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How to get the most out of work experience
Work experience can be gained in any number of ways, for example through:
placements, part-time jobs, sandwich courses, voluntary work, internships,
job shadowing or gap work. It allows you to gain experience and skills
in a particular field or industry with a view to working in that industry
in the long term. It can help you to make a decision as to whether
this is something you really want to get into.
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Once you have decided what field you want to gain new skills in, you
can then identify specific companies to approach. You then need to
follow a similar process as that of finding any other job; e.g. job
boards, local companies, recruitment agencies, careers services, networking
and exhibitions.
So, once you have secured some work experience, how do you get the
most out of it?
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Goals
Firstly, set goals for your placement so you are clear what you want
to get out of it. This will make it easy to assess how well the work
experience has gone at the end.
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Ask for a Mentor
When you get there, ask for a mentor or supervisor, if you have not
already got one. They will give you feedback and share their knowledge
with you, which will be very helpful. This mentor can help you to
achieve your pre-defined goals. Feedback is very important so you
know what you have been doing correctly or in fact wrongly. Ask them
what they think about your application/CV, interview techniques, work
skills and personal skills if you manage to get a chance.
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Keep a Diary
Keep a diary whilst you are on your work experience. Record exactly
what you do daily, what skills you have used and learnt or need to
learn, demonstrate the progress you make and reflect on the learning
that has taken place. This will all be useful to come back to at a
later date.
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Put in as much as you can
What you get out of your experience depends on what you put in so
try to contribute ideas. If you do not understand something, ask.
If you are not enjoying a certain aspect or experiencing problems,
you should express these to your supervisor. If you feel they are
not giving you any work, then explain you would like to try some different
things - not only do you look keen and interested but you will end
up learning more.
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Be Proactive
Be proactive and ask lots of questions. Ask others what they do in
a day, how they got their job, what promotion prospects there are
and what they like and dislike about their role. Try to find out as
much as possible about the different roles people have as well as
the industry in general.
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Vary your work
Ask if you can visit different departments or areas of the business
to try and broaden your knowledge and get the most of out of the time
you have there.
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Reference
As your supervisor if you can use them as a reference as this becomes
very useful when applying to full-time jobs at a later stage.
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Build Network
If you can, start to build up a list of contacts whilst you are there.
Many industries rely on building a network so do not be afraid to
ask for their business cards or contact details. It is a good idea
to start early.
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If you take note of the above factors whilst you are conducting your
work experience, it will help you to get the most out of it. Try to
gain as much information as possible and help yourself to learn new
skills and abilities. Just remember that what you put in is what you
get out, so aim to give maximum effort, interest and energy.
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