The value of work experience

Doing work experience in the sixth form or at college can give you a head start. Universities and employers value students who have practical experience and an understanding of the world of work.

In your first year in sixth form or college you may have the chance to take part in a more focused placement eg work shadowing a manager. Alternatively you could arrange your own work experience.

As you now have educational achievements, and probably experience of work to draw upon, you can usefully undertake work experience or work shadowing which is more related to your career goals. This could be for one week or more.

Thinking hard about your personal aims and objectives will help you explain to an employer what you wish to learn and why.

You may wish to undertake a work placement because it will help you to:

• collect information for a particular project you are working on
• test out a career you are aiming for
• gain experience that you can use to support an application for a job or higher education courses.

Making the effort to take part in work experience, part-time work or voluntary work indicates your interest, commitment and level of motivation. Higher education admissions tutors and employers are looking for people with these qualities.

Work experience helps you to develop your skills and confidence as well as providing you with interesting things to talk about in interviews. Employers are always interested in applicants’ experiences of the world of work – from their point of view these are often as important as your academic achievements.

Top tips

• Relevant work experience is essential for some courses eg teaching, medicine, veterinary science, journalism, physiotherapy etc.
• Use careers reference books and prospectus to find out whether the courses that you are considering expect you to have work experience.
• Higher education sandwich courses are a way gaining valuable work experience.

Undertaking work placements

Your school or college may have staff who organise placements – find out who they are. They can also guide you through the process of choosing a placement and how best to prepare to get the most out of it.

In addition to work placements, you can gain valuable insights and experiences from voluntary work activities and part-time jobs. Work related experience does not have to be done as a block placement, for example an aspiring teacher could arrange to spend one afternoon a week in a local school or one evening a week helping at a local youth club.

Millennium volunteers (MV) is a good opportunity for young people aged 16 to 24 to get work experience related to their career interests. It involves undertaking 200 hours in that work area, within an 18-month period. The volunteer gains skills experience and an accreditation Millennium Volunteers certificate. Visit www.millenniumvolunteers.gov.uk for more information.

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