Top 10 Tips for Employers Offering Work Experience

  1. Introduce the young person to your company – the history, values, culture, brands, products, services and objectives
  2. Explain how the company is structured
  3. Introduce them to the people they will be working with
  4. Take them around the different work areas or departments; tell them where the coffee/water machines, kitchen and toilets are
  5. Talk them through the health and safety requirements (this is a legal requirement so don’t skip it!) And show them where the fire exits are.  Example Health and Safety Induction
  6. Give each student a clear outline of the tasks they need to complete and tell them who will manage their day-to-day supervision
  7. Give the student a clear idea of how you expect them to dress and behave eg mobile phones, internet policy, maintaining confidentiality, data protection etc.
  8. Make sure they have the passwords that they need eg work station and system logon, entry door key code etc
  9. Limit the amount of information given to them on the first day
  10. Arrange for each student to have a ‘buddy’– having someone to talk to informally is great way to help a young person settle in

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Meaningful Work Experience

"Meaningful work experience" is a structured, supervised opportunity that aligns with career goals and concludes with feedback from the employer. It ensures valuable learning and clear outcomes for both the student and employer.