MEET ILIAS & BEN | Work Experience Week

This week, we welcomed Ben Redden and Ilias Patrikios, students from SYDNEY SECONDARY COLLEGE LEICHHARDT into the Goldfish & Bay office for their work experience placement.

They arrived on the same morning, sat at nearby desks, and were given the same small set of tasks across marketing and administration. On paper, it was simple. In practice, it quickly became clear that we were watching two completely different ways of thinking unfold in real time.

Ben approached the week with quiet focus. He liked understanding the structure first, then working within it. He took comfort in the rhythm of a professional workplace, having a desk to return to, being trusted to manage his time, and knowing what good work looked like. He spoke about enjoying the freedom that comes when expectations are clear, and about how different the office felt from the high stress, rigid environments often shown in films. Outside of work, Ben balances football with a deep interest in science, and his curiosity ranges from neuroscience to learning piano. That sense of discipline and curiosity showed up in everything he did.

Ilias, on the other hand, brought curiosity into the room the moment he sat down. He asked questions, explored ideas, and leaned into the parts of the work that allowed him to think laterally. He picked up the rhythm of the team quickly and captured the office culture perfectly when he observed that people here are focused when it matters, but never at the expense of warmth or humour. When not at school, he enjoys making things in wood tech, thinking about geography, and wondering how black holes actually work. Whether his future sits in engineering, inventing, or philosophy is still undecided, but his way of thinking is already taking shape.

The highlight came from a simple admin task. Same brief, same instructions. One outcome was neat and efficient. The other became a fully documented, step by step internal guide. It was equal parts funny and insightful, and a perfect reminder that even at the very beginning, people bring their own instincts and ways of seeing the world into a workplace.

Work experience placements at this stage are always introductory. They’re not about mastery. They’re about exposure. About seeing how a professional environment actually feels, how teams interact, and how different personalities can all contribute in meaningful ways.

Ben and Ilias brought energy, thoughtfulness, and good humour into the office all week. We genuinely enjoyed having them as part of the team.

A big thank you as well to Sam Affridi from Hero Shot Photography for fitting them in at short notice. It was a great opportunity for them to see how professional headshots are created in a business setting, and another small but valuable window into how companies present themselves to the world.

#WorkExperience #EarlyCareers #EngineeringCulture #ProfessionalLearning #TeamCulture #FutureEngineers #GoldfishAndBay