Experience and Problems I Encountered During My SIWES Year At Golden Guinea Breweries As A Food Science and Technology IT Student.

1.1. EXPERIENCE GAINED

I have succeeded in acquiring the experience that supplements my theoretical knowledge of numerous aspects of my course; specifically, brewing, food plant design and sanitation, quality control in a food plant, food plant safety, etc.

I was able to engage actively in the production processes, was able to operate and supervise some equipments. I was faced with the things learnt in classroom and had a hands-on experience.

The SIWES programme exposed me to the working environment ethics. It also enlightened me on the benefits of good interpersonal relationship and by so doing, improved my communication skills, team spirit and management skills.

1.2 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED:

It wasn’t easy to get a place of attachment on time due to the adjusted school calendar that made us slow down in our academics.

Due to this, some schools were already ahead of us and so occupying spaces in most industries we sought. Some of the places we applied declined our offer due to limited spaces as some students in other schools were already ahead of us in those companies for their industrial training.

Another issue was in financial allowances, most of us did in places where we were not paid any sort of allowance to ease our transportation and welfare issues. Some of us came from very far distances from our area of work and this affected our finances greatly.

Also, some of the industries had low labour and are not willing to employ more hands at the moment, in cases where the work load becomes too much, the students are used to address the work creating divided attention in the student.

1.3 RECOMMENDATIONS:

Having undergone the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES), I strongly recommend the following:

 The stipulation that employers should accept students for SIWES should be strengthened with penalties put in place for defaulters.

 The ITF should revisit, redesign the method of paying students allowances. It should be paid once the student starts the training so as to address the financial challenges of the student.

 The ITF should equally send supervisors to student area of assignment so as to make sure the student is doing well there and address managerial issues affecting the students training.

 Due to scarcity of places of industrial attachment, students should be encouraged to undergo SIWES in small and medium scale industries where they can contribute to improving the exhibition processes and also gain an understanding into entrepreneurship.

1.4 ADVICE TO FUTURE PARTICIPANTS

My advice to future participants goes thus:

 Make good grades so as to qualify them for going for an Industrial attachment when their mates are going.

 Start on time to apply to several industries, avoid putting every eggs in one basket. After application, also follow it up and visiting and calling the management regularly to remind them.

 After securing a place, follow their rules and regulations keenly to avoid problems arising which will affect your performance.

 Finally, hope on God for a good start and a good finishing.

1.5 CONCLUSION

The Six Months attachment with Golden Guinea brewery was indeed a thrilling experience for me as a Food Science and Technology Student. This is because it has helped me appreciate the level of responsibility of my discipline and boosted my level of the knowledge of the science of brewing. A lot of planning and co-ordination is put in place by the Engineering and brew-house management to achieve set objectives.

From the training, it can be appropriately established that the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) has achieved the objective for which it was established. The work experience not only exposed me to the practical applications of the knowledge obtained in the classroom but also conditions facing real working environment, work ethics as well as how to adjust, cooperate with colleagues and team members as regards real life experiences, and also to appreciate the field of Food Science and Technology.