By Paulina Bernhardi. Age 15

Paulina joined Newsport for a week's work experience at the end of January. She was a delight and gave us a new perspective on the generation that will one day be the employers of tomorrow. 

When you think about work, many different jobs pop into your brain. For example, office jobs, teachers, doctors, dentists, business owners, and etc. However, what pops up in a teenager’s brain? 

Adults work to support their family or themselves as it is mandatory to survive in the world. On the contrary, teenagers rely on their parents to support them through their youth, so they do not worry about work life just yet. 

We all know that some work is enjoyable, and earns you an average wage, whereas, some work is tiresome, but derives a great income. Despite this, teenagers tend to focus on the negative side of the work force. For example, the long, demanding hours, the dreadful location, earning minimum wage, or not having the freedom to move around in some examples. We don’t see the favourable view of the work force as easily as adults. 

It’s common for teenagers to hang out with their friends, watch late movies or go shopping, right? So, imagine that compared to standing behind a cashier, or bringing someone their food. It diverses a teenager’s normal lifestyle, which causes them to be unenthusiastic about the work force and interpret it as a waste of their time that they could be spending on other activities. Taking on a new job means having responsibility and accepting independence. As some teenagers are not capable of these things, they find that work can be tedious or uninteresting. 

On the other hand, some teenagers, especially those that are well-organised, independent and matured, tend to look at work as a new opportunity. They gravitate to the positive side of the work force, such as the exciting, new role in their life style, and the new-thinking skills that they will learn. 

Some teenagers also look towards work as a benefit to them as they have an opportunity to earn money and are able to look after themselves instead of relying on their parents to finance them. This increases their independence and prepares them for the real world.  

Nevertheless, the workforce is a complex idea to grasp for a teenager with little experience. To me, it seems as if businesses rely on each other to make a profit or loss. Even though each business is separate, there is an interconnection between them. For example, if tourists do not come to Port Douglas due to a let down in the tours and activities areas, then cafes and gift shops will have a decline in the business sales, meaning that they do not earn an acceptable profit. However, what does the workforce in a business mean to me? 

As I have experienced the stress in a work force, the things that i noticed are the key to success. To me, the work force means an organised place that has a control over its employees and their jobs. It means flexibility with each job and responsibility, and initiative to ‘get things done’. A business must have a respectful and smart-thinking team that is willing to accept challenges and strive to fix them. Without organisation, the business will struggle to accomplish jobs and achieve their ultimate goal.

A business relies on its employees to be devoted and a hard working committee in order to accomplish an achievable goal. However, reliance is also initiated to each member in the workforce, and if one member does not acquire to their tasks, then the business loses its organisational strategies. This also generates a fault in the interconnection in the work team, making the business struggle to achieve anything. Each member has responsibilities to maintain, and if they are met, then the original goal is achievable, and the business, a success.

I learnt that for a business to be prosperous, a work structure must be in place so that jobs are not muddled, mistaken or inaccurate. There is a specific routine that is held to, so that the workplace is not unsystematic and chaotic. Furthermore, it is habitual that meetings, and advice or help are carried out so that every employer knows what not to do and what to do. This means that there is no confusion between jobs and tasks that has to be done. 

The business workforce is many things. It is not just a workforce, it’s a diligent group of workers striving hard to achieve success and their initial goal.