[Jess9]

Please help! Really confused :/

What is the difference between work experience and a work placement?

I'm looking on a website and it says 17 year olds can apply for work experience and 18 year olds can apply for work placements.

Is the work placement a paid role?

[noodles!]

(Original post by Jess9)
Please help! Really confused :/

What is the difference between work experience and a work placement?

I'm looking on a website and it says 17 year olds can apply for work experience and 18 year olds can apply for work placements.

Is the work placement a paid role?

I don't know about placements being paid, but to me, placement infers a more active role within a workplace, being given tasks and so on, but work experience implies more observation and general helping out, getting a feel for it rather than doing the job.

[Jess9]

Ah okay, thanks!

Decided to apply for the work experience role in the end because I am only 17. If I get it, it might help me in the long run!

[helen-a-ravenclaw]

I've had both work experience and a work placement (which I'm currently doing with two months left!)

Work experience is usually a short amount of time, 1 - 2 weeks on average. It can be paid, but most of time it isn't. Work experience usually is just to give you an idea of what it's like to work in the company, you may get a small project to do or be assigned to someone to 'shadow' while you're there.

Work placements tend to be for a long amount of time. This can be a summer placement of about 3 months, up to year long placements (such as my one). These are paid, most of the time minimum wage or just above. You'll get given more in-depth projects are you are with the company for a longer amount of time, you're given more responsibilties and get to know the company a lot better.

Both are really good for you cv and for UCAS personal statements.

Hope this helped a bit

[Big-Daddy]

(Original post by helen-a-ravenclaw)
I've had both work experience and a work placement (which I'm currently doing with two months left!)

Work experience is usually a short amount of time, 1 - 2 weeks on average. It can be paid, but most of time it isn't. Work experience usually is just to give you an idea of what it's like to work in the company, you may get a small project to do or be assigned to someone to 'shadow' while you're there.

Work placements tend to be for a long amount of time. This can be a summer placement of about 3 months, up to year long placements (such as my one). These are paid, most of the time minimum wage or just above. You'll get given more in-depth projects are you are with the company for a longer amount of time, you're given more responsibilties and get to know the company a lot better.

Both are really good for you cv and for UCAS personal statements.

Hope this helped a bit

A work placement sounds like the sort of thing you would do after leaving university, as an actual starting job as opposed to anything else (especially as you need to be paid at minimum wage or above).

If I have a "placement" that will last for 2 weeks, be unpaid, but in which time I will work on a serious project with high-level physicists (and have a substantial work load to deal with of my own from that project), would I refer to it in my UCAS as a work experience or a work placement?

[helen-a-ravenclaw]

(Original post by Big-Daddy)
A work placement sounds like the sort of thing you would do after leaving university, as an actual starting job as opposed to anything else (especially as you need to be paid at minimum wage or above).

If I have a "placement" that will last for 2 weeks, be unpaid, but in which time I will work on a serious project with high-level physicists (and have a substantial work load to deal with of my own from that project), would I refer to it in my UCAS as a work experience or a work placement?

That would be a graduate job. You've finished your degree, so you'll be in employment, not doing work experience or work placements.

Work placements are generally done the year before uni, as part of a sandwich course at uni between years or during the summer months while at uni.

What you've described though, does sound to be a bit inbetween the two, leaning towards experience. I myself would class it as work experience, then go onto explain the project you dealt with in your personal statement.

For me, 'placement' has the connotations of employement, getting paid, being there for a significant amount of time etc.

Perhaps maybe ask at the company where you'll be doing the work as well?

[Big-Daddy]

(Original post by helen-a-ravenclaw)
That would be a graduate job. You've finished your degree, so you'll be in employment, not doing work experience or work placements.

Work placements are generally done the year before uni, as part of a sandwich course at uni between years or during the summer months while at uni.

What you've described though, does sound to be a bit inbetween the two, leaning towards experience. I myself would class it as work experience, then go onto explain the project you dealt with in your personal statement.

For me, 'placement' has the connotations of employement, getting paid, being there for a significant amount of time etc.

Perhaps maybe ask at the company where you'll be doing the work as well?

It's an institute rather than a company, so they normally have "readers" rather than people doing experiences.

Thanks anyway for the advice.