My WEXO Experience: The London 2012 Olympics with UPS
I had previously been working in an office job in Slough and was looking for a new challenge. I wanted a role which involved lots of interaction with different people and allowed me to move about rather than being stuck in an office all day. My friend saw the Olympics DVLM role on the WEXO website and advised this would be right up my street. I have currently only been in the role for 2 weeks but have already had some great experiences.
I am based in the Olympic village in Stratford which is currently still a building site as the village looks to be completed in early April. However the buildings are already erected and thus the site already looks very impressive. Finishing touches are being put on the surrounding land as trees are installed and rooms are being furnished and decorated. It is a refreshing change to travel into Stratford everyday, an area completely rejuvenated by the Olympics, soaking up the atmosphere of Westfield and the buzz of the Olympic spirit at the athletes’ village. This is enough to get me motivated for work every day on its own!
The role itself has currently involved overseeing operations of the site. The main challenge of this so far has been to motivate and gain the respect of workers who are the same age as me or older and more experienced. I have found the best way to do this is to lead by example and muck in, as well as showing them respect by asking them for the best advice on how to complete a task.
The UPS Olympics team is based in Canary Wharf and I have also had the chance to visit the offices here and partake in training. The highlight of this was the staff meeting held recently. This was a chance to meet really important people responsible at the highest level for logistics at the Olympics. Even though many people are employed by different companies, there is a real sense of one team spirit as everyone is excited to pull together and deliver the best Olympics possible for London! Everyone is really down to earth and a lot of fun, interested in you and your story, no matter how high a level they operate at! We all went out afterwards around Canary Wharf for a couple of drinks and to exchange stories.
I envisage my role evolving a lot in the coming months as the building on the site is completed and athletes start to arrive, which is really exciting as I am not sure what challenges and surprises will be around the corner. However it is great to know that whatever happens there is a whole team of people behind me willing to help any way they can!
Matthew Hill
