James Hannigan, a transition year student in St Peter's College, Dunboyne, Co Meath, enjoys his first week of work experience

One of the main reasons I chose transition year was to have the opportunity to spend three separate weeks doing work experience. So when the Junior Certificate finished in late June, I was already thinking about where I might apply. I "got the lead out" and prepared a list of several companies. The letters were sent out in late July, and replies came back throughout August.

One company that replied was the pharmaceutical giant Elan, which offered me a week of work in late October. I was very excited about the chance to work with a company of Elan's size and stature. I would spend the week in the Treasury Building on Lower Grand Canal Street, working in HR and IT.

The weekend before, I familiarised myself with the walk from Pearse Street station to Elan. The first day was very enjoyable. Though the morning train was packed and the air frosty, nothing could dampen my enthusiasm for the day ahead. However, at the end of the day while trying to get home, I ended up on a Dart to Howth! I eventually got home that evening, and did not make the same mistake twice.

As the week went by, I did a variety of tasks, such as photocopying, sorting out personnel files, compiling inventories, boxing up old files for storage and working on computer files on the system. On Wednesday, Michelle - my supervisor - suggested I spend Friday in Athlone, where the main research and production facilities are.

As I enjoy science, I grabbed the opportunity. Several very nice people took time out of their day to show me around the facilities there, explaining along the way. After that, I got a lift with a chauffeur who was collecting the executive vice president, Paul Breen, from Athlone Institute of Technology.

It had been an amazing week. I now understood the meaning of being tired! I had a wonderful time and experienced different tasks, and I definitely feel that I matured over the week. The highlight was the trip to Athlone. It was a great experience, one that not many people my age will have the chance to do.

I am very grateful to both Helen and Michelle, who made my week a positive experience. It is great that multinational firms like Elan give such opportunities to young students so that they can be better prepared for work and the future.

On a final note, work experience definitely suited me, but it is like life as a whole, you make it what it is. I am already looking forward to my next work experience week in February.

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