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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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