Offering work experience to a young person today can help them develop the skills and knowledge they need to be able to gain employment tomorrow.

The Industry Placements team at Coventry College is looking to work with employers of all sizes who are willing to spend some time supporting a young person and help them gain valuable skills within all aspects of their industry.

In these challenging times, on site, “hands-on”, practical work experience may not be possible, but other alternatives could include:

• Giving an “Insight talk” to showcase a typical day in the workplace and answer questions around job roles
• Work shadowing or mentoring a young person individually over a two week period
• Offering virtual work experience, setting and working through remote tasks – for example, generating ideas for a set of menus for a catering company or ideas to build social media presence to help with marketing and brand awareness

Activities such as these can offer several benefits to your company:

Business progression

Not only will you have early sight of new talent coming into your industry, who could be the perfect match for junior positions or apprentice roles going forward, you’ll also have the opportunity to help guide the future career choices of young people in the area.

Enhance your business profile

Supporting young people in this way can help to fulfil your corporate social responsibility and demonstrates your commitment to the local community, the next generation and the future of your industry.

Staff development

By getting involved in and facilitating these activities, your staff will have the opportunity to develop their own skill sets – building on their supervisory, mentoring and coaching skills.

Engaging with new ideas

Not only could doing things differently – in terms of working remotely with a learner – open up new ways of working in other areas of the organisation, the young people themselves may also provide a valuable, new perspective that changes the way you think about doing business.

If you are interested in supporting our young people or would like to discuss this further, please contact the Industry Placements Team by emailing [email protected] or calling 07770 352990.