Getting the most from Work Experience
Added On: 11th July 2011
All too often Work Experience placements are seen as a waste of time and effort by both employers and the young people undergoing the placements. A new guide produced by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and Jobcentre Plus is designed to encourage more employers to provide meaningful work experience in order to help young people get a foothold in the job market.
Employers are often – understandably – reluctant to employ a young person with no work experience, especially in difficult economic times. Managed properly, though, a work experience placement can provide vital understanding and familiarity with a work environment to help prospective employees overcome this hurdle. The guide provides support for employers who want to run quality work experience programmes.
The guidance, Work Experience Placements that Work, offers employers help on giving young people – aged between 18 and 24 – their first positive and practical experience of work. It includes advice on:
- how to structure the work experience;
- how to design a work plan around appropriate tasks;
- how to support and supervise the trainee;
- how to provide constructive feedback;
- how to help the candidate enter working life.
The guide also contains a helpful checklist for the employer running a placement and a "Work Experience Agreement" that can be signed by the employer and the young person, helping to ensure commitment on both sides.
Although primarily aimed at young people who are currently unemployed, the guidance can be applied equally to students who are undertaking work placements as part of the school curriculum. In these cases a good work experience placement can help students to make more meaningful career choices.
