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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Year 10 Work Experience

68 replies

crisscross101 · 05/03/2023 08:40

AIBU or is this a total waste of time/unnecessary 2 weeks out of school?

DD is Y10, attends a selective state school that is always in top 10 of exam results league tables so will likely end up with 7-9s across the board at GCSE then off to a RG university. She wants to read law at the moment but that might change.

She had to do two weeks work experience in June. Her friends are spending a couple of weeks at mum's private practice or Dad's GP surgery, a couple who are 'less connected' are going back to their primaries for a couple of weeks despite no interest in teaching. No local solicitors are accepting WE round here due to hybrid working and the fact they are not in the office 60% of the time. DH is a manual worker and I work in a confidential environment meaning that DD couldn't come to work with me. So we're now on the beg for a work experience placement that has no bearing in any event to DD's career aspirations...

She's been looking for a Saturday job- to get proper work experience!- for over a year and no one takes kids in now until they're 16 (she's a summer baby so won't be 16 until after her GCSEs in Y11). (Other than a paper round which I've said no to on safety grounds).

This feels a completely waste of time that she'd be better off at school or on a school trip! I just feel so cross that nepotism starts before they've even left school Angry

OP posts:
RedHelenB · 05/03/2023 08:42

World's tiniest violin here OP. The idea is that they have an introduction to the world of work, just contact her old primary, ask at your local corner shop/ hairdresser .

Mueslikid · 05/03/2023 08:44

Well, pick somewhere she might want to get a Saturday job at, surely!

Shop/cafe/supermarket. She can choose which she prefers, then when she is 16 she can tell them she has a bit of experience. Or if she hates cafes having tried it she can try for a weekend job in a shop.

Original poster
crisscross101 · 05/03/2023 08:47

RedHelenB · 05/03/2023 08:42

World's tiniest violin here OP. The idea is that they have an introduction to the world of work, just contact her old primary, ask at your local corner shop/ hairdresser .

I disagree.

The inequity in a UCAS application of a child wanting to read law who has completed meaningful work experience with a private practice and a child who went and worked at the corner shop for free for two weeks is an obvious example.

Also, the idea work is you get something out of it. Two weeks free labour in a cafe because it's the only thing you could find isn't the reality of work.

OP posts:
limes6 · 05/03/2023 08:50

Two weeks free labour in a cafe because it's the only thing you could find isn't the reality of work.

I did 2 weeks WE in a cafe and it led to a weekend job

BlackForestCake · 05/03/2023 08:51

Putting up with the only thing you could find IS the reality of work for an awful lot of people.

Waterlooville · 05/03/2023 08:51

Any office environment will help her understand the world of work. If she's interested in law try NHS trusts, local authority, civil service, they might have in house lawyers. Or try workplaces that will interact with lawyers, HR, union places, publishers, media outlets. I get you, it's a total.pain but you just have to keep trying.

Simplelobsterhat · 05/03/2023 08:53

See, schools round here have all stopped doing the compulsory ks4 work experience week and I think it's such a loss.

Yes unfortunately as in life nepotism always played a part, but everyone went somewhere. I went to a travel agent ( in the 90s) which had no bearing on my career ideas or subsequent career, but I look back on it as a fantastic experience for me. I had to put myself entirely out of my comfort zone to meet and fit in with new adults, something young people in school rarely do outside of very controlled settings like extra curricular activities and school. I had to speak to customers. i had good feedback on how helpful I'd been from the manager which increased my self confidence. And crucially I had some customer service experience to put on my CV when applying for part time and summer jobs in retail to get more of that real experience.

Also I work in careers advice and find it so much harder to get pupils to reflect on their skills and likes and dislikes since they stopped having work experience to discuss!

And so many teenagers are so scared of stepping outside their comfort zone now, any experience where they have to is great. it's just short term so less pressure than a job or college, and all their friends are doing it same week so more likely to go with crowd and actually do it than if parents try to push volunteering or work experience at other times.

limes6 · 05/03/2023 08:54

limes6 · 05/03/2023 08:50

Two weeks free labour in a cafe because it's the only thing you could find isn't the reality of work.

I did 2 weeks WE in a cafe and it led to a weekend job

& I went to a top girls grammar; some of my peers did WE in the environments you talk about but most were just at local businesses- at least 5 of them at the local supermarket..

carriedout · 05/03/2023 08:55

YABU. Just because something doesn't hugely benefit your child doesn't mean it is overall worthless.

My own children were advised by me to do a basic WE placement and enjoy the two weeks out of school. It did not hamper their future in any way and taught them useful skills.

I agree nepotism is an issue in our country, but this WE fortnight is not going to change anything about that either way.

Time and experiences are never wasted if you have an open mind.

Your approach to your child's future seems very rigid. Just relax a little and see what they can get out of it.

ThinWomansBrain · 05/03/2023 08:55

I work in a confidential environment meaning that DD couldn't come to work with me
Surely most of what goes though a solicitors office is confidential?

Mademetoxic · 05/03/2023 08:56

Work experience has been going for years.

I did it in year 10 which was in 2007. It is nothing new.

ouch44 · 05/03/2023 09:00

I have DC in Year 10 and Year 12. Year 10 is more about getting any sort of work experience. Year 12 about getting career relevant experience. So the Year 10 one is off to a shop that she is v excited about and Year 12 DC is hopefully going to get some engineering WE.
The DC who is off to the shop is hoping to go into STEM or Comp Sci and hoping it'll give her WE to get a job. Also 15 in August!
A friends DC who went to their primary school for WE has got work at a school which is helping pay her way through Uni.
Also a lot of companies have changed their WE to just online so check out the websites such as Springpod (could be Springboard)

Simplelobsterhat · 05/03/2023 09:01

I do agree with the wider point that nepotism in experience is a barrier to fair entry to many professions, but that's a different issue to having to do a week in a shop.

Look out for other ways of displaying her interest in law, e.g. organisations like springpod and speakers for schools sometimes have virtual work experience. And search for firms offering widening access schemes, mini pupillage etc online- probably more available once she is in sixth form / college. Search ledlet if you happen to be in Wales. Or I think I've seen eversheds post events before.

whereonthestair · 05/03/2023 09:02

As a lawyer we don’t take work experience students other than through well advertised placement schemes. However if you daughter is interested in law see if the school will allow her to spend time in the courts listening to hearings or even join online. A lot of courts do and it is far more useful than anything I could give a year 10 for work experience. You can also see hearings on you tube.

TreeByLeaf · 05/03/2023 09:05

Try your local council - legal dept, planning dept, lots of relevant bits and they tend up host

NaturalBlondeYeahRight · 05/03/2023 09:05

I agree OP, no one wants them. Even my primary school has stopped saying yes now and if we can't do it easily, how can anyone else be expected to watch over them. They might as well leave it a d do a 'careers' week.

allthegoodusernameshavegone · 05/03/2023 09:05

I have taken year 10s for WE in the past, you have a list of things they are permitted to do which is basically nothing they literally just watch what’s going on, I think the only job they could legally do was stuff envelopes. It was a week of treading on egg shells on both sides. Never again

Simplelobsterhat · 05/03/2023 09:06

Also, to look at it another way, I would say I think the kids who go with their parents sometimes miss out on the wider value of work experience in terms of not being as far out of their comfort zone or making a new impression, and are wasting that week on something the parent could presumably do with them in the school holidays anyway.

PumpkinPastiez · 05/03/2023 09:07

Try legal aid law practices because they can't work from home

lurchermummy · 05/03/2023 09:07

Work experience has literally no bearing on UCAS applications. It's just about getting them out of school and experiencing something different. It doesn't really matter if it's "relevant" or not - one of mine spent a week mucking out at a local riding school.

ouch44 · 05/03/2023 09:08

I meant to say that my DC is hoping the shop work experience will help with getting a weekend job!
Mine are also at a top selective and Year 10 have been encouraged to get any kind of WE to learn to about work life: getting up in time to travel, being in a work place etc

PumpkinPastiez · 05/03/2023 09:09

Actually what would give her ucas 'credit' would be volunteering at the cab or somewhere like that. Even if it's just making tea and coffee for clients she'll learn about the environment etc.

Comedycook · 05/03/2023 09:11

My ds did his work experience a couple of months ago.

What I found was that although we have lots of friends and family who'd be happy to take him on for two weeks, most people work from home now.

it was a bit of a nightmare finding somewhere and most said he was too young at 14. In the end I found a fantastic charity who took him on. He had a really brilliant two weeks in the end so it was worth it.

Flamingogirl08 · 05/03/2023 09:14

She's a summer baby so she's what, 14?

Relax, a 2 week work experience at 14 isn't the beginning of a wonderful law career! Just let her go and make the coffee and do some filing in an office. It's about having a taster for world of work, nothing more.

ouch44 · 05/03/2023 09:14

Also try Studentladder. They are quite a few of these websites.

I have to disagree LurcherMummy about UCAS and work experience but it must be relevant. Eg applying for medicine. Its extremely competitive and you wouldn't get in without relevant WE. The same for Vet. Science. But won't be the case for all courses