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Work experience

I’m currently in year 11, and I need to start looking at extracurriculars for my uni applications. I’m looking in particular for work experiences, does anyone know where I can find websites to find work experience opportunities, and how that would work?
If you have any other suggestions for extracurricular activities that would be very useful

Reply 1

kkskekejj

what sector are you considering? tiktok has a lot opportunities advertised. if its science/healthare then you can apply for work experience at a local hospital / Nuffield research project for STEM

Reply 2

oberserveinarah

Original post by lila__

Sure, there are loads! If you haven't already I would google 'Student Ladder' - their website is awesome and pretty self-explanatory. As for 'how that would work' for each opportunity listed they'll detail what you need to submit and who to contact.

If you're looking for generic advice there's plenty, but do you want 'work experience' and/or 'extracurricular activities' specifically? Work experience is generally more career/degree specific e.g. (law insight programmes for aspiring law degree students) whilst extracurricular activities can be anything you do outside of studying.
If you're just looking to prove you can do something besides study why not join a sports club/debate club/music society/publishing club? These satisfy the 'extracurricular' requirement you mentioned and are often faster to apply to since most schools will be more than happy to give you a reference/supporting statement.

In addition to those things I did a fair bit of volunteering work (pretty much emailed a ton of places). Some viable options would be to check out your nearest youth centre and ask them how you can help out, google any local registered charity groups in your area by postcode and don't be afraid to introduce yourself. (Tip: you can easily ask for a reference from any of these too).

Just worth noting some places may require you to complete a DBS check (check details online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disclosure-application-process-for-volunteers/disclosure-application-process-for-volunteers). Tip: always attend the 'induction' events so you can speak to the organisers about which department you are most interested in.

It really depends on what type of work experience you want and how far you're willing to travel to complete it. I've also done a few hospital shadowing programmes and also attended several engineering 'virtual insight' programmes. Hope that helps! Best of luck applying 🙂.

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 3

lila__

Original post by oberserveinarah

Sure, there are loads! If you haven't already I would google 'Student Ladder' - their website is awesome and pretty self-explanatory. As for 'how that would work' for each opportunity listed they'll detail what you need to submit and who to contact.
If you're looking for generic advice there's plenty, but do you want 'work experience' and/or 'extracurricular activities' specifically? Work experience is generally more career/degree specific e.g. (law insight programmes for aspiring law degree students) whilst extracurricular activities can be anything you do outside of studying.
If you're just looking to prove you can do something besides study why not join a sports club/debate club/music society/publishing club? These satisfy the 'extracurricular' requirement you mentioned and are often faster to apply to since most schools will be more than happy to give you a reference/supporting statement.
In addition to those things I did a fair bit of volunteering work (pretty much emailed a ton of places). Some viable options would be to check out your nearest youth centre and ask them how you can help out, google any local registered charity groups in your area by postcode and don't be afraid to introduce yourself. (Tip: you can easily ask for a reference from any of these too).
Just worth noting some places may require you to complete a DBS check (check details online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disclosure-application-process-for-volunteers/disclosure-application-process-for-volunteers). Tip: always attend the 'induction' events so you can speak to the organisers about which department you are most interested in.
It really depends on what type of work experience you want and how far you're willing to travel to complete it. I've also done a few hospital shadowing programmes and also attended several engineering 'virtual insight' programmes. Hope that helps! Best of luck applying 🙂.

Thank you so much! This was extremely helpful. I will look into the work experience immediately and probably come back with more questions :smile:

)
In terms of the volunteering, do you think it would be as useful for my application if I only did it for a couple weeks during the summer? The issue is that I live in Russia and don’t speak russian very well, and I wouldn’t know how to find a place here to volunteer at

Reply 4

lila__

Original post by oberserveinarah

Sure, there are loads! If you haven't already I would google 'Student Ladder' - their website is awesome and pretty self-explanatory. As for 'how that would work' for each opportunity listed they'll detail what you need to submit and who to contact.
If you're looking for generic advice there's plenty, but do you want 'work experience' and/or 'extracurricular activities' specifically? Work experience is generally more career/degree specific e.g. (law insight programmes for aspiring law degree students) whilst extracurricular activities can be anything you do outside of studying.
If you're just looking to prove you can do something besides study why not join a sports club/debate club/music society/publishing club? These satisfy the 'extracurricular' requirement you mentioned and are often faster to apply to since most schools will be more than happy to give you a reference/supporting statement.
In addition to those things I did a fair bit of volunteering work (pretty much emailed a ton of places). Some viable options would be to check out your nearest youth centre and ask them how you can help out, google any local registered charity groups in your area by postcode and don't be afraid to introduce yourself. (Tip: you can easily ask for a reference from any of these too).
Just worth noting some places may require you to complete a DBS check (check details online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disclosure-application-process-for-volunteers/disclosure-application-process-for-volunteers). Tip: always attend the 'induction' events so you can speak to the organisers about which department you are most interested in.
It really depends on what type of work experience you want and how far you're willing to travel to complete it. I've also done a few hospital shadowing programmes and also attended several engineering 'virtual insight' programmes. Hope that helps! Best of luck applying 🙂.

Also, thank you so much for recommending the student ladder website, it is really amazing, i have found so much relevant information
However, I wanted to know: do you know if the work experience programs are only eligible for uk citizens? I could do one over the next summer as I often do go there over the summer

Reply 5

oberserveinarah

Original post by lila__

Thank you so much! This was extremely helpful. I will look into the work experience immediately and probably come back with more questions :smile:

No worries, I only gave you some pointers.
Don't worry about the length of the volunteering, a few weeks is a good start. Same for work experience. Learn as much as you can from the experience and get a good reference. Tip: Some experience is always better than none especially from an employability perspective.

About your eligibility: if I were you I would contact the organisers directly to avoid missing any application deadlines. There's a fair bit I can't comment on as I don't know your Visa/ study eligibility situation...

If you're a prospective UK student you should know that being an international student can limit your eligibility for work experience/volunteering contracts. See: https://www.englishuk.com/en/students/your-stay-in-the-uk/working-and-volunteering-in-uk. (I've only helped out a few international friends/acquaintances who applied to study in the UK).

You mentioned you're in year 11 and living in Russia but you find it difficult to speak Russian. Sorry to hear you're struggling with the language. Are you planning to study in the UK? Are you doing A-levels or just starting them?
I don't know of your future plans but plenty of students do work experience during the first 2 years of university alongside their degree (like I did) so don't worry if you haven't accumulated much experience pre-degree. If you're applying to university I would focus on what their main requirements are, if you don't know what kind of work experience then just do something that shows you can work in a team.

You mentioned often going to the UK in the summer, that means someone facilitates that for you, why not ask them? I would also get in touch with them and someone who handles student exchange programmes. Best of luck!