My eldest son is looking for work experience to support his A Level learning, and to help him get a feel for what he might want to do in the future.

Work experience seemed much easier to come by when I was in the same position. In my third year of secondary school I spent a week with a reception class which helped me get interested in learning through play even if I decided against teaching as a career.

And in sixth form I went to the local newspaper. I was already doing bit of music journalism but opportunities in this field were limited in rural Derbyshire so the local newspaper seemed like a good option. It got me interested in telling the stories of local communities, helped me focus on what I wanted to do after A Levels, and I’d say was part of the foundation for my future career.

Aside from the actual job roles work experience helped me explore it also gave me a taste of the grown up world and workplace culture. A primary school and a newsroom both have elements of urgency and compassion but the traits can be displayed very differently. I started to get a feel for the environment where I might do my best work, given the internet was still very niche and ‘working from home’ was even more limited.

Now the situation has flipped entirely and because working from home and fully remote teams are the norm (a personal celebration and boon to me) my son’s enquiries for work experience are often bouncing back.

In our experience most organisations haven’t prioritised getting their work experience back up and running in the age of remote working. Understandable when they are still grappling with remote working for their current workforces but frustrating nevertheless.

How might we offer work experience?

While this is individually disappointing for my son and his peers it’s potentially a stored problem for the future of work.

It might not be a massive issue – recruitment, and retention are something I’ve only ever been on the candidate or manager side of – but in a few years a cohort will enter the workplace with little to no work experience under their belts.

If the future of (certainly digital and IT) work is to be remote or hybrid (I am very supportive of that being the case) then shouldn’t we work out how to offer experience of that?

A Level students aged 16-18 arguably need less direct supervision than those 16 and under. These young people schooled through the pandemic are no strangers to online learning, self-direction in a remote setting, and home-based working. They might even be able to give organisations a few tips on what works and what doesn’t. And they are likely to be intensively studying subjects related to the work they want to do.

Remote work experience is possible

That many organisations are still reluctant to offer work experience in a remote or hybrid way can be more frustrating when I know it is possible.

A couple of years ago my son did work experience, fully remotely, with website accessibility and digital agency Hex Productions. While originally planned to happen in their offices a heatwave meant the plan was quickly turned to how they could still provide him with work experience fully remotely.

They did a good job. He joined Teams calls, took tasks that he could work on independently, and caught up via Teams again later. This is not unlike the way I and others in my Teams work so as an experience it was pretty close to what he might experience in the workplace.

He learnt about himself and what he needs to be at his best in that environment, as well as focused in on areas of ‘digital’ he might want to work in. How great is that? What a brilliant alternative to his classroom learning!

Can I offer work experience?

I’m sure there are all kinds of things needed to be in place to really support work experience – insurances and health and safety etc.

And while it’s probably the worst timing I could pick to try and explore the potential for work experience with my current employer I will commit to seeing what I can find out any current policy and process.

In theory – if the timing and the process is there – I’d love to welcome more young people into my teams to gain experience and perhaps decide that user-centred design in the public sector is where their skills and experiences making a valuable difference in the future.

Do you offer work experience?

I’d love to help my son find places to apply to for work experience in the area he’s interested in. Might you be able to help?

My son is:

  • doing his A Levels (maths, physics, computer studies)
  • interested in working in cyber security, systems architecture or similar preferably in the public sector
  • open to exploring other back-end development and IT
  • based in Derbyshire but we can travel for the right opportunity
  • able to do remote work experience as well as in-person
  • one of the best people I know and I would highly recommend him even if he wasn’t my offspring

If you think you could help I’d love to hear from you. Get in touch through one of the ways on my contact page, or drop me a message on the social networks where I share this post. Thank you!