Help with work experience

LoMa

I need help finding two more work experience places asap, does anyone have any suggestions?

RandomIrl

wow, so early, try local creches, shops, offices and since your so early apply to hospitals...

elaine93

Is anyone else finding placements really hard to get? I've been writing since February. I've sent out letters to every hospital in dublin and I've only got one,and even that one is a bit up in the air.

Ambrosia

Wow, you guys are sorting it already!? I dont even know when mine is yet, not that there is many choices, being that I live in the shtixs :pac:

I am interested in Medicine/Pharmacy so would like to do something along those lines anyway.

Nicole.

Hey, maybe apply to do work experience in a volunteer organisation to help people. Some people from my school did that, or a local radio station, a super market, a book shop, a charity shop, a bakery, a restaurant, your old primary school, a voluteer fire person, a member of a hotel staff, the cinema, the cirus, the zoo, the vets? Maybe someone you know could give you work experience?

Whatever you choose try and find something you like and act friendly to your potential employer. Don't be discouraged if they don't get back to you right away, alot of places are very busy.

My first day looking for work experience I got no solid offers,it was very discouraging. However, I did hand in a letter with my contact details if they did want to take me on for the week though. Within a few weeks three out of the four places I tried contacted me back asking if I still wanted to work there. So the message is; bring a cover letter, that way people are more likely to get back to you.

Good luck:pac:

Namlub

elaine93 wrote: »

Is anyone else finding placements really hard to get? I've been writing since February. I've sent out letters to every hospital in dublin and I've only got one,and even that one is a bit up in the air.

Whaaaaaaat??!

GirlsAloud

I really wanna do mine in like HMV or Gamestop or New Look;; River Island..
I don't care if they're boring or don't pay TBH... But the closest HMV is 100 miles away in Dublin.. I could get a train?? =/ I didn't even know we had to do work experience our teachers haven't said anything. But I don't wanna be left with a crappy place. Do your schools let you travel far?? xxxxx

ride-the-spiral

I would not recommend doing it in HMV. You end up having nothing to do the majority of the time and are looking through shelves to put stuff in their right place, the staff didn't talk to you unless they had to and you weren't taught anything so couldn't help customers.

I did my second work experience in Hughes and Hughes and it was much more enjoyable, nice staff and always something to do.

GirlsAloud

ride-the-spiral wrote: »

I would not recommend doing it in HMV. You end up having nothing to do the majority of the time and are looking through shelves to put stuff in their right place, the staff didn't talk to you unless they had to and you weren't taught anything so couldn't help customers.

I did my second work experience in Hughes and Hughes and it was much more enjoyable, nice staff and always something to do.

Thing is though,, I prefer to be on my own haha.. I don't like talking to people.. i'm not very social ^____^;

syklops

LoMa wrote: »

I need help finding two more work experience places asap, does anyone have any suggestions?

What do you want to do when you leave school? That is a good indicator of what you should try to look for for work experience. I did 2 weeks i"blanket carpeting"n Shannon Aerospace and a week in the Irish Times. Both in their IT departments. I now work in IT, and get paid quite well for it I might add.

What are you passionate about, what do you like to do? Answer that, and go to organisations that do it.

Ring up a few places that do what you WANT to do, and tell them passionately why you want to work there for a week, and hopefully your passion will be felt by the person whose decision it is, and you will get it.

I know a guy who desperately wanted to work for NASA. He rang up the HR department in NASA and told them he wanted work experience, and they said no. So he rang up the press secretary and told her he wanted to do work experince, and she thought "Finally I have something to report that people might be interested in" and said "Fine!"

Instead of carpet bombing your entire town with pamphlets asking for work experience.

Considering the recession I am surprised employers are not recruiting work experience workers directly from the school. I mean free labour = free money!

overmantle

No point in doing something for the sake of it. Try to get experience in a job that you actually think you would like and be capable of getting the points (if required) to do it.

overmantle

All I am saying is there isn't much point spending the week in a hospital with a view to doing medicine or in your local primary school with a view to doing teaching, if you have no intention of doing either.

AddictedToYou

I left mine very late, and didn't really know what I wanted to do, but enjoyed my two weeks so much. I'd advise going for something that you can actually do stuff while there as opposed to somewhere you'll be bored. I did a week with a solicitor and a week in a surf shop (very last minute!). Got to do loads in the shop simply because I could. Solicitor was much the same, but I probably had an advantage as I knew the solicitors..got to go to court, read files, took care of reception, went to bank, going to stationery shop, district court, ringing clients etc.

Try schools, vets, pharmacies, colleges/universities, shops, restaurants, hotels, solicitors, accountants, newspapers, magazines, computer labs, labs like Boston Scientific, creches, libraries, hospitals, airports...try everything. Post out CVs and cover letters, or hand deliver them. If you don't get a response within a fortnight or so, give them a call. Because I left it so late, I just took out the phone book and rang up loads of places asking did they take students for WE and if they were free. Then the surf shop said yes and I sent a letter. Phoning can be as good as a letter.

Good luck, and ye're right to be sorting it early!

Johnnyjump

Don't try something just for the sake of it.

CianDon

I've got 2 weeks in my local radio station

Ruanej90

GirlsAloud wrote: »

I really wanna do mine in like HMV or Gamestop or New Look;; River Island..
I don't care if they're boring or don't pay TBH... But the closest HMV is 100 miles away in Dublin.. I could get a train?? =/ I didn't even know we had to do work experience our teachers haven't said anything. But I don't wanna be left with a crappy place. Do your schools let you travel far?? xxxxx

Same for gamestop simply because the guy in there rocks (Corbett court Galway) but i might also try supervalu their taking loads of us and i was thinking of the Gardai but i'm not sure if they'll take anybody if anyone knows about that could you tell me? the guards would be so cool for a week.lol
And if i can't find anywhere i can very easily write up the journal for L.C.V.P for work experience seeing as all i did all summer was work my a$$ off
;)

Namlub

Has anyone done it in the airport, like duty free or somewhere like that? Because I was thinking of it but then my friend said they didn't take people for work experience because of security? Annoying how little information there is about suitable places out there...