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Just because you've never been paid for work doesn't mean you haven't
had work experience — or that you don’t have skills and experience that
are valuable and relevant to working life. Work experience can be a great
tactic for people looking to enter the workforce for the first time or
those returning after a break from paid work. It can be a way of
learning new skills or updating rusty ones, greatly benefiting
your search for a paid position.
Most people have been involved in many situations where they have
learnt skills that are useful to the work force. Employers are looking for people
with skills and abilities that are transferable. Recognising and valuing the
environments where you've gained relevant work experience is the first step
to convincing potential employers that your skills and experience are relevant
to the organisation.
Maybe you've worked on a stall during a garage sale or on the door at a
dance party. You might have raised children, cared for an aged relative and
managed a household. All these activities require and develop skills and
personal qualities that transfer to the work force.
Work experience is often organised by schools and tertiary institutions
to help their school leavers gain some understanding of an industry or
occupation. It offers young people the chance to get hands-on experience
in a formal working environment. However, work experience is also valuable
for people who are looking to move into a new area of work, the long-term
unemployed or for those who are re-entering the work force after a long absence.
Work experience can help shape your employment plans in a number of ways. It may:
- confirm that this is the industry for you — you can then start to look for paid employment in that field;
- confirm that this is not the industry or type of job you want to work in;
- suggest certain aspects of an industry that you would like to focus on.
Students will often have work experience organised for them as part of their
formal learning programme. If your institution doesn't organise work experience
as part of your course of study, approach your lecturer, teacher, career guidance
counsellor or other staff member who may be able to assist. Outline what kind
of placement you're interested in undertaking and ask if they have industry
contacts they can refer you to.
If you're not studying, all the advice in SEEK's story
about networking and cold calling applies equally
to seeking a work experience placement.
The ideal work experience placement is in your chosen field of endeavour
(or closely related) and with a host organisation that is committed to your growth.
It is difficult to find companies with strong work experience guidelines
but ideally a learning programme should be established for you. This would outline:
- your supervisor or key contact;
- what departments you work in;
- who you work with;
- how long you'll be in each department;
- what tasks will be assigned;
- what the learning outcomes are.
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