News

Using Work Experience to Help Your Business!

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Many small businesses are reluctant to offer Work Experience placements to young people at school or college as they are either too busy to devote the time or have concerns about security.

However, there are many benefits to using this resource and if you are lucky in getting a good student, it can enhance your business!

I have been involved in offering Work Experience placements over many years and have been able to offer some free labour to my employers.  Since starting my own business, I have encouraged several of my clients to do the same with excellent results. 

As long as you have Employers Liability insurance and basic health and safety features in place, a small investment in time will bear fruit in as little as a week.  Recently, one of my clients overhauled their filing system with a Work Placement from a local school - and was delighted with the result.  Having not found the time with the pressures of day to day work, spending some time in explaining and supervising the student enabled them to complete the project in just a week.

The student subsequently wrote to thank them for the opportunity of working with them  and asked to be considered for any part-time work during the holidays!

It must be emphasised that this is not an opportunity to exploit free labour - the young person needs to have a good experience and other simple tasks such as data entry, telephone answering and cataloguing should be built in.  But with a little thought and a small investment in time, you could have the opportunity to influence the workforce of the future and your business may benefit as a result!

If you would like some advice on how to offer a Work Experience placement in your business, contact me for some tips and hints.