What you will learn on this page:
You might already have ideas of the type of job sector or job you might want to try for work experience, if you haven’t you could check out the ‘Start With You’ section – but how are you going to find an employer to take you?
Finding employers – how to get started
- Ask your parents/family/friends if they have any ideas of local companies or contacts you can approach.
- Ask your school’s work experience coordinator, as schools usually have a list of employers students have used before.
- There are also sites that have some placements (see below) – but they might not be really near to where you live.
- Start looking yourself for what is around locally and easy to get to.
Using online strategies to look for placements
- You could do a Google search of your postcode and see what companies are within a reasonable distance for you to get to.
- You could search online using Google or another search engine. Don’t just say ‘I am looking for work experience’ – make the query really clear, for example: ‘I am in Y10 and I am looking for a work experience placement in the Bristol area in hairdressing’.
- You could use the AI Mode that is on offer or any other AI tool that you usually use and ask the query there.
Be aware that Search tools and AI are trawling a huge amount of information and might come back with old, incorrect or misleading information – so you need to check it out.
Other useful sites that might have ideas for work experience
- Prospects has information about some companies that offer Year 10 work experience.
- Step into the NHS has suggestions for how to get work experience.
- Immerse Education has 145 ideas for Y10/11 placements.
- Futures for All – students can explore opportunities that match their interests and goals.
- Springpod – gain virtual work experience with top employers.
- Think Student has lots of ideas for work experience.
- National Work Experience Week by Careermap has ideas for national companies.
- The University of Bristol has some Year 10 work experience opportunities.