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Work experience
While at school you will get the chance to go on work experience during term-time, either in Year 10 or possibly in Year 11. If you are considering a particular career, this is an ideal way to see if you will actually enjoy the job.
What's in it for me?
Even if your work experience is not in a job that you are seriously considering, you can still learn a great deal from it.
- It will be a completely different routine, having to travel to work and be on time every day.
- You will develop the skills that you've learnt at school and apply them to "real life".
- You might be able to apply skills that you learn on your placement to your "school life".
- It will help build your self-confidence because you will be organising yourself, working in a team and dealing with customers.
- You will learn what employers expect from an employee and what you can expect from an employer.
- It could lead to part-time job.
So how does it work?
Every school organises things differently, but usually they will have lists of work placements that you put your name down for, with up to 3 choices. In some schools you can find your own placement.
It may also be worth asking friends and relatives if they could get you a placement if you're interested in having a go at the job that they do!
If you are unsure about what to choose you can always ask your personal adviser or careers co-ordinator for help. But if you don't get to do what you would like ideally, don't worry, it is still a great opportunity to be treated like an adult, experience more responsibility and learn a lot of new things.
All this is great experience [and hopefully some fun too]. It will also give you a lot to think about regarding your own choices for the future.
Interests: Working with children.
Ambition: Teaching, upper primary or secondary age range.
Qualifications: Studying GCSEs.
Becky always thought she would like to teach very young children. However, all that changed when Becky did work experience at a local school and found that it was not what she had expected.
"It was a good experience, but it did not fit my image of what it would be like”, explained Becky. “I decided that I would probably be more suited to working with older students."
Although Becky still wants to be a teacher she has decided to find out more about working with either upper primary or secondary age students.
She is planning to use the internet and her Connexions Resource Centre to research teaching as a career. She is also going to talk to her own teachers to find out what the work is really like.
