Schools Need to Rethink Work Experience: Two Weeks Isn’t Enough

What if one day a week could make a bigger difference than two weeks a year?

For many students, their first real experience of the workplace comes through a two-week work experience placement. It is a well-established part of education, and it certainly has value. But we need to ask an important question: “Is two weeks really enough to prepare a young person for the world of work?” I believe it isn’t.

Two weeks can give a student a glimpse of a career. But a glimpse isn’t the same as experience. If we genuinely want young people to understand employment, develop practical skills and make informed decisions about their futures, we should be looking at a different approach.

What if students spent one day a week with an employer?

Rather than concentrating all work experience into a single two-week block, imagine if a student could spend one day every week, or even one day every fortnight, with a local business. Over the course of a school year, that could provide dozens of days of genuine workplace exposure. The difference could be enormous, the student would have time to settle into the workplace, build relationships, understand expectations and gradually take on more responsibility. They wouldn’t simply be a visitor, they could become part of the team.

A two-week placement can disappear very quickly

The first few days of any placement are often spent getting to know the business.

• Where are things?
• Who does what?
• What are the health and safety procedures?
• What time do I start?
• Who do I report to?
• What am I allowed to do?

By the time the student becomes comfortable, the placement can be almost over. That means the employer and student may only have a very short window in which meaningful learning can take place. A regular placement changes that. The student comes back repeatedly and continues from where they left off and so they begin to understand the workplace rather than simply observe it.

Take the electrical industry as an example

Consider a young person interested in becoming an electrician. A two-week placement might allow them to see an electrician carrying out installations, testing equipment or fault finding. But electrical work is much more than that. There are regulations to understand, drawings to interpret, equipment to select, customers to deal with, problems to solve and paperwork to complete. There is also a huge emphasis on safety and responsibility. And today, the industry is changing rapidly. Electric vehicles, EV charging infrastructure, solar PV, battery storage, smart technology and energy management are creating new opportunities for young people entering the electrical sector. A student who spends regular time with an electrical or EV business could gradually see how all these different parts of the industry fit together. They could learn what the job is really like. And, importantly, they could discover whether it is something they actually want to pursue.

Work experience isn’t just about learning a trade

There is another reason longer-term workplace experience is so important. It teaches young people how to work.

• Turning up on time
• Being reliable
• Speaking to customers
• Working as part of a team
• Listening to instructions
• Taking responsibility
• Solving problem
• Accepting criticism
• Learning from mistakes
• Understanding that the quality of your work matters.

These are difficult skills to teach entirely in a classroom. They are developed through experience. And they are exactly the qualities that employers look for when taking on young people.

It could also help tackle the skills shortage

Many industries are struggling to attract the next generation of skilled workers. Electrical installation, construction, engineering, technology and other practical industries need young people to consider careers that don’t necessarily follow the traditional university route. Yet many students have limited exposure to these careers. A young person may never have met an electrician, engineer, technician or tradesperson. How can we expect them to choose a career they know very little about? Schools and businesses have an opportunity to change that.

Employers could become part of a student’s education

This shouldn’t be seen as the responsibility of schools alone. Businesses have an important role to play. Local employers understand what skills their industries need. They can show students what modern workplaces actually look like and help young people understand the opportunities available to them. For businesses, there is also a potential benefit. Today’s work experience student could become tomorrow’s apprentice. Tomorrow’s apprentice could become a skilled employee and eventually, they could become the person training the next generation. It is an investment in the future workforce.

Safety doesn’t have to be a barrier

Obviously, there are industries where students cannot simply be given responsibility for working with equipment. Electrical installation is a good example. Young people must be protected, supervised and kept within appropriate boundaries, but safety doesn’t mean they cannot learn.

• They can observe
• They can ask questions
• They can learn about tools and equipment
• They can understand how jobs are planned
• They can learn about health and safety
• They can develop basic workplace skills.

And, as they gain experience and maturity, the opportunities for meaningful involvement can increase. The key is structured, supervised experience.

Schools don’t have to do this alone

One of the biggest opportunities is for schools to develop relationships with businesses in their local communities. Instead of asking businesses once a year: “Can you take a student for two weeks?” Why not ask: “Would you be willing to work with us throughout the year to give a young person regular exposure to your industry?” That is a very different relationship. It turns work experience from an annual event into an ongoing partnership.

We should measure success differently

The success of work experience shouldn’t simply be measured by whether a student completed their two weeks. We should be asking:

• Did they gain confidence?
• Did they develop workplace skills?
• Did they discover a career they are interested in?
• Did they rule out a career that wasn’t right for them?
• Did they understand what employers expect?
• Did they develop a relationship with a local business?
• Could this eventually lead to an apprenticeship or employment?

Those are the outcomes that really matter.

Two weeks is a start — but it shouldn’t be the finish

I’m not suggesting we get rid of the traditional two-week placement, as it can be a valuable starting point. But we should be asking whether we can do more. Imagine a student spending one day a week with a local employer for an entire academic year. Imagine the confidence they could build, imagine the skills they could develop, imagine how much better they could understand the world of work, and imagine how much easier it would be for them to make an informed decision about their future.

Young people don’t need more information about careers. They need more opportunities to experience them. Schools educate young people for their future, businesses provide the environment in which many of them will eventually work. Perhaps it’s time we brought the two together much more closely.

Two weeks can open a door, but regular workplace experience could help a young person walk through it.

Jim Sweeney, Founder, OGEV