Y10 work experience

[Lisa123wm]

Can anyone help with ideas or advice for my son’s work experience next year?
It was easy with my other two, but my youngest has no idea what to do either for work experience or for a future job, although he has been interested in the police force (they don’t do work experience any longer).
So any ideas would be great? What did your kids do?

[WhereIBelong]

Mine both want to go to uni, so DD16 did work experience in local shop (and is doing so again this week), DD18 in a coffee shop (Cafe Nero) - they both now have useful work experience that can be used for part time work at uni, and also have experience of what would be minimum wage, customer facing roles - they have both gained in confidence so much in their face-to-face conversations with people

DD 18 has been given a part time job, and been told they will help get her one in her uni town if she needs part time work out there.

Whatever they end up doing eventually the experience will not be wasted.

(mine was much less interesting - at a solicitors office where I made tea twice a day and sat in a corner checking Rolodex entries against clients' current addresses... for a week.)

[Mrs Red C]

Mine's doing falconry which is her hobby and probably not a career choice. School was okay with this. How about something connected with his interests? Older Dd got into the media office of the C Council which was interesting. Try local businesses, theatres, swimming pool, shops, cafes or restaurants or primary schools?
Lot's of kids struggle and end up in the family members work/job which maybe not a good idea.

[DisneyDaffodil]

My daughter’s school stopped work experience as they said there were health and safety issues so they were not willing to support the scheme any longer. I think it’s a shame as any work experience is useful, even if it isn’t in the sector your child is interested in or they are unsure of what they want to do.

I would suggest if they don’t have a career in mind then go for something related to something they enjoy as a hobby or a subject they like. So if they enjoy art, then maybe an art shop or gallery. If they love animals, maybe a kennels, grooming parlour or vets.

If they have nothing in mind, then a general office or shop is a good place to learn about working conditions and see a work environment.

[Twin mummy]

Our school have stopped it too which is a shame. Somewhere to get a Saturday job might be a good idea.

As for the police, I know our local force (North Yorkshire) have stopped school work experience but offer a week direct. I saw a tweet about it the other day and it sounded fantastic. Might be worth checking if your local force does anything similar. They also have young cadets which might be another way to get experience.

[BevS97]

Mine has just done a week in an architects office. I think it was a great experience for her. She’s not necessarily going to be an architect but it was her first experience of office life.


We have lots of kids come back to our school. I don’t think it’s as good an experience as they generally just get treated like slightly older students. Running errands etc.

[shona]

Maybe look at a large company with lots of departments so he can try lots of areas in one go like marketing, finance, HR etc

[Nail queen]

Mine ended up doing the London City commute with his dad 🤣 oh the joy he had for a week! Husband works for satellite company, the business has a formal work experience scheme and they matched my son up with the unit responsible for selling their satellite use for plane wi-fi. Total match made in heaven 😁😁😁

Luckily it's a completely different area and my husband had no contact with him all week. But it also gave my son a valuable insight into what his parents actually do every day when they leave the house

[Blast Furnace]

I’m a civil engineer working in a local authority design section. We take up to four placements per year and after initial induction, speak to each to say that they can define the experience they have. Some prefer the design software others being more site based observing different disciplines. In a week you can only scratch the surface of any vocation, and you can see some lose interest but the reward is seeing those who have a genuine desire not just to learn but to enjoy the experience. Being considered a dinosaur, I’m always staggered how quickly they pick up the IT skills.

[wdw-wanderer]

I used to be a work experience liaison officer. If your son has no definite career in mind I would suggest you focus on transferable skills which will be of benefit whatever career path he chooses. If he’s fairly interested on the police force, then he will be dealing with people, so perhaps see if you can source a placement which involves working with members of the public, such as a busy supermarket. He will learn time management, punctuality, politeness, adherence to dress codes as well as patience! For those students interested in nursing or medicine we often suggested working in a care home - talking to residents, serving cups of tea, writing letters for them, playing bingo etc - it certainly helped them develop a good bedside manner!