Work experience is a great way to get ahead and gain the edge with employers and admissions tutors in your college interview. It shows that you have taken the time to gain experience in your chosen career area and it’s a good way to check that your dream job in your chosen industry is really what you think it is.
Work Placements
Use work placements to get a real feel and understanding of your chosen industry or sector. Adding this valuable experience to your UCAS and job applications can make you standout amongst your peers.
Enhance your applications
Work placements (traditionally known as work experience) refer to a specified period of time that you will spend working within a business to learn directly about working life and the work environment.
Some work placements will offer you the chance to try particular tasks, while others provide the opportunity to watch and learn first-hand. The nature and length of the work placement can vary, but these arrangements can be agreed in advance via the College.
Work placements are vitally important for both young people and employers. The experience can help you make an informed decision about your future. The more first-hand knowledge you can gain about a job role, the work environment and what is expected of you in the workplace, the more successful you will be in finding employment and fitting into your new role. Equally, work placements can provide a business with a potential pipeline of new talent, the chance to ‘try before they buy’ and the reassurance that a potential new recruit has already gained some understanding of the work environment, either through experience with them or another organisation.
There is no legal requirement for a business to pay a student for their work placement as you are there to learn as part of your continuing programme of study. However, in some cases employers do offer to contribute to your travel expenses, pay for lunches or extend an employee benefit.
Work placements offer you the following benefits:
- enable you to develop vital employability skills
- provide an insight into the real work environment
- help you gain confidence in the workplace
- increase your knowledge of a job role or industry and the skills it requires
- increase your chance of finding employment on completion of your course
- improve your communication skills, particularly in dealing with people of all ages
- help you build your CV
- help you understand how skills you are learning in college relate to the workplace
Our sixth form colleges have a dedicated careers and placements team to support students with finding a suitable work placement.
For more information please contact us on 01753 443853 or email placements.sixthform@windsor-forest.ac.uk
Come to an Open Day
Come along to one of our open days to tour our campuses, meet our expert staff and find out more about life as a Strode’s or Windsor student.
