: “Hettie worked hard on her application presentation, along with a detailed online CV; this has been valuable for developing her own employability skills, but also helping with assignment work on the Level 3 BTEC course.”

After successfully presenting her presentation to the judging panel, Hettie – who is studying a BTEC Extended Diploma in Business – was shortlisted for an interview.

During her interview, she was told that she had been selected as one of the successful applicants, and would later be travelling to Santander in Spain, to carry out a week long work placement.

Hettie has recently returned from her trip and said: “I was so excited but surprised at the same time. It was such an amazing opportunity, and I did not expect to be given a place; all the entries were to a very high standard and I’m very grateful for being chosen.

“The trip was fantastic, one of the best experiences I’ll probably ever get. It was well organised, and the other students that were chosen were so lovely, and everyone got on really well. The weather was lovely and all the Spanish hosts were so welcoming and polite. Everything was well structured and full of activities to keep us busy.

“We stayed in Santander in Spain. It’s a lovely city with loads of opportunities, and I advise everyone to go and visit.”

The trip allowed the students to focus on their careers, but with eight of them altogether, it was decided that it would be easier to organise something for everyone to do. As part of the experience, they worked at a Spanish school called San Juan Batista in Santander.

At the school, Hettie and the other seven students organised power points, illustrating the labour market in the UK, and took part in many business based activities, giving the Spanish hosts an understanding of how businesses work in the UK compared to Spain.

This was reciprocated by the Spanish hosts, and the group was given the opportunity to learn about how the Spanish employment system and labour market works, giving Hettie and the group a better understanding of work in other cultures.

Hettie explained how she has learnt a lot from her trip to Spain, gaining a deeper knowledge of the way work is run in other countries: “It is a lot harder to find work in Spain than it is in England, due to the little choice of options for students after they have finished their GCSEs. We are very lucky that we have a great education system, and that we have a wide variety of choices to suit everybody’s needs after they have finished Year 11.”