Benefits of Work Experience
How do you benefit from a work experience placement?
Work experience supports you to make career decisions, develop employability skills and support successful transition into FE, HE, apprenticeships and the workplace. Having a meaningful work experience placement will help you to develop the following skills:
- Communication (listening and speaking)
- Creative problem solving (problem solving and creativity)
- Self-management (adapting and planning)
- Collaboration (leadership and teamwork)
- Clarifies job roles within industry
- Broadens horizons in relation to career routes and job roles available
A meaningful work experience placement should have:
- Clear purpose & learning outcomes — The employer and student (and school) are aligned on what the student should gain.
- Two-way interaction — Students should interact with staff, ask questions, receive mentoring, not merely shadow.
- Exposure to a range of roles and people — Show the structure, diversity, and various functions in your organisation.
- Real tasks or projects — Wherever possible, students should be given work or challenges meaningful to your operations: small projects, data analysis, research, presentation tasks, process reviews etc.
- Feedback & reflection — Students should receive constructive feedback and have time to reflect on their experience and what they’ve learned.
Work Experience Year 10 Evaluations
Each academic year the East Sussex County Council work experience team undertake an online survey for year 10 students who undertook a block week placement.
87% of students said work experience gave them a better understanding of what employers need from their employees and 84% said it helped them to develop the skills they need for the workplace.
84% of students said work experience made them more aware of different careers and 77% said it increased their self-confidence.
“All employers require punctuality, suitable clothing, a good attitude, good relationships with others and a good standard of work.”
“They look for someone hard-working and innovative, someone they can trust and rely on, and someone who enjoys what they're doing”
“I already had a few ideas of what would like to do after school and this work experience helped me narrow that down”
“By completing my work experience placement, it has helped me look at a wider area of different job options that I could consider for the future and has taught me to be more open minded about different courses and career paths I could take once I leave school.”