Practical experience

Apprenticeships are not only for young people – there is no age limit. The right apprenticeship can offer the chance to upskill within an established career, or to restart in an entirely new field. Combining practical, on-the-job training with study, apprenticeships are paid at a rate which depends according to the apprentice’s age, the stage of the apprenticeship and employer discretion. Additionally, apprenticeships are awarded with nationally recognised qualifications. The downside is that securing an apprenticeship can be competitive and the opportunities are not available in all sectors.   
 

Graduate schemes are employer-ran training programmes created specifically for graduates. Combining hands-on working experience, a wage and structured training, they are a route to refining skills and applying academic learning while establishing a professional career. Graduates often get to experience different parts of a business, giving them exposure to different careers and skill development. Graduate schemes are designed to provide participants with a broad overview of their profession, equipping them to move up the career ladder, and potentially into leadership positions. A popular choice with many graduates, schemes are often hard to get into. The recruitment process begins in the summer each year.

An internship is a fixed period where students or graduates work for an employer to gain exposure to the work environment. Work placements are similar, but they tend to span a longer period. Sometimes, placements are built in as part of your studies, and are referred to as a ‘year in industry’. Pay for placements and internships varies and some are voluntary positions.

Employers often advertise internships or placements directly on their website. However, if you’re interested in a particular company, it’s worth considering contacting them directly to enquire, even if something isn’t being advertised at that time. Utilise your networks to find these opportunities, as they can really help you to understand what you like and don’t like about a certain job or industry. In some cases, they may lead to a job offer.

Job shadowing is observing a professional doing their job over a specified period of time, perhaps a few days or a few weeks. It’s a good way to gain insight into a sector, an organisation and the role itself. Providing a taste of a particular career, job shadowing can be a good way to narrow down end goals, helping define exactly the sort of career that might suit an individual. Depending on the opportunity, job shadowing may be primarily an observing role, or it can be more hands-on.

Not every job is suitable for this sort of arrangement. For example, Health & Safety concerns or confidentiality issues can prevent it. Additionally, securing job shadowing positions can be challenging. It’s rare that these sorts of opportunities are advertised. Instead, people who want to give it a go can speculatively share their CV and job shadowing request with the organisations they’re interested in, or they can apply their networking skills to secure a place.

When you’re looking to move into a different field but lack experience, taking a part-time or entry level job can be the answer. For those who have already advanced to seniority in a different sector, this is a way of generating some income while gaining experience in a new area. Part-time work taken primarily for experience leaves time to work other roles or fulfil other responsibilities. For individuals who have recently finished studying, entry level jobs can be a good route to gaining a grounding in the basic skills required within their field before pursuing promotion later.

Temporary employment enables you to work on a flexible, temporary basis. These roles can be flexible, or some specify the time required in advance and utilise fixed-term contracts. Temporary staff are sometimes hired on a short-term basis for particular projects, but also can be brought in for additional support at busy periods, for example.

If you aren’t sure what you want to do, this can give you good insight into a certain sector or role, as well as making you visible to a specific organisation – it can help you determine whether it’s somewhere you might want to work more long term. Many recruitment agencies have specific teams that focus on temporary roles.

A secondment is the temporary transfer to another role within the same organisation, helping you to build transferable skills and give you an insight into working in different areas, to test out whether it’s something you might be interested in or to further your experience. Your original role is kept for you to return to, providing a secure way to try something new.

Volunteering represents an exchange of time and effort, for experience and insight. Contributing to an organisation’s output, while developing individual networks and gathering knowledge, can be a very attractive prospect. There are different types of volunteering, with varying timescales and levels of required commitment. The work itself also varies hugely. While some volunteering is hands-on, practical work done on-site, volunteering can also be done remotely, for example completing computer-based tasks on an ad-hoc basis.

The right volunteering experience can be exactly what a CV needs to open the next door in a person’s career. Securing volunteering roles can be challenging; while some volunteer opportunities are advertised like regular jobs, competition can be fierce and there’s a risk of exploitation in roles which, arguably, should be paid positions.

Work experience is usually a short-term, unpaid arrangement. It provides the opportunity to gain in-depth perspective on the lived experience of those working for a particular company. Opening up the chance to interact with different people performing diverse roles, it can expose an individual to career paths they hadn’t previously considered, and even jobs they hadn’t previously heard of. It’s a good way to find out about the day-to-day working lives of temporary colleagues, try out new activities and even develop new skills. Work experience can also be a good opportunity to establish connections and network. In some fields, competition for work experience places is tough, but those who are fortunate enough to secure a place often find it is a springboard to bigger things.