Great....No school! For those of you who think that work experience is about having time off school, spending your lunch breaks in your local music store, no hard work, making the occasional cup of tea for the boss and spending all day on the phone calling your friends......YOU REALLY NEED TO READ THIS ARTICLE!

So it’s going to be boring then?

Definitely not!  Teachers did not come up with ideas like work experience as a way of boring you senseless.  Work experience is a great opportunity for YOU and can be really useful and enjoyable.  In the previous articles we talk about how important planning is for your future decisions and work experience is a great way of helping you make the right choices.  For example, sometimes we have ideas about certain jobs. 

You might think that being a model is about having nice photographs taken, lots of parties and your own private jet.  But if you did a weeks work experience in a modelling agency you would also see that not everyone becomes a Supermodel over night, the hours are long, the travel is tiring, there is a lot of competition and hard work and commitment are required.  Things are not always as they seem on TV, so work experience helps you to research the job you are interested and gives you the chance to see for yourself. 

The first step is to think about the sorts of jobs that you might like to do after school, college or university.  Your parents, tutors, Careers / Connexions Advisers and can help you with this.  What do you like doing, do you want to work indoors / outdoors, what sort of salary do you want, what qualifications would you need all the questions we have already talked about in previous articles.

How do I get a work experience placement with Robbie Williams?

It’s not as simple as that! Once you have decided the sort of job you want to do you will need to find a work experience placement.  Your school may have a list of placements available which you might have to apply for, but you could also find your own placement (varies per school and would need to be approved by your work experience tutor).  You have to be creative. 

If you fancy being the next Robbie Williams, Tess Daley or David Beckham it is unlikely that you will be able to spend the week on tour, at the studio or on the pitch with them.  So you need to think about jobs in that area that will put you as close to your dream job as possible.  With the three examples above it could be a local theatre company, a local magazine or with a coach at a local football club.  You might already have contacts in these areas through your hobbies, parents or friends.

Find out more:

That’s easy, I could do it in my sleep!

Could you?  Nobody said that work experience was going to be really easy.  If you have chosen the right placement you should find that you really enjoy yourself but there is still lots of work for you to do.

You might be:-

Meeting new people	-   other members of staff
Dealing with people	-   complaints, enquiries, service
Working as a team member	-   helping staff, expressing your ideas
Coping with difficult situations	-   angry callers, difficult personalities

Why else should I go on work experience?

There are lots of reasons.  Here are a few of them:

To learn about work and try out a job
	- Is it the right job for you?
To develop communication skills
	- Are you comfortable using the telephone and speaking to new people?
To find out what aspects of work are important to you
	- Do you like being indoors all day or getting up very early in the morning?
To develop work related skills
	- Have you used a photocopier or machinery before?
To develop confidence
	- Have you been in a meeting or worked with the public before?
To learn about work and try out a job
	- Have you had to be responsible for ordering products or finishing a task before?
To be treated like and behave like an adult
	- Are you used to looking after yourself and working with adults?
To find out what employers think of you
	- How did you get on, are you suited to the work?

So work experience can offer lots of opportunities and help you with your choices.  Don’t forget to talk to your Careers / Connexions Adviser or your Tutor and check out those websites for job ideas and information.

You can also check out the ‘Career Links’ section of this website which has lots of information and links to other websites to help you research different jobs.