Get Part-time Jobs and
Work Experience
Careers and Employment Support
www.dmu.ac.uk/careers
4
Student Services . . .
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Why Get Work Experience?
If you’ve got as far as picking up this guide, then you probably already know that
most graduate employers are now looking for work experience as well as
degrees!
In addition to broadening your life experience, it should enable you to try out
different jobs and organisations and (if you’re lucky!) earn some money in the
process. Work experience will also help you to provide employers with relevant
examples of the skills they are looking for and increase your chances of getting
a really good job when you graduate.
What are Your Options?
For many occupations, employers generally will be reluctant to consider you
unless you can show that you’ve got significant relevant experience. This means
experience of working in a similar role and/or within the particular sector.
Whether this is on a paid or voluntary basis is often unimportant; in fact it’s often
much easier to get relevant unpaid experience than it is to get paid as well!
However it’s important to recognise that any type of work experience will almost
certainly develop skills that are relevant and transferable to different types of
work. Check out the requirements for your chosen career by logging onto
www.prospects.ac.uk – click on ‘Jobs and Work’ then ‘Explore Types of Jobs’
for an A-Z of jobs.
Getting work experience could mean any of the following:
• A placement as part of your course – this could be anything from a few
weeks to a full year
• A gap year overseas
• A vacation placement (either paid or voluntary) at home or overseas
• Part-time work (either paid or voluntary), combined with your course
•
Time spent job-shadowing a professional – this may be as short as one day
Start by thinking about your main priorities for your work experience. Is it to:
•
earn some money?
•
gain relevant skills a