Year 10 Work Experience

If i were to go back i would definitely choose to do work experience at a shop of some sort because if you go to a place like the hospital for example you'll not do much or anything at all. If you were to go to a grocery shop for exanple there would be a lot of things that you would be allowed to do and you can use that work experience to apply to a job in another shop. You would be able to write more on your CV if you go to a place where you will actually work rather than a place where you shadow other workers.

I would recommend making a list of local firms or organisations in a field of work you're interested in (accountancy, vets, schools, sports retaillers - absolutely anything really!). Then send each one of them a generic email stating your circumstances and asking if they offer any work experience. Some firms don't advertise placements but may be willing to take somebody on for two weeks. That way you can potentially get experience in a future field of work for yourself which will also look a lot better on your personal statement/CV for university of job applications.

I did mine at a national surveying firm, working in the accounts department at the local office near me. I knew somebody who worked there which helped, but they don't normally offer placements. They gave me responsibilities such as writing emails, logging invoices, processing some smaller payments. Not exciting stuff but great experience for working in a tertiary-sector company.

I would recommend making a list of local firms or organisations in a field of work you're interested in (accountancy, vets, schools, sports retaillers - absolutely anything really!). Then send each one of them a generic email stating your circumstances and asking if they offer any work experience. Some firms don't advertise placements but may be willing to take somebody on for two weeks. That way you can potentially get experience in a future field of work for yourself which will also look a lot better on your personal statement/CV for university of job applications.

I did mine at a national surveying firm, working in the accounts department at the local office near me. I knew somebody who worked there which helped, but they don't normally offer placements. They gave me responsibilities such as writing emails, logging invoices, processing some smaller payments. Not exciting stuff but great experience for working in a tertiary-sector company.

Which national surveying firm did you do yours at?

It was at Bidwells, who are quite a large firm doing everything from surveying to wealth management. Link here for their website: https://www.bidwells.co.uk/about-us/

Their head office is in my local city which is where most of the accounts, marketing, management etc is based. They have 15 offices around the UK I think. By all means send them an email if you're interested - I'm not sure how it'd work regarding Covid but worth a shot!

Hey there! There are so many different opportunities available, it all just depends on what you are interested in For instance, I am interested in politics and ir, so for my year 10 work experience I did some work with my local MP and even got a trip down to Westminster out of it! I too started looking around the end of year 9, and honestly my best advice is to write letters/emails explaining who you are and what you are looking for out of the experience and send it off to them as soon as possible (try not to leave it until the last minute, as places can go quite quick and sometimes employers ask for your CV) . Also, try and write to several places, as it is quite common to get rejected. Perhaps try to think a little outside of the box with where you wish to have a placement, but overall try and make it something that you are interested in, otherwise you won't enjoy it as much and won't take the crucial skills away from it. I'm going into year 13 this September, but if you have any more opportunities don't hesitate to ask me!!

If i were to go back i would definitely choose to do work experience at a shop of some sort because if you go to a place like the hospital for example you'll not do much or anything at all. If you were to go to a grocery shop for exanple there would be a lot of things that you would be allowed to do and you can use that work experience to apply to a job in another shop. You would be able to write more on your CV if you go to a place where you will actually work rather than a place where you shadow other workers.

Hey there! There are so many different opportunities available, it all just depends on what you are interested in For instance, I am interested in politics and ir, so for my year 10 work experience I did some work with my local MP and even got a trip down to Westminster out of it! I too started looking around the end of year 9, and honestly my best advice is to write letters/emails explaining who you are and what you are looking for out of the experience and send it off to them as soon as possible (try not to leave it until the last minute, as places can go quite quick and sometimes employers ask for your CV) . Also, try and write to several places, as it is quite common to get rejected. Perhaps try to think a little outside of the box with where you wish to have a placement, but overall try and make it something that you are interested in, otherwise you won't enjoy it as much and won't take the crucial skills away from it. I'm going into year 13 this September, but if you have any more opportunities don't hesitate to ask me!!

ooh. I am also interested in politics and ir but also law too. How did you get in contact with your local MP? They must get a lot of emails no? And what did you do on the work experience? Did you just shadow their work, and if you did what did you have to do? Also was it on afterschool or weekends as I will not be able to leave school to do it and do you know if any can be done in the summer holidays?
sorry for all the questions, I'm just really interested x

Sorry I've only just seen this! In the past I've been in regular contact with my MP, both through email and physical letters, so either works perfectly fine! Don't worry about them receiving too many emails either, as I can guarantee that eventually they work through them all. Throughout both of my year 10 placements I was fortunate enough to get involved in the office work rather than shadowing, but I also got the opportunity to partake in tours, visits, briefings etc. My school designated a week at the end of the school year for work experience, but I was allowed two off. I'm sure its not difficult finding work experience in the summer holidays, weekends, after-school etc. I'm hoping to study law at university as of next year, so I'm currently in the process of looking for work experience at a local court, so potentially that's another idea? I hope this helps! x

I've only just seen this now too lol. To be honest I am quite nervous to email my local MP. How do you find their email, and do they respond themselves or is it someone else? I really hope to study law at university too, how are you looking for work experience for law? As in how do you get in touch with and local court and would it be easy to get work experience over the summer after yr 11?

I've only just seen this now too lol. To be honest I am quite nervous to email my local MP. How do you find their email, and do they respond themselves or is it someone else? I really hope to study law at university too, how are you looking for work experience for law? As in how do you get in touch with the local court and would it be easy to get work experience over the summer after yr 11?

Don't be nervous! You can find their email address online by simply typing in your MPs name They'll more than likely get someone else to reply for them as they've typically got a busy schedule, and normally you will work alongside the person who replies, but potentially see the MP at some point. I'm hoping to just shadow someone within a court, so have been sending emails out in the hope of finding a placement somewhere. I'd say its relatively easy to find work experience in the summer after year 11 too, its just a matter of looking around and seeing what you can find. I hope this helps!!