Work Experience

Work experience is a chance for you to develop the skills required for the workplace.
Work Experience placements with employers can take many forms in that it can be one day a week over a fixed term; full attendance over one or two working weeks or extending over longer terms such a 3 months, 6months, 1 year or possibly more. If you are attending school, check to see if work experience is being organised by your school. Some schools have a work experience programme built in.

The common skills required for every workplace are similar to those you have used in school and were built into every lesson you attended. These are called Key Skills and translate into the following in the work place setting. 

Work Experience may not always be appropriate to your career choice but it demonstrates to prospective employers that you are keen and willing to learn new skills.

It is often best to approach Work Experience with the view to developing the above skills rather than a way to develop experience for your career choice. The aforementioned skills are common to all workplaces. Also, a positive work experience can boost your motivation to gain future employment.
 
Regrettably, finding a work experience placement appropriate to your career choice may not always be possible and limited by a number of factors such as an employer’s willingness to provide a placement; lack of local industry appropriate to your career choice; Health and Safety considerations and age restrictions. Our experience tells us that it is easier to obtain Work Experience in a retail or office setting but harder for example, obtaining experience in a laboratory within the Chemical Industry.

However, this is not to say that obtaining a placement of your choice is not possible. If you have researched an industry or employer, obtained good exam grades and are able to demonstrate to an employer that your are serious about pursuing a career in that industry, then an employer may well be encouraged to gladly provide a work experience placement.

In addition, employers can be so impressed by their work experience employee that they sometimes offer a full time position. This, however, is dependent upon the employer being able to afford this – even if they really want to employ you!

The best view to take with Work Experience is that it will give you the skills for the workplace. Therefore when applying for jobs, (either through a CV, application form or telephone interview etc), outlining your work experience and the skills you have developed will place in you in a better position to convince employers that you have the ability to do the job!!

Don’t forget WORK EXPERIENCE is like putting money in the bank – it is an investment for your future!!!