Work Experience

Work experience ideas:

Medical/healthcare – local hospital, GP surgery, dentist surgery, pharmaceutical company/pharmacy, occupational therapist, research centre, optician, chiropractor, podiatrist, physiotherapist

Health and social care – residential care home, charity, shadow a professional working for the NHS, special school, social worker, childminder/nursery, youth worker, food bank,

Teaching/working with children – primary school, youth club, nursery/day care centre, sports club, soft play centre, farm, zoo

Media/publishing – local radio station, local newspaper, TV studio, publishing company

English – library, local newspaper, shadow someone with a role in media, advertising agency

Architecture, building and construction - architecture firm, construction company, town planning, local council, estate agent

Geography – environmental charity, travel agent, nature reserve, local council, transport company, Met office

Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) – accountancy firm, laboratory, research centre, vets, car manufacturer, electrician, mechanic, garage, IT department, software development, cybersecurity department, museum, observatory, Formula 1, Met office, electronics manufacturer, animal shelter, housing developer, plumber, hospitality, water works, research and development departments,

Psychology – mental health specialist, charity, psychologist, psychiatrist, teaching assistant in a school, support groups,

Art and creative industries – theatre, recording studio, museums, art galleries, auction houses, charities, community centre, hairdresser/barber, beauty salon, interior designer, painter, baker, graphic design company, landscape gardener, cinema,

Sports – sports club, shadow a coach/PT, gym, sports shop, spa, golf club, physiotherapist,

Business studies – marketing department, auditors, project management company, insurance firm, investment banking, social media company, bank, consultancy firm,

Law – legal advice clinic, court, law firm, legal secretary, youth justice services, police, HR department, legal department within a company

History and classics – museum, heritage conservation, archaeologist, tour guide, National Trust site

Foreign Languages – embassy, translation agency, tourist information centre, airport

Things to consider

• Your parents have responsibility for your travel to a placement so make sure that you can get there.
• Not all job roles are suitable for work experience, so you may need to be realistic in your choice and/or what you will be able to do when on the placement.
• Some sectors are very competitive and you might not be offered a place.  You will need to have a back-up plan in place.
• Some organisations may have an application form to complete and you may also be invited for an informal interview.  This is not unusual so please ask your tutor and parent/carer to support you with this.

Approaching new people can be daunting but if students are prepared, they are likely to feel more confident.  Students can contact the organization by letter or email, doing their best to look (and sound) professional, interested and polite.  Remember that people in business are busy, so students may need to follow up several times to get an answer.  If the answer is ‘no’, always be polite and thank them for their time.  Likewise, students may need to try a few people to get a ‘yes’, just like they will need to apply for more than one training provider or employer in the future.  The key feedback received from employers last year was that they would have preferred the student to have contacted them rather than their parents as it shows an interest in the business and a level of maturity.  Bear this in mind when you are contacting companies.

You will need to include:

• Paragraph 1: introduce yourself and the School you go to
• Paragraph 2: politely ask about work experience opportunities on dates you are able to attend. 
• Paragraph 3: say a little about why you are interested in the company/industry.  A few sentences are perfect.

Virtual Work Experience can be an invaluable tool in helping you identify where your interests connect with career opportunities, or a way to explore career fields where an in-person work experience placement is not available or practical.

Please note the below online platforms that our students use to find useful virtual work experience. These platforms allow students to research work experience opportunities by topic, geographic location, or virtual vs. in-person options (some virtual work experience options can qualify students for in-person placements). 

• subject spotlights
• virtual work experience 
• apprenticeships and jobs

 

• Browse by industry
• Browse by subject
• Browse by closing soon

 

At the heart of our Careers Education offer are the strong partnerships we enjoy with a host of local employers and education providers. We are hugely grateful to those organisations and businesses who offer our students work experience placements. They benefit hugely from these opportunities, and when we visit our students on their placements, we are frequently impressed by the efforts that have been made to make their experiences meaningful, impactful and engaging.

We welcome input from providers of apprenticeships and post-16 courses of study and are keen to work with them to ensure that our students receive the best possible information, advice and guidance on their future options.  We are delighted to announce that we are now members of the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce, which will support us in providing local information to staff, students and parents/carers.

For information on offering a work experience placement or on promoting your educational offer, please contact Karen Drexelius, our Careers and Work Experience Manager on kacareersadmin@kas.cambrianlt.org or on 01235 225700.

Our Trust Provider Access Policy can be found here.

 

“Riley and Ethan were exceptional and a real pleasure to work with. They were very keen to work alongside us, and they worked very well together whilst being very polite and diligent. They constantly asked ‘what's next’ after they successfully completed each task. Definitely two of the best we have ever had. Please pass on our thanks.”

“I just wanted to let you know what an absolute privilege it was to have Aliya working in my Reception class at Wantage CE this week. She has been an absolute credit to your school and her family. Aliya has been punctual, well presented, and shown a huge level of maturity and flexibility as well as an abundance of initiative when working more independently with the children! If I could keep her, I would!”

“I just wanted to give some extra feedback as we were all so pleased with Katie. She has been a great help: she would see something that needed doing and would get on and do it without being asked and showed interested and good understanding of everything that went on. I really hope Katie had a good week, she seemed so natural with all the animals we had in. I said to her that if she would like to pursue Veterinary Nursing she’s very welcome to come back again for more work experience. We wish her all the very best for her future.”

“We would like to let you know that we were all very impressed with Harry last week. So much so, that we have taken his details, so that we can see if we can offer him an apprenticeship next year. I thought you would like to hear some positive feedback, as he was by far the best work experience student I have seen in my 24-year career.”