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Around The World in 80 Careers: Customer Service & Bricklayer

03rd May 2022

Day 7

“I hope I didn’t get caught speeding…” Thought our explorer, pondering whether they had raced a tad excessively down the Autostrada A4 to return the car to the Milan branch of Noleggio Auto D’epoca! He approached the customer service desk, keys in hand.

“Were you satisfied with your Fiat 500 today?” Asked the customer service advisor in English, enriched with a strong Milanese accent. Ignoring the near-misses encountered on the way, our explorer nervously replied, “Absolutely fine thank you, no issues at all, and it was very well looked after… I promise!” The advisor smiled. “We have faith that it was, and we thank you for your custom today.”

Following a short handover of keys, our explorer couldn’t help but appreciate the excellent verbal communication skills this advisor was showing – one of the main skills required in customer service roles.

Before leaving, the explorer asked where they could order a good pizza. The advisor recommended they visit one of the fine eateries at Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II – a 25 minute walk away.

“An extravagant 19th-century glass-topped, barrel-vaulted tunnel serves as a lively, noisy and colourful shopping mall, teeming with life and inviting you to people-watch from the tables that spill from the Galleria’s many bars and restaurants.” Read the review on our explorer’s TripRecommender app, as their thumb scrolled, and their feet shuffled towards the exit of the hire depot.

Passing the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Santa Maria delle Grazie and the hanging gardens of Bosco Verticale on the way, and feeling quite peckish now, our explorer eventually arrived at the highly recommended mall. Mesmerised by the scale and beauty of the building, our explorer eventually regained focus and set eyes upon La Gallaeria Restaurante, surrounded by world-renowned fashion brands. Gucci, Armani, Prada… our explorer queued patiently for a table to become available.

“Are you on holiday?” Came a voice from further back in the queue. “I think we were on the same ferry as you the other day! You overtook us coming out of Turin too!”

“Hi! What a small world!” The explorer remarked (now slightly embarrassed by their earlier driving display). “I’m actually attempting to travel around the world, learning about different careers. How about yourselves?”

“Fascinating. My son here has actually just completed a traineeship and we’ve been discussing how he could use his experience from that to move on to an apprenticeship or paid job.” Turning to his son, the father nudged him to elaborate further. “Yeah, my traineeship was what they call an occupational traineeship in bricklaying – a new type of traineeship that links directly into the level 2 bricklaying apprenticeship route. The employer and the college reckon I would be good at the apprenticeship so they’ve got me starting in a few weeks’ time. Dad thought it would be a good time to go away on holiday before I get my stuck into my new role.

“My own hands could even build something like this place one day.” The young man boldly proclaimed, embracing a new-found confidence developed from his traineeship experience. All three travellers gazed around at the 150-year-old architecture around them and nodded in appreciation at what had just been suggested. Whilst our explorer was momentarily wowed by the sheer ambition of the young man, the confident soon-to-be-apprentice quickly rowed back on his comments by adding, “But I might need to progress through some higher levels of apprenticeships after completing the level 2, before I reach the level of mastery required to construct something quite as grand as this neo-renaissance masonry wonder.”

“What an eloquent and level-headed young bricklayer” Our explorer thought, as they found their musing interrupted by the restaurant waiter. “Benvenuto, your table is now ready. Please come this way…”

The three exchanged polite farewells.

 

Written by Sam Hill, ASK Contract Manager

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