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Secondary education

what is a good thing to do for work experience

39 replies

katiestar · 12/09/2009 21:37

DS has to do work experience.He has no clue about what A levels he wants to do let alone beyond that.
Where did your Dc go ?

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foxytocin · 12/09/2009 21:42

i'd have loved to work in a decent garden centre or other plant oriented business. one is a mile away now and hopes one day dd wants a PT job there.

my dd is only 4 btw. wot me? sad?

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cat64 · 12/09/2009 21:43

This reply has been deleted

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brightwell · 12/09/2009 22:02

My dd did a week in a cafe/ice cream parlour and is now hoping to get a part time job there. She also did a week with Help the Aged, at the office, charity shop & a day centre. Which she found very interesting and now thinks she would like to work for a charity.

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brimfull · 12/09/2009 22:05

MY dd did a placement with a doctor in a hospital.

Was brilliant as it helped her decide that she didn't want to do medicine.

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katiestar · 13/09/2009 14:08

The school have advised against doing work experience at the hospital as the placements have been rather unsatisfactory (making tea and standing about like a spare part)

The school do have arrangements with some settings but I think mostly students and famuilies arrange it themselves.

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brimfull · 13/09/2009 14:31

yes dd's was through a friend

one of her friends did a placement at local airport (bournemouth) and loved it.

went to all the different parts of the airport and had a great time

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hocuspontas · 13/09/2009 14:37

pharmacy, opticians, sports centre, library

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brimfull · 13/09/2009 14:39

vets if they like animals

local newspaper

local shop

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courtneylovescox · 13/09/2009 14:41

my ds worked for an internet company. think he realises now how boring office work can be .

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MmeProf · 13/09/2009 14:43

If your child doesn't know hwat he wants to do, it is no big deal. My DS is in U6, imminently turning in his UCAS form and has yet to make a decision. Meanwhile I have spent about £200 on various tests to find out what he should do!

This particular child did a work placement at an Accountants firm - not because he is passionate about Accountancy but because it was A on the list....

There are lots of general skills they learn on WE. Arriving on time, following orders accurately, working in a team, etc. These skills are just as important as career-specific experience.

Having a negative work experience can be just as valuable as a positive one. The student may be considering a wide range of careers and being able to eliminate an option is good too.

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cory · 13/09/2009 17:34

I actually did do mine at a primary school. And I wouldn't say it was wasted at all: you get a totally different experience when seeing the classroom from the other side so to speak and I learnt lots. I have gone on to teach (though not primary) and am still drawing on that first experience.

Don't see why the other placements on offer (shelf-stacking, porter at the mental hospital, the egg packing factory) would have been more profitable: I already knew I didn't want any of those jobs.

When dd's time comes I hope she will have a wider choice- we live in a much bigger place, so should be more to choose from. I hope she tries something outside the family experience, to widen her horizons. But in my case, what was outside the family experience wasn't greatly exciting. I didn't need to see those jobs to know how dull I would find them.

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frakkinpannikin · 13/09/2009 17:41

I did mine at a care home and in a nursery. Both helped me earn money throughout university!

However there are certain careers where specific work experience would help not because of what you learn but the effort you need to put into getting and making the most of the experience: law, medicine (GP probably better than hospital), lab work, schools and engineering come to mind.

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nickschick · 13/09/2009 17:41

I got my ds a work experience placement at the local archive centre.

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ruddynorah · 13/09/2009 17:52

i went to the local radio station and did loads of good stuff.

i rang up the courts and police for press releases, wrote news to be read out, and had the delight of hearing my news read out once i got home. my parents were soooo proud!!

i also sat in while adverts and jingles were made which was very interesting. and nice to hear when those ads were broadcast.

they even had me answering the phone on reception which i remember finding dreadfully scary, having to work out who to put the calls through when faced with this enormous switchboard.

the only boring bit was when i had to measure adverts in newspapers to calculate how much those companies had spent on the ad ready for the marketing team to call them up to sell them radio airtime ads instead. interesting to see how that side of it worked, but boring to do all the measuring.

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mumoverseas · 14/09/2009 12:48

My DS is 16 and just started A levels. He thinks he wants to be a lawyer so in the summer I sorted out a weeks work experience at my old firm of Solicitors and he loved it.
Luckily they have a really good program for work experience kids, a half day in each of the different departments and he was in on client interviews/conferences with counsel etc and had a great time.

Unfortunately not all firms do this. One I worked at used to make the work experience kids make the coffee and do the photocopying!

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Ponders · 14/09/2009 12:56

My daughter did a week with a local solicitor which included time in court, & seeing prisoners on remand at the police station, as well as more mundane things like answering the phone & filing - she really enjoyed it.

She hasn't gone into law, but is soon going to be working with prisoners on remand for the NHS drugs service, & I'm sure the work experience was a contribution to the way she's gone.

It does need to be thought about & organised as early as poss because otherwise they can end up as unpaid labour in mindless work

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Lilymaid · 14/09/2009 13:10

DS1 (Independent school) had wide choice of professional type placements offered by parents/ex pupils etc. He did a week in the local branch of one of major accountancy firms, including attending business networking meetings.
DS2 (local comprehensive) had poor choice of mainly shop work placements on a list provided to all local schools by Connexions. DH organised a week for him in the mutual building society we use. He was able to sit in on meetings, shadow staff dealing with customers etc. Many of his friends took the shop work or cafe jobs in order to get themselves Saturday jobs, but we didn't feel that would have made the most of the work experience opportunity at a time when DS2 was starting to consider A Level choices and possible careers.

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stleger · 14/09/2009 13:20

My ds was with a group of acrhaeologists - he did cleaning, cataloguing, site visit, getting bones ready for a group of forensics students - and chatted round a water cooler which was as important as anything!

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GrendelsMum · 16/09/2009 21:57

We had a student join us in our office - I didn't realise he was so young (thought he was a 2nd year undergrad student on work experience), so gave him a pile of real work to do - and he was absolutely fabulous at it.

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tatt · 17/09/2009 15:05

to an animation company. They had a lovely time making a mini film. I can't see the company got anything from it but my child did.

VEry interested in those who have been able to get into hospitals. Children have been told hospitals/gps are out because of patient confidentiality???? Even in pharmacies they are only allowed to stack shelves not do anything useful. A friend's child did a hospice. They are now getting excellent results on their medical courses.

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NoahDear · 17/09/2009 15:07

tel him to go to another schol then he doesnt have to work till 5 pm

MARK MY WORDS - kids find the hours a shock

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southeastastra · 17/09/2009 15:21

my son's friend worked in a butchers and was allowed to bring home all the meat he'd prepared

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mumblecrumble · 17/09/2009 17:01

I wasn't sure when I was in year wo and did 2 weeks in a university.

I learnt basic office skills: laminating, binding, photocopying, phone/tinternet skills etc. Did me well!!!

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katiestar · 17/09/2009 17:27

i think he is thinking of a lab ? We have a contact We have a contact with a conmpany who test milk quality and I think other cow related stuff so that might be a possibility .

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DITDOT · 17/09/2009 20:26

As a teacher that visits Y11 on work exp. They hate shops as they stand around all day. Chain hotels are great as there is always something to do and they have to use their communication skills and are usually treated as a real member of staff. They also get to keep tips!!
Have visited students at a lab at a very large chocolate factory and although they were given tasks to do there was a great deal they were not allowed to do for Health and Safety reasons. They also expected good scientific knowledge as they assumed if you had chosen this placement then you were interested in it!

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