#NoWrongPath – Reece Mackay, DYW Glasgow
By Reece Mackay, DYW Glasgow
In school, I had no clue what I wanted to do as a job/career. I didn’t even understand how jobs worked or what qualifications meant for me back then. When I went into S3, I was tired of the repetitiveness of the school environment, and I only attended about 30% of the time. Due to my lack of attendance, I was held back a level in S4, while my friends started doing their Nat 5s in S4. I was stuck in classes doing Nat 4s, even though I felt capable of doing Nat 5s despite my low attendance.
In S4, I quite liked media, so I completed a Nat 5 in that. My attendance was still low, but I still managed to get an A in both my prelim and exam for media because it was something I quite liked at the time. After that year, I stopped attending school completely and lost all contact with my friends.
My DYW Coordinator called one day and set up a meeting with me at the school. We got along very well. Along with my coordinator, a group of us attended some events together such as ScotHot 23 and Get Hired events. My coordinator also helped me get into a hospitality course, which made me more comfortable with traveling, timekeeping, and learning from working people. However, after 15 weeks on the course with work experience in a hotel, I realised hospitality wasn’t for me, but it might be for others.
Next, I completed a two-week course at EY Foundation and received a salary at the end, which was quite motivating considering I had never been paid before. During this time, I completed work experience at a recruitment company that was office-based, where I met interesting people and learned about LinkedIn and CVs. I also had a job coach there who I caught up with every few months to update on my progress.
My DYW Coordinator then helped me get a role through the paid work placement programme. Through this opportunity, I commenced a new job at the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce with DYW Glasgow as an Administrator, which I accepted. Looking back at my time at the recruitment company, I learned that as a young person, it was important to get as much as possible to benefit my future. Therefore, before I started my work placement at the Chamber, I completed a two-day work experience at the Chamber, where I was put in a boardroom full of staff discussing business-related information, which was quite overwhelming for me as a 16 year old at first but was really valuable.
I currently work with our Senior Project Coordinator Rebecca Milne on a daily basis, and she is always there to answer my questions. I can’t stress enough how important it is to always ask questions because that’s how you get knowledge, and it shows your interest. After working for a short time, I received my pay check. It made me feel valued, and my attendance was 100% compared to 30% when I was at school. I get along with everyone and I get to go to professional events and play a role in setting them up.
My team and I are currently developing a verified SCQF qualification for our Work Aware programme and are working on some new exciting projects. I recently started my apprenticeship in Business and Admin. I have been working here for one year now. I hope to continue learning, take every opportunity, and maybe someday go into entrepreneurship when the time is right, and help others like me achieve their best.
The takeaway I hope to give you from this is to just try everything you can if you have the time. My time in school didn’t benefit my future much. While I recommend attending school and learning what you can, you should also focus on developing skills that school doesn’t teach often, such as money management, self-care, fitness & health, and social awareness. Surround yourself with people who you can learn from and please remember to not put too much stress on yourself!
