Read the transcript of the video about two young staff members working at the London 2012 Organising Committee.
Natalie: I’m Natalie Moore I’m 18 years old, and I’m currently the Team Assistant in Education.
Nathan: My name is Nathan Spencer. I am 20 years of age and I am a Trainee Venue Project Manager.
Natalie: I was in sixth form and looking in the local newspaper and I saw a tiny advert for a Starting Block Programme at London 2012 and I thought, ‘Oh, what’s this?’ And my Mum said, ‘Go for it, go for it’, and I said, ‘I’m not going to get it, I’m not going to get it’. But I applied on the Internet and a few weeks later I got a phone call saying, ‘Could you come up to the offices?’
Really scared, never been to Canary Wharf before, didn’t have a clue what to wear, panicking – and I got here and it was actually a really good day, sort of team building stuff. Got to know each other, had a formal interview as well which by then was quite calm.
It went really well but I still went away thinking there was loads of people here, so didn’t think I’d get the job.
Then a few weeks later I got a phone call saying, ‘Could you come back for a second interview?’ Came back and obviously it went really well and then a few weeks later I got the call saying I’d got the job and I started in September.
It’s an absolutely amazing opportunity. Everyone comes out with the corny ‘it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’, or ‘a once-in-a-generation opportunity’, but it really is because the Olympic and Paralympic Games are in London.
I come from East London so them being in Stratford is just round the corner from me. It really is just an opportunity that I maybe, might get to see again but I would never get to work at such a young age and have this opportunity.
You come into the office and there’s something new to learn every day or a new fact about what’s going on, and it’s just really exciting to feel part of it especially when it’s so close to home. So for me it really feels like it’s part of me now.
Nathan: The company’s departments showcased to us what they do and how they fit into the company organisation at the functional areas and we had to decide and make a choice of first, second and third choices of where we want to go for three month placement.
I’ve now moved onto Venues where I’ve spent three months working with project managers and overlay designers and I took my permanent role here as a Trainee Venue Project Manager.
I come in in the morning and sign onto my computer. We have something called LOCOG Venue Requirements; they’re specifications for the different rooms inside the different venues and competition venues.
The Olympic Stadium has maybe 3,000 rooms in one section and all those rooms have to be accounted for in terms of size, width, depth, what’s actually in the rooms, how many people can fit in there. All those kind of things have to be accounted for.
I’ve been given an opportunity that some people won’t get in their life: so take it and don’t waste it.
Natalie: I start work at 9, come into the office, start my computer up, firstly check through my emails and see what I’ve got to do for the day. I’ve got a to-do list, I have a look at that, see what’s the most important and what’s not so important and get started.
Things I usually do are working on general admin stuff, booking rooms for people, making sure guests have got their visitor passes downstairs and parking spaces, and then just general admin. If people ask me to do things I’ll do it for them, and just looking after the team.
Since I’ve been here I’ve probably learned how important and how much of a tight deadline there is for the job – everyone is all go, there is never time to stop – and how important it is to work together as a team.
Knowing that I’m quite an important person in the team because I do a lot of admin work for everyone, and I like to think sometimes if I wasn’t here they wouldn’t be able to cope!
So it’s just important that everyone does feel included, and I can sit here with the rest of my team and laugh and joke and get on with work, and I don’t feel like I’m the young one and everyone is looking at me like, ‘What’s she doing here?’
I feel part of the team and it doesn’t matter how old you are or how young you are. I think everyone works together so well that you always feel part of the team that you’re working in.
Nathan I joined as one of the ten school leavers, so we’re the youngest in the company, but we’ve all fitted well into our functional areas and departments.
I mean, we’re working with some of the best people in the world, or _the _ best people in the world on the biggest project in the world. The people that I’m working with are the most professional and most experienced people in their field and it’s just fantastic to be part of it and working with them.
Natalie: One person that inspired me the most at school was my School Sports Co-ordinator. She introduced me to coaching and getting involved and teaching others about what I enjoy from sport, and she really gave me the enthusiasm in sport that I was missing, and from her I think I gained a lot of confidence. So I think she really helped me to get my job and gave me all the confidence that I needed to be where I am today. After 2012 I might decide to go to university and probably would train to be a PE teacher.
Nathan: In my life my biggest influence would be my mother. She’s actually a Head Teacher in East London, in Newham. Her drive and where we came from to where we are now – where she is now – that keeps me hungry to make sure I do my best and stay focused, and make sure I have set goals and I achieve them.
Doing the Project Management side – I am looking to further my career in that, maybe working on other projects maybe even in other Games. Because once you do one Games you have enough experience to move onto another, but you can always project manage anything. The world’s my oyster. I can do anything really.
