Trying to enter the world of work with little to no relevant work experience can be very challenging for someone looking to begin their career.
In the UK, there is an expectation from employers for their potential candidates to have work experience under their belt – 80% of employers say that having work experience on your CV is essential.
Gaining the right experience is very valuable to have for anyone looking to explore job roles, but what are the benefits for a business offering work experience?
In this blog, we will explore the positive impact that offering work experience can have, not only on your organisation but your workforce and the individual completing the work experience.
The benefits to your organisation
Reputation boost
Businesses are always looking for ways in which they can better their reputation and promote their brand. Offering work experience can be a great way to boost how your business is viewed. Creating an effective work experience programme will be beneficial for the learner and will help spread the word about your fantastic programme to other businesses and potential work experience candidates – word of mouth can be an extremely powerful tool. TrueHR have offered internships over the summer as a work experience opportunity to 6th form students and can attest to the positive impact on the perception of the company as a result.
Younger generations play a vital role
Second to this, the younger generation has a whole new outlook and perspective on things. They see the world in a completely different way to how your current team do, meaning they likely have a different energy and perspective that they can bring to the team.
Often, they’ll teach you something new too! With areas such as social media changing so rapidly, chances are a younger student may know something that you don’t, which you can carry through even once they’ve completed the placement.
A platform for building up relationships
After offering and completing the placement, relationship foundations are already set and your business may become seen as the first point of contact when looking to properly start their career, which ultimately benefits you just as much as them when you’re hiring.
If somebody has only worked for your firm, then the chances of them having picked up habits from other businesses are limited.
Therefore, you can mould them to fit your team perfectly. The work experience placement is the perfect time to debate whether they are a good fit for the team, without having the obligation of already having them hired.
It can bring awareness to your industry
Plenty of industries don’t get the attention they deserve from younger people. Roles such as chemical engineering and public relations are never touched upon at school meaning the chances of having much awareness of other jobs is unlikely.
Offering placements in a wider variety of jobs will bring more awareness around what the job entails and gives the individual insight and ‘taster session’ into that specific realm of work instead of limiting their career options to more well-known jobs.
Morale boost
Having an extra team member can boost team morale. By giving someone with less responsibility, the responsibility of watching over and proving tasks for the person on work experience, it can allow the team to feel more valued and that they are being trusted, therefore boosting the existing team.
Opportunity to build up skills
The employers that are getting the opportunity to mentor will be able to develop their supervisory skills as they look after the person on placement. This gives the team members an opportunity to work and build on skills that they don’t get to work on every day, as well as proving to you as their leader that they can be fit for a managing or supervisory position within the business.
For additional support and information on the benefits of offering work experience as a business, seek an independent HR advisor.
