SIXTH FORMER LANDS DREAM OLYMPIC JOB

For one keen student at The Sixth Form College, Solihull, his drive and initiative have paid off, as he has just landed a job at this summer’s London 2012 Olympic Games.

Mohammed Ali (aged 18, from Sparkhill) will be a Last Mile Team Member at the Olympics, which will involve paid work for the entire duration of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. As the title ‘Last Mile’ implies, Mohammed will be one of many Olympic employees to be stationed within a mile of Olympic venues to help the many thousands of spectators find their way to the events they have tickets for.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” enthused Mohammed. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I wanted to be there and when I looked on the Olympics website I saw their ‘Get involved’ section and decided to go for it.”

Mohammed applied online and was quickly contacted for a telephone interview. After suitably impressing organisers over the phone, he was invited down to Canary Wharf in London for a face-to-face interview. He was grouped with 5 other people and asked to discuss issues and situations that might arise at the Olympics, so organisers could see how he would handle any problems we might be faced with. He obviously did well, because a week later he was offered the job!

Training has been provided; Mohammed spent three days at Wembley Stadium recently, completing a variety of classroom activities and practical role-playing scenarios.

“It was great,” added Mohammed. “It was brilliant to just be in Wembley Stadium and now that I’ve done the training I’m really looking forward for the event to start. I will be based around the North Greenwich Arena, which is what most people know as the O2 Arena – it has been re-named for the Olympics.”

Mohammed is currently studying the BTEC Extended Diploma in Business Course, which is entirely assessed by coursework; thus his involvement in the Olympic Games does not interfere with examinations.