Amit and Rahat – Careers Academies

For our sixth meeting, me and Amit met up at Pretz and had lunch. During this time, Amit was helping me improve my C.V by making it more formal and more precise on the details. We also talked about interview situations and Amit gave me useful information on how to deal with interviews such as what to say and how to use body language. Overall, it was a good meeting as I took in a lot of useful information from Amit.

"Half way through the show Rahat became so confident that he took over the whole show."

Last Sunday Rahat decided to pop down to the radio studio and get involved in my show ‘Backchat’ on Westside Radio 89.6FM.  It was unfortunate that none of my co-hosts could make it that day as he didn’t get to see the show in full swing.  However it did mean that Rahat got a chance to see the inner workings of a Radio show and got to learn some of the technical aspects of presenting.

"Soon thereafter Rahat decided that he also wanted to try his new found skills on the wheels of steel and to become a DJ!"

When you’re on the radio you have to keep your wits about you.  You have to be able to speak on air, get your next song ready, keep your adverts ready, remember what’s coming up next, check the audio levels and also remember what it actually is you were going to talk about!

"Rahat had decided that he wanted to take over the whole show and now make me his co-host!"

It’s a shame that it was a slow day but no doubt Rahat will have the opportunity to come back onto the show again and hopefully at a time when we have a big guest too!

On our fourth meeting, me and Amit went to play pool. At first I thought it was the first time Amit has played because he told me that he has not played in over a year. But after he got the first ball into the pot I knew something was up. After he beat me three games in a row, I DEFINETLY knew something was up. After the game I found out that Amit used to play pool regular and was a formidable opponent. After the game of pool, me and Amit went to have some pizza. During the time we was eating, Amit was giving me useful advice and tips on how to find a job and how to hand out C.V’s. This meeting was definetly useful and I hope to learn a lot more in the future.

It was  a tense encounter.  Rahat was confident that Amit was no match for him.  He was the new talent and Amit was the veteran.  But who would triumph in this rumble in the jungle?  It’s safe to say that after seeing Rahat break, Amit was nervous!!

For the first game, both players struggled and made many mistakes…there were more white balls being potted then the spots or stripes! (Not a good start!)  After a while both experts got settled into the game and started potting balls.  One after the other the balls fell and for the first game it came down to ‘pot black!’

Amit just about clinched the first game by the skin of his teeth!  Things were getting pretty tense.  Amit mopped his brow as he got ready for round two.  This time Rahat took and early lead and looked like he had found his form.  Somehow Amit managed to catch up and stormed to victory with a great long pot on the black.  It was 2-0 and Rahat had no way back.

It was the final game and it looked like the two previous victories gave Amit confidence enough to pot four balls straight.  It wasn’t looking good for Rahat.  It was a brave fightback by the young master but it wasn’t quite enough to take on the old dog.  It was a clear victory for Amit; 3-0. No doubt Rahat wil be back though with a few new tricks!

It was a fun day with Rahat.  Afterwards we grabbed some Pizza and talked about how Rahat was struggling to find work over the summer.  I offered to take another look at his CV and suggested a more radical approach when asking about vacancies.

As he’s got nothing to lose I suggested being a bit more daring and try even being a tiny bit cheeky, just enough to stand out from the crowd.  We also talked about Rahat’s t-shirt designs and that I would put him in touch with one of my friends who prints t-shirts.

So what do you do when everyone asks for experience?  I posted an article up a few years ago called Confidence Vs Experience.  Where experience is lacking you can make up for it with confidence.  It is a learned skill and so anyone can aquire it.  I also recommend taking up some voluntary work to keep your skills and mind fresh.

Today I met Amit at his head office at West London. He showed me around the server room which is huge. He also showed me the server that he is replacing and showed me the new one that he was going to be installing. These servers are linked to the other branches in the UK, so if anything accidently happens then it’s all on Amit’s shoulders. Amit also showed me some of his colleagues who are very friendly and they basically explained what they do within the company. All in all, I reckon that I have gained more insight on the company and how it works than previously before.

Today Rahat came to visit me at the head office.  I took him for a tour of the main server room and also introduced him to some of my colleagues.

One of the great things about where I work is that the atmosphere is quite relaxed and people are very friendly and always willing to talk to you.

So far Rahat and I seem to be bonding quite well and I’ve got lots of plans for the future.  Rahat has expressed that he’s a keen pool player and I used to be a dab hand back in the day so I’m sure at some point we’ll have a game to see if the old dog still has a few tricks to play!

Another activity I’m planning is to take rahat to meet Priya Lakhani who is an entrepreneur and the creator of Masala Masala sauces.  She recently won the ‘Business Entrepreneur Of The Year’ award and I recently managed to interview her for my radio show

All in all so far it’s been an interesting journey and I’m looking forward to reading what Rahat has taken from the meetings so far.

Hi All,

This blog is to document my meetings with my Mentee – Rahat and for him to also write down some of his learnings and generally share what he’s taking away from the whole experience.

Rahat was paired with me through the Careers Academies scheme so that he can get exposure to the world of business and also make a contact within that world in the form of someone who can guide him provide him with a platform to a different form of life experience.

Rahat and I first met in April at his college and then we had our first proper meeting at my office in central london.  I showed him around the office and introduced him to some people I was familiar with and also people that would be valuable to him in guiding him in the right direction on his chosen path.

Rahat and I will be together until June 2010  so it’s going to be an interesting journey and hopefully a fruitful one from both sides.