DC Work Experience

unclebuck · 2023-03-24T18:20:01+00:00

I just wondered, for those of you who have had DC do work experience as part of a school syllabus what is your perception of what your DC is doing: 1)Provide free help to an employer 2) Being provided with free training/mentoring by an employer

Dragonsandcats · 24/03/2023 18:21

Assuming they’re 15 ish, I assume there’s not much they can actually do, and they will need a lot of support/training.

lljkk · 24/03/2023 18:32

Hanging out & not being annoying, I hope.

DS's WE just fell thru because of lack of employer insurance and it being a 1 person situation (although in a town shop with giant windows). I despair, wondering what DS will get now. He's asked everywhere !!

lieselotte · 24/03/2023 18:53

lljkk · 24/03/2023 18:32

Hanging out & not being annoying, I hope.

DS's WE just fell thru because of lack of employer insurance and it being a 1 person situation (although in a town shop with giant windows). I despair, wondering what DS will get now. He's asked everywhere !!

Do you have a local library - has he tried that? That's where my ds did his WE in Y10.

cansu · 24/03/2023 19:23

neither. They get an insight into what it is to have to turn up, be polite and do stuff that you don't want to do.

They are unlikely to be of much help as they can't be left unsupervised.
They cannot be trained to do much in two weeks.

Original poster

unclebuck · 24/03/2023 19:27

Thank you!
Yes, I thought the vast majority of people would be sensible. I have offered WE to approx 5 students a year over the last 20 years and this year I seem to have selected a group with batshit parents 😂

OP posts:

lljkk · 24/03/2023 20:28

DS has a list of contacts he will pursue this weekend. He's quite practical, would like to 'do' something not just shadow in a shop or fast food.

XelaM · 24/03/2023 20:34

My 13-year-old works at pur local livery yard doing mucking out.

Original poster

unclebuck · 24/03/2023 21:32

I've had 3 WE students so far this year and all of them have been fine, but....

The first ones DM called me and asked when he got his 'wages' and was furious when I said it was clearly explained it was an unpaid WE post (as stated in contract and verbally beforehand)

The second one was very late on the 3rd day and missed something he wanted to see/do. I wasn't bothered he was late but he repeatedly asked me to repeat the thing he missed - and when I said that wasn't happening he text his DM who called me and shouted at me that her son overslept by accident, and that's why he was late and I was really mean for not rearranging my entire work schedule (45 other staff) for him.

The third's DF called on day 2 and told me his DS was not returning as he'd been asked to make tea (with another employed person!)

I am just feeling a bit WTF about the whole thing at the mo and have another one in next week so wanted to gauge opinions on here, which seem very normal. Must have been a bad run!

OP posts:

Chocolateydrink · 24/03/2023 21:45

DS has done work experience at my work. We're a STEM company and do loads of outreach with local primary and secondary schools, and the work experience programme is very much part of that. I wanted DS to come to us because I knew we had a well organised programme for the students, they get to use some modern scientific equipment and learn about our business. Realistically a bunch of 15yos on site for a week aren't going to be useful to us at all (even our new graduates have months of training before they start work) but the idea is to enthuse kids about science. Lots of kids from his school went back to their primary school for work experience which seemed fairly pointless.

DojaPhat · 24/03/2023 21:49

I think you've just had a bad run of it tbh. I just hope the kids turn up on time and aren't too annoying. Anything else is a bonus.

Drifta · 24/03/2023 21:53

Crikey. We were just incredibly grateful to the company that took DD on. She was too.

She gained an insight rather than training. It's more useful than ever post-covid, independence is lagging a bit in a lot of teens still and I think it helped her to grow up a bit.

Original poster

unclebuck · 24/03/2023 21:56

Chocolateydrink · 24/03/2023 21:45

DS has done work experience at my work. We're a STEM company and do loads of outreach with local primary and secondary schools, and the work experience programme is very much part of that. I wanted DS to come to us because I knew we had a well organised programme for the students, they get to use some modern scientific equipment and learn about our business. Realistically a bunch of 15yos on site for a week aren't going to be useful to us at all (even our new graduates have months of training before they start work) but the idea is to enthuse kids about science. Lots of kids from his school went back to their primary school for work experience which seemed fairly pointless.

Lucky them! This is not what we do, nor do we pretend to. We are a small local CIC and involve WE students in daily tasks and show them "a day on the job" with mentoring etc. :)

OP posts:

pizzaHeart · 24/03/2023 22:01

There was no wages, DD has got understanding of expectations: to be on time, polite, wear uniform; about structure of the day and rules e.g no mobile phones until break time, etc. She was showing certain things and explained what to do, and then did it herself with some supervision so in a way she had training provided but very simple.
Friend’s DS was given simple tasks and was doing them, no explanation or training was needed as it was related to his hobby. He also got general understanding about expectations in the work place, no wages. but he’s got a small voucher from a business as a present at the end.

underneaththeash · 24/03/2023 22:06

Thank you for offering this OP. We simply had an email from school to say that it was ‘obligatory’ for them to do WE last summer and to let them know what they’d undertaken.
No other input from school at all.
I ignored it (we went away for most of the summer. They chased and I replied that I’d be happy for DS to undertake WE and to let me know when they organised it. They replied to say that it was too difficult for them to arrange.

lieselotte · 26/03/2023 15:42

Yes DS's school used to arrange it and then left it to the kids parents to arrange for themselves. I knew someone at the library so asked if it was possible and she said to send my son into see her. So it was very easy. I've no idea what we would have done otherwise. Especially since covid when so many people have hybrid work arrangements. When people do WE with my employer they tend to only do 2-3 days now when it would have been a week or even longer.

lieselotte · 26/03/2023 15:43

Lots of kids from his school went back to their primary school for work experience which seemed fairly pointless

Well pointless if you want to do a STEM career I guess. Not pointless in terms of having to be somewhere for a certain time and follow instructions. A school is a workplace like any other.

marshmallowsforbreakfast · 26/03/2023 15:52

I did mine in a pub back in the day, I was defo just free help rather than anything we could gain out of it. I think it depends how good the placement is. At our work I always feel sorry for them as they just shadow us doing our daily desk job, which obviously means nothing to them.

bridgetjonesmassivepants · 26/03/2023 15:59

Son went to a farm for a week, not through choice but there was no where else that would take him. We told him to be polite and make himself useful. We made sure he was there every day on time and in appropriate kit.

At the end of the week we gave the farmer a bottle of whiskey and a very nice box of chocolates and a card to say thank you for having him.

Son got £50 which we weren't expecting and a really nice card wishing him luck in the future.

Very good experience all round. Son got covered in various animals poo but also got to drive a tractor.