Day 4 Work Experience

As I had previously discussed with the sales manager about which days I was working, I didn’t need to worry about getting in contact with any member of staff as I already knew I was working that day.

This was probably my best day there. I was asked to help set up the window display with another member of staff. Just as we started the other guy that I was working with had to deal with a customer who was wanting to buy a guitar, so I was left to sort most of it myself. The sales manager came over to see what I could put in the window as he didn’t want guitars in the sunlight, so I suggested that we put an electric drum kit in there with some amplifiers and PA speakers. He agreed and told me to set it all up so I went on to do that. Once it was done, he was happy and asked me to then clean the windows.

During the rest of the day I was able to help customers more after getting used to my surroundings and where things were in the shop, and I also got to help out a few people that were looking into buying instruments. One man came in asking for a specific type of Acoustic guitar, so I assisted him and gave him information about different types that he could try. He tried a few different types and said he wanted to buy one maybe the next day. So I potentially could have made a sale there. Also someone bought one of the amplifiers that I put in the window for the display which I was quite proud of.

At the end of the shift the sales manager left the shop without saying bye or thank you to me. Despite the way he was, the rest of the staff there were very nice, and extremely helpful and made me feel very welcome.

Day 3 Work Experience

So after having to wait for a few weeks to get my last two days done at my work experience placement at Millers Music in Cambridge, I managed to get back in contact with the sales manager. Again, as I was not emailed as promised, I went into the store and spoke to him about doing the last days. He did apologise, and said he had been too busy. But I was able to go in the following day.

The day was fairly similar to the other days I had worked, however, I was able to get a bit more involved in helping customers as it was busier than other days. I was also given some tasks that involved unpacking brand new guitars that were worth a lot of money, one being a Fender Stratocaster that was a 2016 special edition model. I was asked to make sure they were all in working order and in tune, as well as being in the right order of price on the wall racks.

I was glad to be given the chance to take part in another delivery. This time it was an electronic drum kit which had some issues before hand to do with the sale, however it was resolved in store over the phone and we were able to proceed with the delivery. We arrived at the church where it was being delivered, and it seemed to be for some kind of music therapy session. I was approached by a man who was a part of the group in the church, and started talking to me, and then another man talked to me about the drum kit and I was able to give him lots of information that he seemed interested in.

When I got back from the delivery, I was asked to go downstairs where the offices are to help out with something. Earlier in the day we were told that there had been a flood the previous week in all of the offices and they were having people in the next day to have it fixed. When I went downstairs, the sales manager was down there kicking the wall down. He told me that he needed to make it look worse so the people would do a better job when they came to fix it. There was a lot of mess on the floor where he had kicked the wall down, and he said “get a plastic bag and clean that up”. So that is what I did. While I was doing this, I watched him get a dehumidifier, and pour the water that was inside it all over the floor and woodwork. After he did that he said “that should make it look bad enough”. I really found this behaviour very unprofessional and surprising considering the state the offices were already in.

Work Experience – Day 2

At the end of my first day at Millers Music, the sales manager had told me that he would be contacting me about another day of work. So after a couple of weeks without hearing anything, I decided to email them asking what day I could go in.

“Hi —-,

I was told I would hear about another day for work experience, but not had an email yet. I was just wondering when I can come in this week?

Thanks”

I soon had a response…

“Hi Ben,

Sorry we have not got back to yet. —- will be on holiday for the next two weeks but should be in contact with you after that when you can come back in.

Thank you

—-

Millers Music”

As I wanted to get my work experience finished I didn’t really want to have to wait around for two weeks, so I emailed again asking if I could go in sooner and I was told I would be emailed by the sales manager on the following Saturday. I waited to hear from him however, I wasn’t surprised to find that I had received no email. Feeling a bit unappreciated, I decided it would be best to go in the shop and speak with him face to face. When I arrived there I saw him dealing with a customer so I waited to speak with him. When he saw me he suddenly became stressed and his body language changed as if he was worn out and said words similar to ” oh yeah I forgot about you, I’m really sorry but I’ve been very busy”. I found this quite annoying as I had been told by another manager that he would email me, however he was too busy to send an email. I understand that managers are busy, but the time that I have spent working with him in particular, I have seen that he does nothing but rudely boss people around and gets everyone to do everything for him.

He then also told me I needed to buy smarter clothes. After around five minutes, we came to an agreement that I would work the next day and do my other days when he got back from his two week holiday.

When I arrived the following day, we had a staff meeting and then had a small talk on the classical guitars they had got in stock as they had had some difficulties in telling the customers the differences. After that I went on the shop floor in the same department as the time before. I was told to do a few different jobs, mainly throwing rubbish away, but sometimes tuning guitars that had been delivered.

Two bass guitars were delivered and he asked me and another worker to unpack them and tune them. So as we were doing that, he went and sat on his stool, and started texting. While we were tuning the guitars, he walked over and pointed at the boxes they had come out of and said in a disrespectful tone “whats all this mess? clean it up”. With no manners,  and no respect for either of us, he picked up the mess and showed us, then there it back down on the floor, and went on to sit down and text again. I understand that we could have cleared away some of the boxes, but personally I feel that he could have cleared away some of it instead of sit and do nothing. I feel like a manager should be like a leader and work with everyone to get the job done easier. However he is the kind of manager who loves the power and gets everyone to do everything for him, and believes he can say and do what he wants. A good example of this is when he swears on the shop floor with customers around, who I have noticed to give him a disgusted look. He cam back after doing this and said “I can swear on the shop floor, but if I hear you swearing, I will beat the shit out of you”. Obviously not literally, but a very pathetic way of trying to show off.

This kind of behaviour carried on through the day, kicking boxes at me to take to the rubbish shed instead of asking me, as another example.

After my lunch I went back to the shop and one of the other members of staff who had been working there for around thirteen years told me that I would be going with him to deliver an electric piano to someone in Cambridge. I jumped at the opportunity to do something different, so we went out to deliver it together. When we arrived at the house we had a friendly greeting from a lady who had bought the piano for her son. I made sure I was very friendly to her while we were setting it all up for her. She kept asking questions which I did my best to answer, and requested that we kept moving it until she was happy. I thought this was fair as it was a part of our job. She seemed satisfied with our customer service, so we left her and her son to their piano.

When I got back, there was only around 45 minutes left which I spent helping customers with guitars and making sure everywhere was tidy. The sales manager was no where to be seen so another member of staff told me I could leave.

Before my day started I was told he would email me when he is back from his holiday…lets see if that actually happens!

My First Day inWork Experience

Today I attended my first day at my work experience placement at Millers Music in Cambridge for my “Enterprise in the Creative Arts” module at university.

I first got into contact with Millers after visiting the shop and talking to their sales manager. He seemed pleasant and helpful, giving me the email address for their store manager, and gave me lots of hope for being able to start my work placement with them. Once I had taken the address, I travelled back home to send my email to her –

“Hi —, 

My name is Ben Kingwell and I am a student at Anglia Ruskin University studying Creative Music Technology. For one of my modules I need to get some work experience that covers 35 hours of work which can be spread over a number of weeks, and I was wondering if I could work in Millers Music? I spoke to — earlier today and he said it would be fine, but needed to email you to confirm. 

Thanks for your time. 

Ben Kingwell“.

After waiting for a few days I began to feel unsure as to whether I would be getting a reply from them, so I decided to go back to the shop to see if I could speak to her instead. When I went in to ask they told me that they would speak to her as she was on her lunch and get her to replete me as soon as possible. This happened a couple of times, and eventually she replied to me –

“Hi Ben,

Sorry I did not get back to you sooner.

We are more than happy for you to come in for a trial day either Monday or Tuesday next week – let me know when you are available and I will let —- know.

If you could get here for 9.10 as we have a morning meeting at 9.25 before the store opens and we close at 5.30.

I am not here tomorrow so if you have any questions please call the store and ask to speak to — otherwise I am back in on Wednesday.

If you just let me know which day is better for you we can talk more to you that day.

Thank you

—-

Millers Music“.

I arrived at Millers Music at about 9 o’clock to make sure I was definitely there on time, and to find out how to get into the building as it was still shut. Luckily there was a piano delivery happening as I arrived, so the door was open for me to go in. I had a few confused faces around me thinking I was a customer and a man approached me saying that it wasn’t open yet. However after I explained to him that I was there to do work experience he took me down a narrow staircase to the offices and corridors beneath the shop. I was told to sit in their canteen, which was a room big enough to fit three people in with a kettle, and I waited for the other colleges to arrive.

Once everyone had arrived we all went upstairs for a meeting to discuss the difficulties that have been occurring the days before, an about things they needed to achieve on that day. The meeting was taken by the sales manager I had spoken to when I first asked about the work, and he was covering the matters. Some of the points that came up were to do with ordering the stock in. They were given a website to browse looking for instruments and equipment they could order in for the shop. I was very interested in this and wanted to find out more. After the meeting was over, he introduced me to everyone and they then all disappeared into their departments.

I was told to shadow a member of the guitar section and he would be there to ask any questions. We were then immediately asked to tidy the stock room as it was not kept in good standard with guitar cases, boxes and broken equipment chucked all over the floor. We needed to fit in 25 second hand guitars that were sold to the shop to sell, however the original owner then decided he had a better deal with another company, so he wanted them back. We needed to put them safely in the stock room so they were at easy access to take out when needed. The sales manager showed a great amount of irritation over this matter and did not hold back on his thoughts of the guitars owner. I found this a strange way to act in front of me, someone he didn’t know that was doing work experience, but I ignored it and carried on as I am aware of how some people can act when they are stressed. Once we had finished the tidying, I was then asked to package two small acoustic guitars. I accepted this, and proceeded to do so. However, after I had packed the first guitar, which fitted perfectly in the box and case, the second one didn’t fit, and as I was struggling to fit it in, the sales manager came over and told me that the guitars were different sizes. Before I was able to react and apologise, he went on to point his finger at me, in what may have been in a humorous way, and told me I was an idiot. Now, I am all for fun and jokes in the working environment as it makes the whole process more enjoyable, however calling me an idiot in front of customers on the shop floor on my first day without giving me much information about the guitars, I found this a bit unprofessional on his behalf. Looking at the situation now, I realise I should have checked the sizes of the guitars as it would have been a quicker and less rude outcome.

About ten minutes passed and he came over to me with another giggling member of staff lingering behind him, and handed me a badge saying “work experience”. Again I found this strange as I had been there for around two hours, so why was he giving me this now? He then asked me in a rude and impatient tone, with no please or thank you, to empty the bins. That is fine with me, however was this his way of saying I was now no longer good enough to do anything at higher standards? And why did he think he had the right to talk to me in this manner? I was speaking to the guy I was shadowing and he found it unreasonable that I was having to wear the “work experience” badge, and another member of staff was explaining that the sales manager just “has that personality”.

I felt uncomfortable, and slightly humiliated for the majority of the day, and had a few other occasions where I felt he was unfairly directing things at me. However he needed to leave at 3 o’clock for business reasons, so I got to spend some time with the other members of staff. I was able to ask one of them to show me the website that they ordered instruments from, and spoke to them about situations they’ve been in at the shop, and about sales figures. I shadowed lots of sales (mainly plectrums) and helped customers with trying instruments. I was able to deal with some customers on my own and got to talk to them and give them information about the guitars.

As an overall experience of my first day, I was fairly happy. I didn’t enjoy the company I had to begin with, but towards the end of the day, it became far more interesting and I was able to feel more involved and a part of the team.

Lets see what next week brings!!

What’s New?

Hi!! It has been a while since I uploaded anything. I have been extremely busy at university and I have also been writing loads of music. Late last year I released a new EP of punk songs called ‘Promises‘ which has had a lot of great responses. The point of the EP was a test to see what people thought of me singing…and it seems to have gone well. So I am now writing an album (alongside all my uni work). I have recorded about six demos and I have released one which is called ‘I Wanna Get Drunk‘. I want to re record the songs and I have been in contact with a guy who owns a studio near St Ives in Cambridgeshire and he said he would love to record me. I have heard some of his recordings and they sound very professional, so I am very excited for that.

I had a bad few months at the end of last year after stress of going separate ways with my ex and moving house as well as family issues (which are still continuing), but things are really looking positive now. I have met a girl called Holly who is absolutely lovely and she has made me very happy. She is an artist and has said she would love to draw pictures for my cover art for the album which is AWESOME! Check out her and her sisters Instagram here where they are selling prints and t-shirts!

As soon as University is over, I am going to be concentrating on finishing my album, getting a band together, gigging everywhere and anywhere, and making this dream of mine come true. I will be filming as much of this whole experience as I can, so make sure you subscribe to my YouTube and follow my Facebook page! If you’re interested in my punk music, this is the link to that Facebook page!

The Next Chapter! | New EP

Hi everyone! I hope you have all had a great Christmas. Its been a busy few months for me finishing up all of my work for my hand ins at uni, and I then went home over the Christmas holidays to see my family too. But I am back to uni now, with lots of new things to be doing!

It was really great to be at home over the holidays. There is nothing like being on a farm and it being so quiet no matter where you go. It was so relaxing, plus I got to spend it with some very special people. As I had a lot of spare time, between eating lots of lovely food, drinking lots of drinks and spending time with family and friends, I was writing lots of music. I had a sudden spell of creativeness over the few weeks I was there so I decided that I would make it into an EP. I wrote the first track within a few days, and I really think that because I was so chilled out, those feelings came out into the music. In fact, the first two tracks of the EP, “Vista” and “Levitate” have a very chilled vibe to them. The style of the tracks have a much more ‘Positive’ feel, along side my album “Serenity”, which was quite dark a lot of the time. When I wrote the tracks to “Serenity”, there was a lot of negativity going on in my head. Not only at the time I wrote it, but it had built up over a few years. I went through stages of being very down due to stress of things that I may go into one day. It really affected me, and writing the album gave me the opportunity to express those feelings in a way that I love. So, my EP, “The Next Chapter” is more positive which made me feel better! None of them have a direct meaning, apart from the last track “Consolidate”. Unfortunately, sometimes things can seem like it is really bad. Some people, like family, can turn their backs on you, or say really horrible things about you. Bullies are horrible people, and total cowards. But no matter how bad things are, you ALL have someone that cares for you and that loves you. If you are there thinking “no they don’t”…well I DO! So I wrote “Consolidate” because when the good people stay together as friends or family, girlfriend or boyfriend, husband or wife…it makes life a lot easier. You have to forget the bad, and concentrate on the good, because you only live once, so make the best of it!

Make sure you go and get my EP for FREE, and if you want too, you can buy “Serenity” too! 🙂 Just click on THIS!

Thank you everyone for reading this. Sorry its only short, but there will be some new things coming soon 🙂

Im Back!

Hello! It has been a while since I put anything on here. I have been very busy doing lots and lots of different things. Obviously my new album ‘Serenity’ is now out and you can buy it HERE! If you want an actual copy with the artwork go and like my Facebook Page and give me a message 🙂

I have now started my second year at university, so there a lot of work to do. I went into the recording studio yesterday and recorded a track that I am using for my studio project. It was a lot of fun, but it got SO hot in there! To be honest though, the weather is really warm in England. Even the air is warm. I can’t wait for the really cold weather, I love wearing coats…you know how a lot of women always buy shoes or bags? Well that is me…but with coats. But I can’t wear them! I actually wore shorts the other day because of the silly weather. Some people will probably think i’m weird for not enjoying the heat…I don’t mind it, just not at this time of the year!

My band seem to be doing well. We have been writing lots of material and we are recording a track on the 4th of November. Hopefully we will have a Facebook page up soon for you to have a look and a listen 🙂 I also went to a big meet up with a load of film/TV students that will be needing music in their projects. I got a lot of contacts which was good, and there is a girl that I am meeting next week at some point who may be able to give me a very exciting opportunity….but I’m not saying anything yet 😉

I have been carrying on with my Vlogs too so make sure you go and Subscribe to me 🙂 If you do, you will see that the whole of ‘Serenity’ is on there 🙂

Thanks For reading this 🙂

Ben Kingwell

New video!

Hey everyone! Ive got a new video on YouTube! Make sure you go and SUBSCRIBE to my channel so you get updated every time I upload a video. I am really enjoying doing these videos, and I would love to know that you enjoy them too. Please show your support by liking my Facebook, follow me on Twitter and subscribe to my YouTube channel! Thank you ALL.

Serenity – Official Trailer and Review!

Hello!!! Got a load of great news. Firstly the music and artwork for the album is now in the process of being put together to form my new album Serenity! I have also got an Official Trailer which includes the release date, album name and cover. The trailer shows things that I have been a part of that have inspired me. And some things that have got me where I am today. Not all of them…but some. A good friend of mine, James, from Red Tusk Productions, has kindly written me a fantastic review of the album which I think is definitely worth the read. (You can read it here – Serenity – Review)

Please go and like my Facebook page and keep up to dat with what I am doing 🙂

Here is the Official Trailer to ‘Serenity’. Enjoy!

The end is in sight!

I now have just ONE track left to do until all the music is finished for the album. Finally!! There is so much more left to do, but once the music is finished I will feel much more chilled out about it all. I cannot wait for you to hear it! There is so many different bits to it, and a LOT involved. I don’t want to tell you everything that I have planned, but I want the whole CD to be a journey for you as a listener, and I want you to feel like you can experience it all with me. This album is definitely a big step forward for me. To all the people that care for me and my music, YOU are part of my journey, YOU are experiencing everything beside me, and YOU are the ones that will make all this worth while. I can’t thank you enough. It may not be many people yet, but I will do anything and everything to get where I want to be. I know this was a short one, but I just want to keep you up to date! 🙂 Make sure you check out my Facebook page and give it a like! THANK YOU!