Does Anyone Have Work Experience Placement Ideas?

Dancer · October 2019

Hi everyone,

I am currently in year 9 but it is time for me to start thinking about a placement for work experience. My school ask students to find a work experience placement to do for the last 2 weeks of the summer term in year 10.

I don't know about many ideas for placements. I wanted to work up London but my parents won't let me. I want to have a career either in BSL, ambulance service, a hospital or performing arts.

Does anyone have any ideas of what I could do for work experience? I was considering Tui but the placements are a minimum of 12 months and for over 18's only. I am not really that fussed about what I do as it is only 2 weeks.

Thank you!

Butterfly23 · October 2019

Hey! I’ve had to do a lot of placements for my course at college and sometimes It can be hard finding one before you are 18 ☹️

There are loads of places that under 18s are accepted though like old people classes or like learning disability groups where you can help them do arts and crafts and stuff, a good one could be a preforming arts class for people who are deaf or have another special needs, as it intertwines both the career in BSL and performing arts. Also, there are befriending placements where you can spend time with older people if they are lonely, working in a nursery, primary school!

If you didn’t want to do anything like that then a lot of Cafes and shops accept work placements too ☺️

Main advice I can give is find somewhere that you need to work with people, whether that’s older people, those with learning disabilities etc because for uni and other things (I know it’s far away yet) they want people to have experience of working with vulnerable people if they are wanting to go into a career in the health or social care sector 💗

I hope this helps a little bit ☺️

ClaraOswald · October 2019

Hello x @Kasa2103
im in the exact same boat and want to be a paramedic and its so annoying you cant do stuff like that til youre over 16

I found a placement at a local hospice and even though you cant look after the patients you can help with marketing and fundraising so you can get a taste of what its like x Also i got a tour through the care side anyway during my interview x
Good luck

Dancer · October 2019

Butterfly23 said:

Hey! I’ve had to do a lot of placements for my course at college and sometimes It can be hard finding one before you are 18 ☹️

There are loads of places that under 18s are accepted though like old people classes or like learning disability groups where you can help them do arts and crafts and stuff, a good one could be a preforming arts class for people who are deaf or have another special needs, as it intertwines both the career in BSL and performing arts. Also, there are befriending placements where you can spend time with older people if they are lonely, working in a nursery, primary school!

If you didn’t want to do anything like that then a lot of Cafes and shops accept work placements too ☺️

Main advice I can give is find somewhere that you need to work with people, whether that’s older people, those with learning disabilities etc because for uni and other things (I know it’s far away yet) they want people to have experience of working with vulnerable people if they are wanting to go into a career in the health or social care sector 💗

I hope this helps a little bit ☺️

Thank you so much. That is really helpful. I think a befriending placement sounds awesome. Never heard of it before. I will definitely take your suggestions into consideration.

Dancer · October 2019

ClaraOswald said:

Hello x @Kasa2103
im in the exact same boat and want to be a paramedic and its so annoying you cant do stuff like that til youre over 16
I found a placement at a local hospice and even though you cant look after the patients you can help with marketing and fundraising so you can get a taste of what its like x Also i got a tour through the care side anyway during my interview x
Good luck

Omg we both want the same job. My first choice of job is paramedic. I have wanted to be one since I first knew what one was (about 5 years old.)

Every time I see a paramedic I get all happy and sometimes the paramedics stop for a chat if they are not busy with a casualty. It definitely is annoying that you can't do it until 16 but it is due to health and safety regulations.

It sounds amazing that you found a hospice placement. Year 10 I guess? Sometimes schools ask the year 11's to do work experience instead. It is understandable that you can't look after the patients because you are not a fully fledged staff member yet (just someone doing a placement.) At least you get to do marketing and fundraising instead which sounds exciting. Good luck with your placement.

Thank you for being so helpful.

Azziman · October 2019

Hey

It's great that you're thinking ahead about career opportunities! Unfortunately, most businesses won't have anything in place until you're 16, but smaller shops may be happy to recruit you on a part-time work place. Most people won't have any healthcare experience until at least 18, and even then it usually comes through working at a care home, or through a university course (e.g. medicine). It'll be tough to find, but not impossible!x

I think the best thing you can do for now is either go to small local shops and explain that you're willing looking for work for a few weeks, and if they're willing to take you on. Or, you could try and find a charity shop nearby and volunteer - they're always looking for people to help out. Perhaps a family member could help you out as well through their work.

But if nothing comes of it, don't worry. You're already showing great initiative by searching for work so early on - if a local shop or charity shop can't offer you a role yet, they'll certainly keep you in mind!x

Much love

Jordan · October 2019

My biggest advice regarding high school work placements is don’t stress about what sort of placement you get.

It sounds like you are trying your hardest to get work in a field you are interested in, and I hope that search goes well.

At at the end of the day, high school work experience is about getting experience in the workplace, and the skills associated with it. If it’s a field you love then that is a bonus. I ended up working in a reception for a Rural College, even though I tried my hardest to get something at a law firm. The work experience you get by no means has any affect on what you do later on.

Hope your search goes well!

rachel_ann · October 2019

Hey @Kasa2103,

It’s great that you are getting organised for your placement!

My first key piece of advice is not to put too much pressure on yourself to find the perfect placement. Like you said it is only for 2 weeks, so it would be difficult to find one that will a perfect match, and that is completely fine. You have lots of time to do volunteering and placement throughout the rest of secondary school and college!

Because you aren’t 16 yet, I would recommend starting to look for volunteering positions. Like @Azziman said, going to your local charity shops is a great place to start looking. Perhaps you could consider going to your local corner shops and doing a paper round for them? That way you are going to get paid for your time as well.

Good luck with your search!

Does Anyone Have Work Experience Placement Ideas?

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