Work Experience and Volunteering

Work Experience and Volunteering

Benefits

Apart from making a real difference to someone’s life, offering work experience and volunteering opportunities is beneficial to employers for a number of reasons:

recruitment opportunities - providing work experience placements and volunteering opportunities can be a way to access the local labour market and explore a talent pipeline that the employer would not have considered otherwise, ‘try before you buy’ in some instances
staff development - supervising and coaching young people and adults on work experience or volunteering placements offers an excellent opportunity to develop employees’ supervisory capabilities, particularly for those who may not normally have any line management responsibilities
a more engaged workforce - providing work experience and volunteering opportunties sends a positive message to the wider workforce about the values of the organisation, which can support efforts to build employee engagement
engagement in the local community - investors, customers, consumers and service users have increasingly strong opinions about the ethical role employers can and should play in society
work experience placements provide a valuable means of creating a positive image, in which the organisation and helps to address social issues related to worklessness in the community
contribution to economic development in the local area - by helping to tackle some of the issues around deprivation and youth unemployment.

Other commonly stated benefits include the chance to bring in new and imaginative ideas by listening to younger team members, and the chance to increase diversity by giving opportunities to young people and adults from a wide range of backgrounds, including non-traditional backgrounds in your sector.

Did you know?

Work experience happens where for a period of time a student, young person or adult temporarily works for an employer to get experience of the workplace or sector. We are using the term to include both long and short, formal and informal, paid and unpaid work experience opportunities.

Volunteering also has a lot to offer for anyone who loves to help others and give back to the community and is a fantastic way of connecting with potential employment and training opportunities, and for employers to find a source of new talent and potential new recruits.

Types of work experience include one day a week over a few months or full-time for a few weeks, the employer decides what works for their organisation, the different types of work experience include:

• school work experience

• course work placements

• work shadowing

• T-Level industry

• internships

• SEND supported internships

• sandwich year university courses

• insight events or open days

• workshops and classes

• volunteering.

How it works in the City

School work placement and engagement

The Heart of the South West Careers Hub is one of 33 Careers Hubs in the UK, established in collaboration with The Careers and Enterprise Company to help transform careers education for young people around the country. The HotSW Careers Hub is delivered by the Heart of the South West (HotSW) LEP, and operates in the HotSW area of Devon, Somerset, Plymouth and Torbay.

The HotSW Careers Hub currently comprises 60 local secondary schools, colleges and FE institutes working together with employers, universities and career professionals to deliver the Gatsby Benchmarks and ensuring that careers outcomes are improved for all young people.

Employers are key to the success of the HotSW Careers Hub and of young people, through working with businesses of all sizes to ensure the right future talent can be found by employers and offer every young person the opportunity to explore their options and succeed in the world of work.

There are many ways employers can help, please refer to the websites below to find out more:

• Heart of the South West Careers Hub

• Careers and Enterprise

Digital work experience - Digital work experience opportunities have become an established way for employers to engage with young people, showcase careers and introduce workplace skills. Virtual tours, online employer panels and hybrid engagement activities can complement traditional in-person experiences and help employers reach a wider audience.

Digital knowledge and skills add value to any business as a transferable skill, while helping employers build a stronger digital workforce for the future.

T-Level placement - for further detail please refer to the Further Education page.

SEND Supported Internships

Supported Internships are a work-based study programme for young people aged 16 to 24 with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), who have an education health and care (EHC) plan.

They are a great opportunity to create and support a diverse workforce and will allow you to shape a job role that suits both the needs of your business and the needs of the supported intern.

Supported interns are enrolled with and supported by a training provider, but spend most of their learning time – typically around 70% in the workplace. In Plymouth, there are several providers, and you can find out more about Supported Internships on our Youth Hub page here.

If you’re interested in getting involved in the further

development of SEND Supported Internships in the city, join the Plymouth SEND Employment Forum. Email SkillsLaunchpad@plymouth.gov.uk to find out more.

For more information on SEND Supported Internships nationally, visit HM Government website here.

University of Plymouth - Internships and Sandwich-year Placements

Internships and Sandwich-year Placements are both excellent ways to find talented individuals early. The University has short, bite sized internships known as ‘Micro Internships’ where a student supports employer business with a small project over a two-week period, and summer internships of up to three months. Sandwich-year placements with local businesses are always in high demand and result in a number of benefits to both students and employers.

For more information on UoP Employer Engagement please see here.

If you want to talk about work experience with other educational establishments in Plymouth contact:

• City College Plymouth

• SIVSEN/City College Plymouth and Plymouth Social Enterprise Network, for work placements in the Social Enterprises

• Plymouth Marjon University

• Arts University Plymouth

• The Princes Trust deliver a range of programmes that can be tailored to meet local need via City College Plymouth

General Jobcentre Plus advice and help for recruiters is available. They can help set up work trials to give employers the opportunity to try out potential recruits and offer advice about offering work experience and apprenticeships, including using the sector-based work academy programme, please click here.

Employers can contact the local team by emailing plymouth.eateam@dwp.gov.uk or submitting an enquiry through the online employer contact form

Volunteering Opportunities

Find out more about how to become a volunteering and search for the opportunities available locally for inspiration as to how you could get involved.

· Plymouth’s volunteering directory

· GoVolunteering - register as a volunteer and search for local volunteering opportunities

· Jobs and Careers Service - advice on volunteering

· On Course South West - details on Plymouth's Volunteering Passport

Engaging with the HM Armed Forces (military service leavers, veterans and their families)

There are a variety of ways for local employers to engage with military service leavers, veterans and their families. Here are some of the main employment and career support links:

· CTP - MOD CTP

· Forces Employment Charity - Forces Employment Charity

· Poppy Factory - Ex-Forces employment support in England and Wales - The Poppy Factory

· RBVE - Home - Royal British Veterans Enterprise (RBVE)

· Forces Families Jobs - Forces Families Jobs - Forces Families Jobs

· Imployable - imployable | Innovative Career Guidance

· Recruit for Spouses - RFS: Stronger Families. Stronger Workforce. Stronger Defence.