To take DS on holiday during work experience week

[Flufty191]

DS is year 10. We live in a small town. He's due to do work experience next summer. He/we have contacted every company in the local area and have either had no response, been told they don't offer work experience or the work experience places are already taken.

His options now are a charity shop or the school canteen (the canteen is the schools only help if you're unable to secure your child a place somewhere).

He's already doing voluntary work for his DofE.

Would I be unreasonable to book a family holiday abroad for a week instead?

Yanbu-book it
Yabu-he should do the work experience.

So you're basically just swapping a week of the holidays with the work experience week? Sounds eminently sensible. Do it!

Doing a week in the summer would be a good solution, I’m sure it won’t make much difference exactly when he does the work experience.

Holiday. Work experience is a complete waist of time in my experience. Some poor kid turns up and sits there, or gets sent for left handed screwdrivers....as a kid I did one day, I already knew what work was and had no interest in the work the company was doing. It was an office supply company and I was in the electronic equipment area....I can't even work out how a circuit works now.
As a manager we had a couple. They could only sit and watch people work.... what did they gain from that?

My only concern would be whether school requires any follow up work to the work experience e.g. reports about what he did. Is the work experience obligatory is the question. Will you be in the position of having to lie?

Have you asked your or oh work if they could take him on? That way he could travel with you. Or alternatively any work nearby either of your work places that he could go to, this would avoid travel issues. Do either of you contract or freelance and 'hire' him yourself?

I wasn't keen on my placement but it was a really good introduction to the real world that perhaps a lot of work is boring and not glamorous.

There are learning opportunities through both these work experience options.

I find it really uncomfortable that he's only a teenager and you've already decided he's 'too good' for these jobs.

It doesn’t matter what job they do, it’s the routine and expectation of work and hard graft for 8 hours. Taking them on holiday is not letting them have the taste of that, but you are the parent and just do what you think is best .

That their time is valuable, so if a relavent work experience cannot be obtained, he can enrich his life with something other than doling out chips to year sevens.

They have routine and hard graft every school day.

My DS did the voluntary week in the local hospice charity shop, I think it looked good on his uni application.

The school have a deadline for us to organise it, has to be done by the Christmas holidays. No idea why.

Why does everything have to be a lesson?

I’m a senior developer in Technology. One of the people who works with us designed and implemented a low cost partially automated stock taking system during his 2 week work experience at a local Age Concern. How valuable the experience is depends on the student sometimes rather than the employer.

Gosh, anger seems and over reaction!

He's doing volunteering at a charity shop for his silver DofE and for his bronze last year he volunteered at the local national trust property and spent a large chunk of time in the cafe.

Would the work experience in the charity shop be the same kind of volunteering he does for DofE, or quite different? He might actually learn something useful/enjoy it. I'm not saying taking him away = bad, but equally, working in the charity shop might actually be worthwhile, and look good on his CV.

Edit - ooops, you've just answered this question as I was writing this post, however I still think the charity shop work or the canteen wouldn't be a bad thing to have on his CV - what was he hoping to do? Part of this is showing willing surely?

I haven't said he's 'too good' for those jobs at all.

Isn’t this an important lesson? You have to do things you don’t want to do sometimes.

Everything doesn't have to be a lesson, however this is work experience week so the idea that is that he'd be learning something about actual work, be that in a canteen, the voluntary sector or elsewhere.

Canteen or charity shop are not bad options actually. You should be thinking about the skills and 'experience', not whether or not it is a particular job he actively wants to do.

Talking to customers
Dealing with suppliers
Making orders
Health and safety standards
Sales
Handling transactions
Coping with busy periods
Working with colleagues
Following instructions
Using initiative to see and do what needs doing
Picking up new processes quickly
Having a good attitude and not seeing 'basic' jobs as beneath them.

My niece worked in a charity shop, certain evenings for a while - she enjoyed it, made at least one new friend and I think it helped her secure the jobs she's had since (she wasn't able to work during her course for various reasons, so this was a great introduction to work, albeit voluntary).

I had a summer job I hated, it was hard work and so boring. I’m so glad I did it because I’ve never forgotten people did that job everyday, not earning much and not complaining. As an adult I tend not to moan too much about work and I do think the 2 month summer job is a big reason I don’t!

Where has every one else in the year group got work experience?

Is this how you think of all canteen staff, as somehow below you?
I've met some lovely, kind, intelligent people while working in a coffee shop (and the odd stint in the canteen of same store when they were short on staff), and value the experience I gained in that environment, despite going on to work in a different role. Food service/prep might also bring some good experience in customer service and food hygiene etc.

It is different routine and different graft though, very different!

For my eldest the only option for work experience was stacking shelves in a supermarket so no thanks. There is nothing wrong with stacking shelves in a supermarket if that is what you want to do; he didn’t and if he did he could have got a part time job in the same supermarket and been paid for his two weeks work like the other kids his age who worked there. He did his work experience as my nanny/housekeeper instead helping with his younger sister, housework and cooking. School weren’t thrilled but tough. Go for the holiday.

You’ve got your eye on a cheap holiday. That’s cool, I get it.

But dismissing the canteen and the charity shop as being irrelevant is pretty gross.