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Succeed in the workplace
Succeed in the workplace

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3.3 Do your own research

Photo of a magnifying glass over the dictionary term 'research'.
Figure 6 Research

Work experience can be found in all sorts of organisations, but there is likely to be competition for work experience placements at the bigger, well-known organisations, so you need to plan ahead. For instance, are any careers and placements fairs coming up which you could attend, so that you can talk to employers directly about their work experience opportunities?

In Week 3 you practised the skill of researching the kinds of jobs available. Now you can take it a step further. Look at the websites of organisations which interest you. Can you see anything about work experience? Is there a contact you could approach to ask if the organisation takes people on work experience placements? You may find phoning is more productive than an email. Remember that small local businesses may be in a position to help, as well.

Before moving onto the next section, take some time to think about how or if each of these approaches would work for you.

Activity 3How would you use each prong?

Timing: Allow approximately 10 minutes

Think about each of the three prongs from this section and jot down any ideas in your notebook about how you could use these in your own situation to find work experience.

Comment

As usual your answer to this activity will depend entirely on your own situation but it should give you some ideas for how you could find some valuable work experience.

Whichever approach you take, you need to be realistic about the work experience options that are open to you. The next section will ask you to do just that.