One of the regular worries my clients and parents have is the challenge of getting work experience. Arguably work experience has never been an easy thing to get, especially for those who don’t have the network of connections. But now with the restrictions associated with the pandemic, gaining suitable work experience can be an even greater challenge.
The good news is that there are growing opportunities for virtual work experience. Obviously virtual experience is not so great for those with lots of energy who really struggle with sitting quietly in front of a computer for long stretches of time. Neither is it so useful for careers that need to be experienced directly. Nevertheless, I hope the following list proves useful to some at least.
The list
The Forage provides a comprehensive range of free virtual experience in diverse fields including branding, law, tech and with many household names such as General Electric, Accenture and Linklaters. They also offer many other supporting resources for students starting out in their careers. This website really is worth checking out.
Future learn host virtual work experience produced by the University of Nottingham including within the vet profession. You can enrol for free and have access for four weeks. The actual course experience time is about six hours.
Many of us probably think we have a good idea of what being a dentist is like but this is a fascinating insider view providing some less obvious insights.
I’ve written before about the wealth of opportunities within data science and data analytics. The following virtual experience is related to supercomputers, exceptionally powerful calculating machines, that can be used to support our fight against cancer, identifying specific materials for specific needs and knowledge of climate change among other things. Instinctively, many might not see themselves in this sphere but I would encourage you to give it a go. You just never know!
British Airways have put together the following virtual experience of their company with the option of ‘chatting’ to a mentor.
Not exactly work experience but close enough, Eco Hair and Beauty have developed a short course to introduce you to eco-friendly and sustainable hair techniques and products. The experience takes up to one hour to complete.
Springpod is a careers platform specifically designed for young people and includes a range of virtual work experience formats.
Halliday Fraser Munro have put a lot of thought into their virtual work experience around design architecture.
The next virtual work experience week with the food and grocery industry is in November 2021. It will cover a wide range of opportunities and enable you to complete a project. It is aimed at under 25s who are not in work although anyone can join.
Alison offer these practical introductions to working in the electrical, plumbing, masonry and carpentry industries.
Finally Virtual Work Experience Services offer videos and a work experience task in several areas including beauty, psychology, publishing, entrepreneurship, and cybersecurity. Some are more useful and practical than others
In conclusion, there are plenty of opportunities for getting a taster of different jobs and industries and the beauty of these virtual programmes is that you can be free to try lots of different things. You’re not limited to just one week of experience during the summer holidays. So do have a go at as many as you can and see where it takes you. Good luck!
Photo by Jamie Street, Unsplash
