Guide to Acquiring Practical Job Skills
Work experience is a valuable tool for career exploration and skill development. Whether you're a student, a recent graduate, or someone looking to change careers, work experience can provide an invaluable insight into various industries and job roles.
To start your work experience journey, it's essential to identify your interests, skills, and values. This will help you to pinpoint career paths that resonate with you. Once you have a clear idea of what you're seeking, you can actively look for opportunities such as internships, job shadowing, traineeships, and virtual work experience placements [1][3].
Career services offices, online platforms, and professional networks are all valuable resources for identifying opportunities and gaining support with application materials and interview preparation [1][5]. Networking, whether through connecting with alumni, professionals, or attending industry events, can also uncover unadvertised work experiences and open doors to mentorships and further engagement [2][3].
When contacting businesses, it's crucial to inquire about work experience placements and speak to the appropriate person overseeing them. Persistence is key in finding the right work experience opportunity [4]. Creating a list of local businesses relevant to your desired career and contacting them for potential work experience placements is recommended [7].
Work experience can offer hands-on experience to add to your CV, an understanding of workplace expectations, potential opportunities for future employment, and motivation to train for a particular job or career [8]. During work experience, you might shadow various members of staff as they go about their day-to-day roles, and you will usually be given minor tasks to complete [9].
Work experience provides an opportunity to build confidence, gain new skills, and gain insight into a particular industry [10]. It can be intimidating initially but can be rewarding and enjoyable once you get past the initial nerves [11].
Traineeships can last up to a year and are available to those who are unemployed with no (or minimal) work experience [2]. Internships are paid work placements that last 2 to 3 months and are aimed at recent university graduates [6]. Virtual work experience placements are offered by some companies to make them more accessible to a wider array of people [6].
School or college placements usually consist of 1 or 2 weeks working for a local company and are arranged by teachers [3]. Work experience can also be sought for various job roles or promotions within a company you already work for [3].
Remember, if a company declines offering work experience, it's not a personal rejection, and they might not be in a position to provide it [12]. The purpose of work experience is to learn about a specific industry, company, or job sector [1].
The Skills to Succeed Academy offers opportunities to build skills for entering a career without the need for a physical placement [7]. So, whether you're just starting out or looking to take your career to the next level, work experience is a valuable resource not to be overlooked.
References: [1] https://www.gov.uk/careers-work-experience [2] https://www.gov.uk/careers-work-experience/types-of-work-experience [3] https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/work-experience [4] https://www.gov.uk/careers-work-experience/how-to-find-work-experience [5] https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/work-experience/how-to-get-work-experience [6] https://www.gov.uk/careers-work-experience/internships [7] https://www.skills2succeed.com/ [10] https://www.gov.uk/careers-work-experience/benefits-of-work-experience [11] https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/work-experience/what-to-expect-from-work-experience [12] https://www.gov.uk/careers-work-experience/reasons-you-may-not-get-work-experience
- To complement your education-and-self-development and further your career-development, consider enrolling in online courses that offer insights into accounting and give you a better understanding of how it applies in various industries.
- Alongside work experience, online courses in education-and-self-development or career-development can provide additional learning opportunities, helping you to enhance your skillset and increase your attractiveness to potential employers.
