| Hi Alex. It's Martha Clines here. |
| James White gave me your number. |
| I hope you don't mind me calling you. |
| Of course not. How are you, Martha? |
| Good thanks. |
| I'm ringing because I need a bit of advice. |
| Oh yeah. What about? |
| The training you did at JPNW a few years ago. |
| I'm applying for the same thing. |
| Oh right. Yes, I did mine in 2014. |
| Best thing I ever did. I'm still working there. |
| Really? What are you doing? |
| Well, now I work in the customer services department |
| but I did my initial training in Finance. |
| I stayed there for the first two years and then moved to where I am now. |
| That's the same department I'm applying for. |
| Did you enjoy it? |
| Ah... I was pretty nervous to begin with. |
| I didn't do well in my exams at school |
| and I was really worried because I failed Maths. |
| But it didn't actually matter because I did lots of courses on the job. |
| Did you get a diploma at the end of your trainee period? |
| I'm hoping to do the one in business skills. |
| Yes. That sounds good. |
| I took the one on IT skills but I wish I'd done that one instead. |
| OK, that's good to know. |
| What about the other trainees? |
| How did you get on with them? |
| There were about 20 of us who started at the same time |
| and we were all around the same age. |
| I was 18 and there was only one person younger than me, who was 17. |
| The rest were between 18 and 20. |
| I made some good friends. |
| I've heard lots of good things about the training at JPNW. |
| It seems like there are a lot of opportunities there. |
| Yeah, definitely. |
| Because of its size you can work in loads of different areas within the organisation. |
| What about pay? |
| I know you get a lower minimum wage than regular employees. |
| That's right - which isn't great. |
| But you get the same number of days' holiday as everyone else. |
| And the pay goes up massively if they offer you a job at the end of the training period. |
| Yeah, but I'm not doing it for the money. |
| It's the experience I think will be really useful. |
| Everyone says by the end of the year you gain so much confidence. |
| You're right. That's the most useful part about it. |
| There's a lot of variety too. |
| You're given lots of different things to do. |
| I enjoyed it all - I didn't even mind the studying. |
| Do you have to spend any time in college? |
| Yes, one day each month. |
| So you get lots of support from both your tutor and your manager. |
| That's good. |
| And the company is easy to get to, isn't it? |
| Yes, it's very close to the train station so the location's a real advantage. |
| Have you got a date for your interview yet? |
| Yes, it's on the 23rd of this month. |
| So long as you're well prepared there's nothing to worry about. |
| Everyone's very friendly. |
| I am not sure what I should wear. |
| What do you think? |
| Nothing too casual - like jeans, for example. |
| If you've got a nice jacket, wear that with a skirt or trousers. |
| OK. Thanks. |
| Any other tips? |
| Erm, well I know it's really obvious but arrive in plenty of time. |
| They hate people who are late. |
| So make sure you know exactly where you have to get to. |
| And one other useful piece of advice my manager told me before I had the interview for this job - is to smile. |
| Even if you feel terrified. |
| It makes people respond better to you. |
| I'll have to practise doing that in the mirror! |
| Yeah - well, good luck. |
| Let me know if you need any more information. |
| Thanks very much. |