My name is Shannon Tomkins. I am a Transition year student in Coláiste an Átha. From the 23rd to 27th October, I completed my first week of work experience. I did my work experience in Inner Beauty in Gorey. Inner Beauty is a beauty salon that does treatments such as nails, hair, makeup etc. I chose this work placement because I wanted to know more about a beautician’s job and the training that goes with it.

On the first day, I was very nervous as I was going into an unfamiliar place. The scariest part of the whole week for me was definitely walking up to the door as I didn’t know what to expect.  As soon as I got in and was there for a while, I didn’t know why I was so nervous as the staff were so nice and made me feel so welcome. I soon realised how different a working life is to school life .

My jobs included mostly cleaning, answering the phone, taking appointments, making tea/coffee, and cleaning treatment rooms after they had been used, I was also aloud to watch treatments being done such as nails and makeup. The best part of the week for me was watching the treatments being done as I didn’t expect so much time and effort to go into it. When the week was over, I had realised that a beautician’s job needs a lot of talent and hard work.

The staff in Inner Beauty were so kind and generous to me. I really enjoyed my work experience and look forward to the next time.