Why should I look for work experience?

‍It does what it says on the tin – gives you experience in the working world. Work experience looks great on your CV. You develop your skills, learn about how you work and can try out a career before committing fully.

What types of work experience are there?

‍Internships: Often happen during the summer holidays and have potential to lead to a full-time role.

Placements: These are normally for uni students. They often last for a full year and can also lead into full-time jobs.

Shadowing: Observing one person or several people in the day to day roles. Normally quite short.

Volunteering: Unpaid placements, usually with a charity. Shows commitment to social and welfare issues.

How do I know what experience I need?

Even if you realise that the particular career isn’t for you, work experience is NEVER a waste of time. And loads of skills can be transferred across industries.

Not to blow our own trumpet but N2K’s Spotlights are super useful for finding out where people in jobs you’re interested in got their work experience.

Where do I find work experience?

‍Lots of companies will advertise their internship and placement programmes. Some (like N2K partner Penguin Random House) will also advertise their shorter work experience opportunities.

But in a lot of cases those opportunities won’t be so obvious — you’ll have to reach out and just ask! Don’t worry, that’s not as scary as it sounds.

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How do I ask about work experience?

‍First off, make sure you’ve got a CV and a short cover letter. Even if you’ve not got much formal experience yet, you can bulk it out with soft skills that you’ve learned at school, like team work, communication, adaptability and organisation.

Then…

🌀Introduce yourself via email (you can normally find contact details on the organisation’s website or LinkedIn).

🌀Tell them what you want to gain from a placement, your aspirations, relevant experience, and why that company (try and keep it brief, though!).

🌀 Make sure you show that you’re flexible and open to a range of tasks.

🌀 If you haven’t had a response in a week or two, it’s always worth following up. It could have just got lost in their inbox.

How do I make the most of it?

‍Once you’ve secured something, here are our top four tips:

🪩 Be positive and enthusiastic.

🪩 Get stuck in and don’t turn your nose up at smaller tasks.

🪩 Don’t be afraid to ask silly questions — you’re not expected to know how everything works.  

🪩 Don’t just wait on being asked for help, offer it! People might not realise that you have some time to spare.