Work Based Experience (Pass Criteria) - Desklib

This report discusses the importance of work-based experience in an individual's life and its role in developing necessary skills and knowledge. It focuses on the work placement experience of an individual in Cancer Research UK, the world's largest independent cancer research organization. The report covers the nature of work-based experience, service user group, and range of services offered by the organization. It also includes reflective accounts of the individual's work-based experience in the charity shop of Cancer Research UK.

Work based
experience

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................3
What is the nature of the work-based experience?.................................................................3
Which service user group uses the service?...........................................................................4
What range of service is offered by the work-based experience?..........................................4
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................5
E-portfolio (Reflective Accounts)..............................................................................................6
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................13
Books and Journals:.............................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
In today's business environment, it is found that work base experience is playing a
very important role in order to learn and getting knowledge and skills which are necessary for
the development of personality as well as growth in the career. This report will be going on to
discuss the work placement (Robinson and Rusznyak, 2020). Work placement refers to a
temporary job which is mainly focused is and intended to give a trainee experience to an
individual. This report will discuss and experience of an individual who has done their
training or work placement in a charity organisation in the United Kingdom i.e. Cancer
Research UK. It is found to be the world's largest independent Cancer research Organisation
that is registered in the United Kingdom and formed on 4th February 2002. It is a world-
leading cancer charity which is mainly focusing on saving the lives of individuals who are
not able to afford the operation of cancer.
MAIN BODY
What is the nature of the work-based experience?
It is important to understand that work placement is paying a very important role in
the individual life who wanted to grow in the future, especially in the professional life. It is
found that an organisation can achieve their goals and objectives only when they have good
employees who are not only able to perform their job effective about also becomes
competitive in the market which generates a competitive advantage (Andresen, Boud and
Cohen, 2020). This is the main reason that individual needs to develop skills and experience
so that they are able to do a job in the company. Work placement is very helpful in order to
provide training to the individual. It is actually concerned with the temporary job which is
mainly intended to give a training experience so that an individual will perform a job with
greater responsibility. Work-based experience is concerned with the general term which
refers to any time spent or experience in a place of work. In layman's language, work-based
experience is the specific concern with the experience which was generated during the period
of work placement. Now it becomes necessary for each individual who wants to do a job
should get training of 3 to 6 months which helps them to generate all the necessary skills and
knowledge required for doing a job (Fernandes Bella and et.al., 2018). Some work placement
agencies are providing stipends but some of them are not.
Cancel research Organisation is found to be the world's largest independent charity
organisation that runs in the United Kingdom. It is basically focusing on providing funds or

charity in order to save the lives who suffered from cancer (Justice and et.al., 2020). They are
also supporting the research related to cancer through the work of over 4000 scientists,
doctors and nurses. It is found that Cancer research United Kingdom is focusing on finding
the ways of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer so that people will not die due to
cancer. And I am really very happy that I became a part of this organisation. I was starting to
work in Cancer Research UK which is basically a charity-based organisation and my duty
was that I need to help the customers sometimes I also help my colleagues by adding labels to
their clothes. I identified that it is a charity-based organisation and that's why every person
was no time for that company as they are doing a job by volunteering. The organisation was
focusing on making solutions for the cancer people and that's why we used to work in teams
(Irwin, Nordmann and Simms, 2019). The organisation always focuses on teamwork so that
we are able to finish a job quickly. There was no team meeting held.
Which service user group uses the service?
It is found that service users of Cancer research UK are actually the whole world
because they are focusing on research so that they can identify the treatment of cancer and
also prevent people from cancer. Each and every individual are a service user of the company
as it is found that cancer has now become a disease which is no concern with the age. Their
services are concerned with the research used by both their own staff as well as grant-funded
researchers. They also provide information related to cancer and that's why they are running
campaigns which has the main motive to raise awareness related to cancer (Balaam and et.al.,
2019).
What range of service is offered by the work-based experience?
It is identified that cancer research UK has approximately 40000 people working as
regular volunteers. The main mission of the organisation is to make the world free from
cancer. They provide a wide range of services to the public. As per the work-based
experience, I got many facilities and accommodations in this charity organisation which
include a kitchen, room for sorting clothes, room for sales and a toilet. These are the main
services offered by the organisation to me. I really very felt grateful that I get up the
opportunity to work with this great charity organisation as I was impressed that how people
like to donate their favourite clothes.

CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above discussion that work placement is very important
as it provides an experience which on work-based. This type of experience is very effective
for people and the organisation as well as they get the employees who already have the
information and knowledge that how they will need to perform in the company. It is
necessary to understand that individuals should focus on their work basement as it is a great
opportunity to develop necessary skills and knowledge which will provide a good experience
to the individuals.

E-portfolio (Reflective Accounts)
Date: 1st June, 2022
Description of event Reflective account of the event
My first day at work was to be at the
charity shop of Cancer research UK and I
was very happy to become associated with
such an organization which focuses on
social welfare. I was initially enamoured
by this place as I saw people donate money
and clothes along with other necessary
things for the well-being of the general
public. My first exposure to an important
exposure on the first day with the
organisation started with an induction. This
activity included the charity shop manager
making me familiar with the company
policies and infrastructure and I also met
with my team members. There were no
major events worth mentioning other than
these on this day.
After the induction was over, the manager
talked to me about the company’s values and
missions and I was enthralled to know that I
am working in the charity shop of such a
recognized institution. At this time, I was
very nervous due to being on my first so I
decided to keenly observe all the work which
my colleagues were doing. I quickly
familiarized myself with the workflow which
goes on in the charity shop and I also tried to
feel the clothes there to gauge the quality of
the fabrics being used. When my day was
finished I realised that all my colleagues
were very helpful and they gave me many
tips to do my work efficiently and I barely
noticed any politics at the charity shop.
Overall, I felt tired and satisfied during my
first with a positive attitude regarding the
future proceedings.
Date: 2nd June, 2022
Description of event Reflective account of the event
During my second day of my job, I was
determined to leave a positive impression
on my superiors which is why I was ready
to do anything that comes my way. The
major event which happened on this day
included a female customer starting to
The second day started on an extremely
rough patch for me as I got in a very sticky
situation and I was not able to properly
formulate the way in which this situation
was supposed to handled. I was familiar
with the way in which the charity shop

quarrel with me and subjecting me to verbal
abuse and harsh words as I refused to oblige
to her demand for an item return which is
not the part of the shop policy of cancer
research UK. Since I was relatively new to
the shop floor experience, I had to get my
manager involved who quickly diffused the
situation and explained me ways to handle
the same in the future
policy worked and one female customer got
into an ugly spat with me and I rightfully
declined her a return on her product.
However, the situation got ugly and I had to
bring my manager in who took care of the
issue. This incident helped me learn about
conflict management and helped me gain
some real life experience around issues.
This was quite an experience for me as my
manager taught me how to handle such
customers by telling me to focus on my tone
and language which will be very helpful in
public dealing going forward during my
work in the shop
Date: 3rd June, 2022
Description of event Reflective account of the event
After two days I started to understand the
procedures of the shop a little bit and I was
getting proficient in many of the tasks
which were being performed in the shop by
me and my peers. I was surprisingly well
adept in attaching price labels to the clothes
and I got off earlier than I expected. I spent
my remaining time in helping out my
colleagues with their respective tasks in the
shop floor which was a very helpful
experience for me as I got to pick up
important work related tips and tricks from
them which boosted my confidence. Overall
this day was quite productive and I did not
face any major problem like the previous
This day was quite generous for my
standards as it was filled with exceptional
performances given by me which impressed
both the manager and the teams which
worked at the charity shop. I was given the
task to attach price labels carefully o the
clothes after thoroughly inspecting them and
I did it in a very fast manner. By going at a
brisk pace, I was able to compete this task
way before schedule which earned me rave
reviews form my manager. I decided to
utilize the remaining time which I saved in
productive manner and helped out my
fellow team members in sales department
and even helped some people attach their

day and I was satisfied with my progress price labels on clothes and sort the clothes
in different categories. Doing this helped me
increase the bonding with the charity shop
teams and helped me gain even more
experience
Date: 4th June, 2022
Description of event Reflective account of the event
This next day was filled with lots of
practical learning experience for me as I got
to run the sales department of the shop floor
and this included dealing with customers
directly and offering them the many
clothing product ranges that the charity shop
has to offer. The customers that I dealt with
came in different varieties with all kinds of
behaviours and attitudes which made it quite
a holistic experience. Working in the charity
shop equipped me with a lot of skills and I
used the previous days learning in an
important manner. The things which my
manager taught me on my 2nd day in which a
female customer fought with me came
shining through on this day as I managed to
talk and establish relationship with my
customers quite well and I was satisfied on
the progress I made on this day.
This day was very fruitful for me as I got to
learn how to sell the clothing ranges which
the charity shop keeps selling. In got to
display my wealth of practical knowledge in
a sporting fashion as I got to deal with many
customers holistically and I managed to
prevail with flying colours. I managed to
pitch a lot sale to the customers by keeping
their needs in mind and this resulted in my
manager being satisfied with my progress.
However, the biggest win for me is that
every customer that I catered to left the shop
satisfied with the purchases they made.

Date: 5th June, 2022
Description of event Reflective account of the event
I followed all the rules and regulation which
were given to me in the shop. This day was
quite regular for me as I managed to once
again showcase the broad knowledge which
I received working in the charity shop in the
many tasks which were given to me. Today
the major duty that I performed was
checking the quality of clothes which were
being stocked in the shelves of the shop and
this task was very important as for shops
such as the one run by Cancer Research UK
pride themselves on superior quality. I
succeeded in this event with diligence and
this gave me valuable experience in the field
of quality management which is something
that is sure to help me going forward in my
career
My time which was being spent daily in the
charity shop of cancer research UK was
filled with one holistic task being
accomplished by me one after another. This
time the manager tasked with one of the
most important tasks in the shop which was
associated with the quality inspection of
clothes which is very important as every
cloth offered to the public is done through
proper standards of quality check. By
getting myself engrossed in this task and
completing it with the help of my
teammates on the shop floor. The overall
experience acquired was quite holistic as I
gained a lot of knowledge regarding the
processes which are used in quality
management of such charity shops in UK
which will help me further my career
Date: 6th June, 2022
Description of event Reflective account of the event
One of the major reasons to why I started
working in this charity shops due to the
allegiance of the company in helping people
get access to basic functions and needs of
life without burning a major hole in their
pockets in the process. Outside of working
My initial drawing towards the charity shop
which I currently work at was due to the
major steps which the company took to help
the people in need and this was mainly due
to their ambitious and socially oriented
vision. My work on this day went relatively

in the shop and dealing with customers and
doing regular quality checks on the new
clothes being stocked, I also bought some
clothes from the shop myself. This was
done mainly to contribute some of my own
hard earned towards the good cause which
is the charity shop and filled me with a deep
sense of pride knowing that I not only work
fort such a prestigious organization but also
con tribute towards its vision on my own
peaceful as everyone was getting acquainted
with me just fine. I decided that simply
working for this organization was not
enough me as I wanted to be of more use to
it and in order to help with this cause, I
decided to buy some clothes from the shop
myself. I did this mainly because I thought
that through the money I am giving the
company, I am indirectly making a donation
towards the needy people in the society.
Date: 7th June, 2022
Description of event Reflective account of the event
This day of the shop floor was filled with
new opportunities and new intents as I once
again did all the tasks which were asked of
me in a speedy manner which as usual
helped me earn stripes when it comes to
impressing my superiors. I also donated
some of my own clothes which did not fit
me anymore and some which I simply not
liked wearing to the shop so that they can be
given to people who are in actual need of
good clothing and cannot purchase it due to
unforeseen circumstances. I also went home
early on this day to take care of my
grandmother who suffers from diabetes and
was feeling some discomfort in her lower
back and legs and family is priority in such
cases
I wanted to wholly dedicate myself to the
main social cause which firms the backbone
and the cultural legacy of the Cancer
research UK organization. The previous
day, I purchased some of the clothes of the
shop and this time, I took the social service
aspect of my work to the next level by
donating some of my old clothes to the
company. I did this mainly to aid the people
in need of clothes which I do not have any
need of and I was appreciated for this deed
by my manger and peers on the work floor
of the shop. I also had to go early to my
home to take care of ailing grandmother
who was not feeling well as after effect of
diabetes make her legs and ankles swell. I
was happy to see that my manager duly
obliged to this emergency.

Date: 8th June, 2022
Description of event Reflective account of the event
This was probably one of the most stressful
events that happened during the course of
my work in the charity shop of cancer
research UK and this centred around my
grandmother once again. This even took
place in the early morning when I was
getting ready to go to my work but my
grandmother suddenly fainted due to
missing a dose of her insulin injection the
previous day. Fortunately, I was present on
the scene and I took care of her and took her
to the local hospital where she stayed for the
duration of half a day. I had to stay with her
and only came to work in the evening after
she was properly rehabilitated at our home.
Every job comes with certain situations
where everything seems to go wrong for the
individual and this was one of those days. I
got up nice an early with a positive outlook
to get ready to do my job but my
grandmother fainted right in front of my
eyes. I quickly took hold of her, checked her
vitas and immediately rushed her to the
local hospital where the endocrinologist
examined her and told me this happened due
to a missed injection dose of insulin the
previous night. I managed to get my
grandmother the help she needed and stayed
with her at the hospital till the evening and
only reached the charity shop in the evening
to apologize for the delay and the missed
day. I was very content to see that the staff
and my manager were very supportive of
my situation and applauded me for taking
proper care of my family which is a rare
trait in the modern world
Date: 9th June, 2022
Description of event Reflective account of the event
This was quite a peculiar event in which
some of the people which were working in
the shop floor fought with one another and
the place quickly started to become a fish
market with people forming groups and
yelling absurdities with each other. This was
a very bad look, especially for a charity
I feel that this was not a good thing for the
shop because if the employees will start
fighting with each other than this can affect
the activities in the shop, and it put negative
impact and develop bad image of the shop
in the eyes of the customers who have seen
such kind of situations in the shop, they

shop since the workers were supposed to be
the pillars of such shops in which social
work is prioritized and encouraged.
Thankfully my manager intervened and I
was able to calm one of the main people
involved in the fight which happened to be a
close friend of mine. It was all over a
misunderstanding which was cleared in time
and things went back to normal after a
while.
might not come back. This can also affect
my working as an intern because such
situation affects the team spirit and overall
working of the shop. I believe instead of
fighting they can calmly talk over that
situation and solve the matter.
Date: 10th June, 2022
Description of event Reflective account of the event
One team was absent in the shop which
results in excessive work burden on other
teams. All the activities either it is related to
the sell, attending customer or billing all
have to perform by only one team which
make it very chaotic. Less workforce may
lead such situation. For solving such
situation shop should hire such interns
which are responsible for their task and
duties and do note unwanted leaves
It was not a simple job for me as I have to
handle all the work burden which could
little bit tough because I am in starting
phase of my work and have no such
experience to handle this kind of condition.
But due to the absence of those team I have
understood the that how unavailability of
workers can affect the any kind of business,
so I think it is important for maintaining the
enough work force in the shop for such kind
of condition. It also give an experience of
doing multi-tasking which could be helpful
for me in future.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Andresen, L., Boud, D. and Cohen, R., 2020. Experience-based learning. In Understanding
adult education and training (pp. 225-239). Routledge.
Balaam, M., and et.al., 2019, May. Emotion work in experience-centered design.
In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI conference on human factors in computing
systems (pp. 1-12).
Fernandes Bella, and et.al., 2018. Workplace spirituality: Sustainable work experience from a
human factors perspective. Sustainability, 10(6), p.1887.
Irwin, A., Nordmann, E. and Simms, K., 2019. Stakeholder perception of student
employability: does the duration, type and location of work experience
matter?. Higher Education, 78(5), pp.761-781.
Justice, S.B., and et.al., 2020. Operationalizing reflection in experience-based workplace
learning: A hybrid approach. Human Resource Development International, 23(1),
pp.66-87.
Robinson, M. and Rusznyak, L., 2020. Learning to teach without school-based experience:
Conundrums and possibilities in a South African context. Journal of Education for
Teaching, 46(4), pp.517-527.