Deep into my third week working for UPS in the logistics department for the Olympics, I can proudly say that so far, this has been the most interesting and informative job of my career to date. I have learnt more during the last three weeks than I would ever have thought possible. It has confirmed that the future of my career firmly lies within sporting events.

Having previously worked for a company which staged, marketed and produced sports events across the UK, I already had a clear understanding of what to expect working at a sporting event but it was nothing on the scale of the Olympics. I’m now learning the logistics side and I hadn’t realised its sheer significance to the overall success of an event. From working in marketing and sales before, I feel that the logistics element is a lot more challenging and involves a more prolific approach.

My role for UPS is Customs and Freight Advisor and Delivery Coordinator. In English, this means answering questions that National Olympic Committees (including team athletes, press and broadcasters) have regarding getting their sports equipment, kit, technical devices and general belongings into the UK. There is a team of 10 of us that also coordinate the deliveries coming in and out of the Olympic park.

The team are all fantastic people and come from many different walks of life with diverse backgrounds and experiences. Our team manager, Kelly Wilton, has shown great patience; teaching us thoroughly and comprehensively, step by step , everything I now know about logistics.

Amy

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

Happy New Year, One and All. 2012 might well be the Chinese Zodiac Year of The Dragon but (despite protests about a new stamp in China) I am told that the dragon is best known for its abilities to “exorcise evil spirits and offer blessings”. So perhaps we will see the back of Jeremy Clarkson (opinion is divided here as to his appeal) and a host of new employment options?

I wanted to take this opportunity to update you all on a few new things that are going on at WEXO Towers and seek your thoughts on some others. I’ll start by saying that at the end of last year, we welcomed Dominique Edmonds to the team. Dominique was brought up in Surrey before attending the Bristol Institute of Modern Music and will be working as my assistant both on WEXO and the other major project I am involved in – the management of Mano de Dios who release their debut album on 23rd January. Previously, Dom worked as an Events Coordinator at Sportsvision and in true WEXO tradition has also held down a number of other roles ranging from working as a snowboard guide to pulling pints! She will be a valuable member of a team which is set to grow in the next few months. We are hoping to announce the appointment of a Recruitment Director and Business Development Director in the coming weeks and we will likely be taking on a few paid interns once these shoes are comfortably filled…

With that in mind, perhaps the most exciting development last year (as well as hosting Marco Pierre White at one of our WEXO events, visiting No.10 and being asked to work with the Student Film Festival London) was being selected to front the graduate recruitment for Deputy Venue Logistics Managers with UPS at the London 2012 Olympics. Working with STEP, we have helped place 60 candidates but still have another 20-30 positions to fill so do please apply and we can all do our little bit to make 2012 a phenomenal success. There are plenty of other roles on the site which we are continuing to develop as larger opportunities in the recruitment world present themselves. In the meantime, we are helping prepare a paper on the issues surrounding work experience, internships and apprenticeships (together with NDotM / The Creative Society) and would value your feedback. All responses will be considered for a draw for 2 tickets to watch one of the Olympic events.

1. What do you consider to be the key distinctions between internships and apprenticeships?

3. Should the government be doing more to educate the nation about the distinctions between work experience internships and apprenticeships and to encourage or incentivise companies to offer more paid employment for young people?

We look forward to helping make a year of achievement for us all. More importantly though, here’s to a happy and healthy one.

Robin Kennedy, Co-founder and Managing Director