Graduate Case Studies - (Unusual) Job of the Week 3
Name: Janine Guyatt
Age: 22
Degree and University: BSC Sports Science, from Sheffield Hallam University
Job Title: Swimming Instructor for First Choice Holidays, based at the Holiday Village, Red Sea, Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt
A passion for swimming combined with a degree in Sports Science from Sheffield Hallam University has landed Janine Guyatt the opportunity of a life time.
Janine, 20, from Loughborough has her summer, as well as her career sorted as she puts her swimming teaching qualifications to excellent use in Egypt, as an instructor for First Choice Holidays.
Janine had always envisaged travelling after university, but when she found out that she could be making money from teaching swimming at the Holiday Village Red Sea in Sharm el Sheik there was no stopping her from jumping on the next flight out.
She explains that the lifestyle is not easy as the days are long, and you need to be comfortable communicating with new people. Most mornings are spent attending welcome meetings for new customers about the swimming lessons. This is followed by the actual teaching of six to eight half hour lessons, which cater for all age groups and abilities. Finally at the end of the day there is no time to relax by the pool, but instead Janine is busy completing paperwork. Some nights even continue on till late with Janine seeing off the customers going home, and often holding presentations for the children to celebrate their achievements at the end of their stay.
However, Janine says that although it may be hard work there are so many highlights, from meeting new people to learning to scuba dive, encountering Bedouin people in the desert and visiting the Pyramids in Cairo. She particularly emphasises how rewarding the job is, to pass on your skills to those eager to learn is a priceless feeling, and the children's excitement is infectious:
'I think I have the best job here as I spend most of my days outside in the sunshine teaching children how to swim. It's amazing to watch their skills develop over their holiday and send them home doing something they couldn't do when they first came.'
Janine is certain that everything she has experienced in Egypt has been highly beneficial and will add something to her CV when it comes to future employment. Developing her confidence, public speaking, and teaching skills are invaluable life lessons, things which she states she never had before taking the job. She can even imagine continuing to work for First Choice after the summer and making her way up the ladder in the business.
Janine cannot speak more highly of her experience, and encourages everyone to get out there and try it for themselves.
By Helen Knapman
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