Work Experience and Placements
What are the benefits of work experience?
While The Cheshire and Warrington Pledge Partnership is not a work experience provider, The Pledge Partnership are strong advocates for young people gaining experience in the workplace and can help connect you with one of their local employers.
The benefits of work experience is recognised by employers and educational establishments and allows you to:
- Build a professional network of contacts to help you gain future employment
- Boost your confidence and aspiration
- Gain key building blocks for your CV and evidence of your competence
- Develop your skills and knowledge
- Gain insight into the realities of an industry to help inform your future career
- Gain evidence of transferable skills for future job applications
It is always better to have some experience, even if not in the relevant industry than none. Most employers would rather have a candidate with transferable skills and the right attitude than someone with a perfect education record but no practical experience.
The importance of work experience
It is recommended by Ofsted that young people have a minimum of 2 experiences of the workplace, once before the end of year 11 and again before the end of year 13.
Your school may arrange with you a specific time of year for you to seek placement for yourself for 1-2-weeks or set up an experience of the workplace involving remote work for an employer depending on local facilities.
How can we help?
The Pledge Partnership can help you gain experience in the workplace through our:
- Virtual Work Experience – The Pledge Partnership have trained over 40 local employers on the development and delivery of remote work projects suitable for teams of young people, to give insight into the methods, processes and challenges of diverse industries, and developed and supported a project framework for schools to deliver these experiences to their students
- Sector-Specific Work Experience – The Pledge Partnership have assisted schools in taking a small cohort to multiple employers over the course of a week, visiting businesses within a broad industry (such as STEM or Digital) that may struggle with hosting normal work experience for safety or organisational reasons. This opportunity will give you an understanding of a whole sector rather than just one company which may not be representative
What can you do?
If you are a young person looking for Work Experience opportunities, you can:
Talk to your school’s Work Experience Coordinator, Careers Leader or Careers Advisor about the school’s current work experience plan.
Approach companies that interest you directly about a work experience during the school holidays. You can search by industry and area on google maps, or use a local jobs site such as the Cheshire and Warrington Opportunities Portal or call up to speak with someone in Recruitment or Human Resources and ask if they could place you for work experience. Follow up with a cover letter outlining why work experience with this particular company would be useful for both you and them, and a copy of your CV.
Utilise a third party for online Work Experience service, such as:
Most importantly – Try something, and try it for a full week. Even if you find you don’t want to work in that industry, that is a valuable lesson for you, and prevents time wasted further down the line by both you and your future employer – and it will still hone your skills and look great on your CV.
Contact us