Cranford Review 2020

Year 10
Cisco Work Placements
November 2019
Visit to Cisco
72
In November 2019, a handful of student including
myself were invited to complete five days of
work experience at a company named Cisco, a
world leader in IT, networking and cybersecurity,
which is located in Bedfont Lakes. Upon our
arrival, we were greeted by Colin Seward CEO
of Cisco for Europe, Russia, Middle East and
Africa. He gave us an introduction to the week
we would be spending at Bedfont Lakes and what
it would entail, along with some history about
Cisco and what the company does. There were
two streams of work to choose from: business or
technical. In the technical stream, we completed
a range of activities such as ethical hacking,
cybersecurity, human networking and number
fundamentals to name a few. These were highly
engaging activities as we were given numerous
opportunities to experiment with new technology
and to build up our skills with the technology we
were familiar with.
Throughout our week at Cisco, we also took part
in activities that would help us strengthen our
skills in other aspects of working life, such as
the process of getting a job. We were given tips
on writing CVs and taught about employability
skills, both of which were useful for our
future. After this, we also participated in speed
interviewing led by members of the Cisco team
who asked us a variety of questions to expand
our knowledge and interview skills, another task
which was extremely beneficial. There was a
session at the end of every day where we would
sit in our groups and set the challenge of creating
a product that used technology. On the last day
of the week, we presented our pitches to a panel
of judges, similar to Dragon’s Den. To conclude,
our week at Cisco was truly eye opening and
helped us to take our first steps into the world of
work in a very useful and exciting manner.
Ria Dhaliwal (year 10)
In November 2019, I got chosen to do work experience
at Cisco in Bedfont Lakes. It was an absolutely
amazing experience and taught me many important
skills, like creating a CV, how to present yourself at
an interview, how to create successful products, and
so much more. Also, we were able to learn about
the many different jobs that are a part of a business,
like sales and accountancy, and what makes them so
valuable and crucial for a company as big as Cisco.
In addition, not only was I taught important skills
needed for a job, I was made aware of many hidden
talents and abilities I did not know I possessed, like
presenting, debating, and even being a leader. One
thing that surprised me was that the work experience
taught me how to manage my time. This is because I
would arrive home at 18:00pm every day, and I would
immediately have to not only get my clothes ready
for the next day, I would sometimes have to get my
cadet uniform ready, and even catch up with school
and homework I had from the same day. I realised how
important having a schedule and a routine is as an adult.
My favourite part of doing work experience at cisco,
was the business game. In this game we were put into
groups with people we didn’t know. We then had to
assign our team members different roles that are needed
in a business, and all the teams were competing to
see which team could make the most profit by making
handmade products using paper and other resources
we had to buy from the bank, and selling them to a
saleswoman. I loved this part of the work experience,
as I made many new friends, and I realised my full
potential as a leader. My team didn’t end up winning,
but we still had a lot of fun, and even came second
place in the debating part of the game, in which the
groups had to argue why their group was the best.
Overall, I loved my work experience at Cisco, as all
the employees, interns and other staff were extremely
kind and welcoming to all the students. Not only did
I learn many valuable and important business skills, I
also made many new friends along the way.
Samuel Dickson (year 10)