| Work Experience
Work experience is generally unpaid, it is volunteering your time for a short period of time, generally 2 to 4 weeks. Work experience can be a big step forward in obtaining employment in the career of your choice.
Larger companies may offer internships, which is similar to work experience however it is generally for a 12 month period.
It is common for employers to offer full time jobs to work experience staff.
Work Experience:
It does no harm to ask. Contact any arts business and politely ask about work experience opportunities. However you must understand that although you are offering your time for free a business may not have the time available to supervise and train you... taking on students for work experience can be a time consuming task for the business owner.
Some tips when approaching an arts business for Work Experience;
- Ask politely for the appropriate staff member's name whom you
should be contacting.
- In Person; Be polite, smile and be confident. Dress neatly.
- By Phone; Never call on Monday morning when people are busy
and never call on Friday afternoon when people are rushing to
leave for the weekend. Generally between 10am and 5pm on a Tueday
or Wednesday is the best time.
- After your initial contact follow up with a written letter addressed
to the person you spoke with. You should re-iterate your interest
in work experience, or thank the person for speaking with you
and ask them to keep your details on record.
- If you are given an opportunity accept it and see it through
for an agreed period. If you are offered two opportunities and
you have to refuse one, be sure to reply promptly and be honest.
- Be sure to ask for a written reference after you have completed
work experience.
- Keep a diary, record who you spoke to, and when, or who you emailed and why. Summarise conversation and/or record any action you;ve taken. In future follow-ups knowing when you were last in contact and with whom shows you have good organisation skills.
Research tells us that not all jobs are
advertised, quite often it's being in the right place at the right
time. Work Experience can often turn into regular employment. Good
Luck!
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