Employer Benefits of Work Experience
How do you benefit from taking on a work experience placement?
Apart from making a real difference to a young person’s working life, offering work experience is beneficial to employers for a number of reasons.
- Recruitment opportunities
- Staff Development
- A more engaged workforce
- Engagement in the local community
- Contribution to economic development in the local area.
Work Experience Employer Evaluations
Each academic year the East Sussex County Council work experience team undertake an online survey with employers who took a work experience placement.
The most recent survey was undertaken for academic year 2021-22.
62% of businesses strongly agreed/agreed that offering work experience improved the profile of the business in the community.
58% of businesses strongly agreed/agreed that it enabled their business to benefit from young people’s ideas.
63% of businesses would offer a work experience placement in the future.
- The student had a wonderful ‘can do’ attitude. She worked hard and was enthusiastic about joining in fully. I would be delighted to employ her.
- Over the years we have used work experience as a tool to identify potential in students and other persons seeking work. The vast majority of our staff came via work experience or apprenticeship, with one going from trainee to General Manager in 8 years, and to Director in 10 years. Another went from apprentice to head of sales in around 5 years. They are now both valued long term employees.
- I think the success of a work placement is very much dependent on the quality of the mentor assigned to the student. The work placement highlighted how good one of our team members is at mentoring, teaching and encouraging others.
Work Experience Video
This video captures the thoughts of both students and employers about work experience who are based in Manchester.