Benefits of work experience

Howells Patent Glazing believes work experience has an important role in a young person’s professional ambitions.

Tracey Jackson, marketing manager at Howells Patent Glazing, said: “Every year at Howells Patent Glazing, we offer four year 10 students from two different schools work experience in our factory complex and in our main office. We are hoping to extend this to four schools within the foreseeable future.

“As a family business, we also encourage our employees’ year 9 and over children to come and experience the workplace too. We give students experience in every aspect of our business, from working in our factory to getting involved in the sales and marketing of our products.

“This gives the students a great insight the work we do. As there is a shortage of workers in the manufacturing and construction industry, we are committed to doing everything we can to encourage school leavers into considering a career in construction and manufacturing.”

Howells Patent Glazing has given its top five reasons for considering work experience students.

Recruitment potential. Work experience can be a crucial way of targeting areas where there are well documented skills shortages within the UK. Companies are able to filter out who would be most appropriate for their business in the future, and are able to give young learners the opportunity to gain knowledge within a specific industry.

Howells Patent Glazing has offered permanent positions to several work experience students over the years.

Industry benefits. Alongside promoting a business, placing work experience students promotes the industry that a company sits within. There are several industries within the UK that are suffering from a skills shortage; attracting school leavers by offering work experience can only encourage a younger, more dynamic workforce.

Boosts staff morale. Giving employees the opportunity to mentor a work experience student can often instil a sense of pride in the mentor, and can make employees feel valued within their position. Allowing employees to peruse leadership opportunities can also enable employers to see who may be suitable for new roles within a business in the future.

Building community relationships. According to a survey by Guardian News and Media, 84% of people prefer to deal with companies that are seen to ‘give back’ to their community. Building, encouraging and developing local school pupils shows that a business is actively working to improve youth unemployment within their area, and promotes the fact that a business has its feet firmly placed within a community.

No cost to a business. A business very rarely has to pay for work experience students. Most companies who offer work experience placements will offer travel expenses or lunch tokens, but this is not always necessary. By offering the service of providing insight, knowledge, and a greater insight into the working world, businesses are providing invaluable experience to the younger generations.