Work-ExperienceHow valuable are these and how can you optimize on them?

It is extremely common for Work Experience to come up at school and everyone groan – “just one more thing to think about and organise”. Often it is left to the last minute and a desperate, eleventh hour favour dragged from someone who really doesn’t want to do it or whose workplace is not properly set-up to support it.

This is a shame as all these working experiences can really provide the following:

o A chance to test a job or environment you think you might like to work in
o An opportunity to impress a potential future boss
o A valid contact reference for your CV
o Real work experience and skills to put on your CV and talk about in an interview
o An opportunity to eliminate a role or environment that you learn you definitely don’t want to work in
o An insight into the world of work, how to conduct yourself and business etiquette

When an employer is faced with two equal candidates for a role, whose main differentiator is that one has experienced the work environment, this could make all the difference. The fact that they know the experienced candidate will have a basic understanding of how to behave in a work environment -and what is expected of them – will hold a lot of weight.

Whatever you do for your work experience, holiday or part-time work – think carefully about the activities you carry out; the skills you apply and how these could transfer to other jobs; what you learn from the job; what difference you may have made by being there and what extra you can now offer to any future employer.

For further information, free tip & tricks on job hunting, CVs, interview techniques and a lot more – please take a look at The Recruitment Queen Website – www.therecruitmentqueen.co.uk