What you will learn on this page:
Once you’ve found a company you’d like to approach, here’s how to find the right person and get in touch.
Find a contact at the company
- Search their site using key words like ‘work experience’ or ‘careers’ to see if they have offered work experience before as there might be a person – especially in a big company – who is responsible for work experience. Get their contact details.
- Even if your key word search doesn’t bring up a contact, look for ‘Contact us’ and get an email or address.
- There is quite a lot of detective work involved in looking for employers and contacts, but that plays to young people’s strengths, as they are experienced at searching online – so use your skills to help you find employers you can approach.
Assessing what you have to offer
If you are in Y10 you might have little or no work experience to mention but EVERYBODY has skills they have been using through life and learning.
To find out what skills you have already do the Skills Profile.
The Skills Profile will assess the skills you have from the things you have done already in your life to date.
You will see your top skills and your examples, some of these you can mention when you contact the employer.
You can explore more about jobs including the skills needed in the type of job you would like to do on work experience.
The Skills Profile probably already shows that you have some of the skills the employer wants, so mention these specific skills when you write to them.
Ways to contact employers for work experience
Usually, you will start by sending an email/letter asking the employer if they could offer you an opportunity to do a placement – this is the ‘introductory email’ or ‘covering letter’.
The letter/email clearly explains what you are asking for and also summarises your reasons for choosing that job and the skills you have to offer.
You might also be asked for a CV, especially if you are applying for part-time work or are in Y12/13.
A CV is a summary of your education, skills and experience that is sometimes required when applying for a job or work experience.
Usually this is not required for Y10 work experience, but it can be a good thing to start working on, and when you have completed your work experience you can add that in too.
If you are in Y10 and you do have to complete a CV you might not have past work experience to mention, so you can leave that out and make the CV about your education, skills and interests. To find out how to complete a CV click here.
An easy template to use for the first contact with an employer
You can download and use this easy template as an introductory email/letter to send to an employer – just fill in the gaps.
Just give your email address so they can contact you (you could use your school email address if you do not want to use a personal one). Try not to give too much personal information.
If you do have to send a covering letter rather than emailing, you will need to add your address so the employer can reply.
If the place you are applying to is near to where you live you could print your letter out, pop it in an envelope and take it to the company. Address it to the manager and ask a staff member to pass it on.
Always check with your teacher or family that it is okay to add personal information. If you are popping in to a workplace with your letter make sure your school/parent/carers know what you are doing.
Ready to make contact?
Download our fill-in-the-blank email/covering letter template to send to an employer requesting work experience.
