Post-18 Options: Work Experience, Internships & Volunteering
Work Experience
- Gain further experience and strengthen your chosen future career path before you make a decision to apply for university, an apprenticeship, or step into the world of work.
- Employers are very keen on work experience – or rather, they’re keen on what it gives you: the confidence and practical skills you need to succeed in the workplace.
- Whether or not you’re planning to go to university, getting good work experience while you are at school will stand you in good stead when it comes to getting hired.
- Virtual Work Experience programmes can be found through Speakers 4 Schools and Springpod
Internships
- An internship can give you the opportunity to work at a company with the intention of learning new skills and gaining experience in a particular industry and help you decide what type of career you want. These experiences can last for anything from a few weeks to a year, depending on the employment sector and organization.
- More and more companies are offering these types of positions to school leavers, as well as to graduates.
- There are three different types of internships:
- Work Shadowing - Work Shadow interns follow one or more members of a team throughout their day-to-day routine, allowing them to learn from top industry professionals.
- Vacation Schemes – these are offered by some of the larger management, financial and accountancy firms. They act as training programmes and as a way for firms to assess candidates for future roles within the company. These schemes also give candidates the opportunity to see if the company is right for them.
- Work Placements - often offered as part of a degree programme, these tend to be available in fields like finance, consultancy, marketing, and management. Work placements are designed to give students a taste for working life in their chosen profession, and help add to a more well-rounded education whilst at university.
- The length of internships can vary, usually work placements are run over a fixed length of time, typically a number of weeks or months. Smaller companies such as retail businesses or media agencies typically offer shorter internships. A work-shadow opportunity may only last one to two weeks owing to the type of role that is being shadowed.
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Volunteering
Voluntary work allows the volunteer to give back to their community, while also boosting their self-confidence and sense of self-fulfilment.
Employers value volunteering too. Research has found that two out of five recruiters ask candidates about voluntary work during the selection process. More than half of decision-makers said they would use volunteering experience as a deciding factor when choosing between two candidates.
As the competition for top talent grows, employers are increasingly moving away from recruiting for specific jobs, and instead seeking individuals with the relevant passion and enthusiasm that align with their company culture.
So for jobseekers the real value of volunteering lies not just in the simple fact of having done voluntary work, but in the skills and traits that it helps develop.