Why do Work Experience?

Work experience is a great opportunity to try out different jobs and different types of workplaces to get an idea of what you might like to do when you finish education. Most employers are eager to help young people get a foot on the ladder.

Have a look at https://www.careerpilot.org.uk/information/a-job-or-career/work-experience-what-s-in-it-for-me

Work experience is extremely useful when applying for further education, apprenticeships or employment. We are introducing the offer of Work Experience at Murray Park to Year 10 who will have the opportunity to go on 1 week of work experience in the spring term. The following information is about the best way forward in securing work experience.

 

How the process of work experience at Murray Park School will happen using Unifrog?

Please watch the following video to see how the process of work experience will happen for Murray Park students:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3GIyXM0yCQ

Where to start?

Start by thinking about what your interests are and what you think you might be good at. For example, if you love sport, you might want to see what it’s like to work in a gym or with a sports physiotherapist. If you know you want to be helping people you might want to try out a caring profession like healthcare or working with the elderly.

It’s a good idea to brainstorm lots of ideas first. You can do this with friends or family. Get everything down on paper to start.

If you’re really not sure how your interests match up with different jobs, visit the careers resource platform:

https://www.murraypark.derby.sch.uk/careers/resources-2/career-view/ and https://www.careerpilot.org.uk/job-sectors.

It has a vast number of job sectors and different jobs to explore.

 

Who’s around?

Once you know you’re interested in a particular type of work, you need to see who does this in your area. You can search Google or look in the yellow pages. There’s a directory of companies at:

It’s always worth checking to see if they have a website so you can learn more about the company before approaching them. The website might provide details of who to contact about work experience or provide the name of the HR Manager if they have one. That’s a good person to target.

Another website to check out for employers in Derby for work experience is https://d2n2.startprofile.com/page/explore-derby.  this website allows you to look at various job sectors and search for employers in the Derby area.

 

Also, talk to your classmates, family and friends and ask around. That’s called networking and it’s a really good way of finding out what’s out there. Someone may be able to introduce you to someone who can provide a placement.

Don’t assume that the big companies won’t have you. Many are willing to offer work placements if you send a polite, well-written letter.

Try contacting employers using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. and contacting employers through here.

 

Next steps

Once you’ve identified a few ideas, done your research and have a contact, draft a letter  or an email using this template:

WEX-email-Template-2025

This will explain who you are, what you’re interested in and why you’re asking for work experience. Tell them the dates you’re available. Hopefully they will respond, but if you don’t hear anything after two weeks, you can follow up with a phone call to check that your letter was received and see if they were able to offer you a placement.

Once you’ve confirmed your work experience placement with an employer please complete the Unifrog-Student-Information-Sheet (1)  and ensure that this information is recorded on your Unifrog account using the placement tool section.

Once you have completed the placement details on Unifrog, your form will be emailed across to the employer who will complete the next stage of the process.

Once the employer has completed their part of the work experience forms, Unifrog will email your parents/carers the next stage of the form to complete.  Once your parents/carers have completed their section, Unifrog will email the form to school for them to complete the final section.

Once all parties have completed the relevant sections you will then be sent an email to confirm your work experience placement is set to go.

 

Online Work Experience Opportunities

During your time at Murray Park School there is always a chance for you to find out ore about various careers and taking part in virtual work experience programmes by clicking and signing up to the following websites:

https://www.springpod.com/

https://pathwayctm.com/

 

Tips

Lots of employers tell us they really don’t like it when parents ring up and try to arrange placements for their children. While sometimes it’s difficult for students to use the phone during the working day, employers would so much prefer to hear from students themselves.

If you’re curious about a business but not sure you feel comfortable approaching them, why not go and have a look. You can always ask in person. If they can’t answer, ask for the name of the person they should write to. Be sure to look smart if you’re going to approach them directly.

Make sure you proof read your letter – or get someone else to. Showing that you’re conscientious about spelling and punctuation is a good indication that you’ll be conscientious when you’re on a placement.