How can I help my child find a work experience placement?
Finding a work experience placement can take persistence so getting started early is a good idea!
All placements have to be checked for health and safety so make sure you follow the process requested by your school and provide the details of a confirmed placement, so the checks can be undertaken in time.
Ways to find a work experience:
There are lots of different ways to help your child look for a placement that suits them including:
- Through a school list or database
- Ideas you as parents/carers might have through places you work, or through friends and family contacts
- Through a local company you are familiar with
- Careerpilot has ideas of some national employers offering work experience
- Careerpilot has ideas of virtual work opportunities (check if your school would allow a virtual experience in Y10 instead of, or combined with attending one in person)
- Attending a local jobs fair to make contact with employers and ask about work experience opportunities
- Look for local employers who are advertising apprenticeships as they may be more inclined to offer work experience to young people
Online ways that can be a good place to start:
Just putting a home postcode or name of the nearest town into a Google Maps search can help the young person see which companies are in the local area, (they can broaden the search area if public transport or a lift is an option).
They can then click on the company name, go to their website, put into the website search tool key words like 'careers; or 'work experience', to find out more about the company and try and find a contact email they could apply to.
You can also support your young person by using AI tools such as Gemini, Co-pilot, Chat GPT (parental permission's apply for some age groups). If using AI it is important to use a very clear question e.g, 'I am in Y10 and looking for a work experience placement in Swindon - working with animals'.
As AI is searching a lot of information which might not all be up to date, any results should be carefully checked for accuracy.
DO NOT give personal information on any AI searches.
Answers to these other questions might also help you:
- What is work experience and what are the benefits?
- How can I help my child think about types of work and work experiences that might suit them?
- How can I help my child see what skills they have to offer to a work experience placement?
- How can I help my child prepare an email to send to an employer requesting work experience?
- How can I help my child get ready for a work placement so they feel more confident?
