To enable us to run an excellent careers service George Abbot School relies heavily on the generous support of parents and employers. In the past, volunteers have participated in lunchtime and evening career talks, interview day and offering work experience placements.

Work Experience at George Abbot: A Guide for Employers

We are incredibly grateful for local employers (and those from further afield!) supporting our work experience initiative here at George Abbot.  Our Year 12 students benefit hugely from spending time with employers: not just from being inspired by experts in their desired field but also gaining employability skills to set them up for their future and making helpful contacts.  With many of the UK’s top employers running post-GCSE work experience schemes, we also firmly believe that there are a myriad of benefits for employers.  We have put together a short guide below to ensure you get the best out of the opportunity.

Benefits to employers:

  • Work experience is a relatively inexpensive way to discover new talent coming up through the system. It’s a great opportunity to get to know the young people who are keen to enter your industry and who might be available for part time employment during school/university holidays
  • Work experience students are very keen to have a meaningful work place experience and are often happy to take on tasks/projects that you might not have had the time to do yourself.
  • Supervising work experience students can provide a useful line management experience for some of your staff that may be looking for further opportunity within their roles. In turn this can engage staff and help them feel valued.
  • The student might be able to give you a fresh perspective on aspects of your business/workplace.
  • It allows you the opportunity to help shape the future of your industry – inspiring and influencing future leaders in your field.
  • It allows you to contribute to the local economy and community as well as enhancing the reputation of your organisation/industry within the community.

Creating a meaningful experience for the student:

  • Contact the student in advance to confirm start time, lunch arrangements, dress expectations and any other relevant details. Understand what they would like to get out of the experience.
  • Create a plan for the student. This could include a rotation between departments (under the supervision of different line managers).  Or it could include a project to be presented to the line manager on conclusion of the work experience.  Choose tasks that will be of benefit to the business as they will no doubt be the most rewarding tasks for the student as well and leave them with a sense of pride at their achievements.
  • Invite the student to sit in on meetings.
  • Allow the student a sense of independence balanced with regular catch up meetings to check on progress. Feel free to give them deadlines and a schedule to stick to – these all help to build employability skills!
  • Ask the student for feedback on the placement. The school will contact you directly for feedback on the student shortly after the placement – it might be useful to collate any feedback from colleagues if the student did a rotation around departments.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT IN SHAPING THE NEXT GENERATION OF THE WORKFORCE AND THE LEADERS OF THE FUTURE!

Annually, the careers department at George Abbot School run a work experience programme, an interview day and various careers events. We therefore welcome employers, employees and companies’ who would be happy to engage with these activities.

Equally, we are happy to promote to students any apprenticeship or work opportunities your company may offer.

If you would like to contact us, please do so via ceg@georgeabbot.surrey.sch.uk.

YEAR 10 INTERVIEW DAY

Around 35 local employers and parents come in to give each of our Year 10 students an interview as a potential employee would. All students are thoroughly prepared for this through their PSE lessons and apply for one of 20 fictional jobs. After each interview the students are given feedback on their paperwork and how they performed.

CAREERS TALKS

We are always keen to hear from potential speakers who would be happy to talk to our students about their career; how they got into it, how they spend their day and promotion prospects. Previous speakers have included: an anaesthetist, a hair-dresser, an apprentice aeronautical engineer, an accountant, a radiotherapist and many more.

YEAR 12 WORK EXPERIENCE

Here at George Abbot School Year 12 students undertake work experience concentrating on the career they are interested in pursuing. For many young people this is the most significant contact with the world of work that they have before entering employment. The benefits include:

  • Increased self-confidence, motivation and maturity
  • Increased understanding of the world of work, curriculum relevance and future career opportunities
  • Enhancement of the employability skills addressed during PSE lessons
  • An insight into ‘work ethic’
  • The placement can be included on future CVs, college and university applications

Do please get in touch if you feel able to support our work in support of preparing our students for the world of work in the 21stCentury.