Yes, you know you have to complete it…but why? It's so important to help you decide on your future career options, but will also show future employers you've gained employability skills. You may be offered a permanent job as a result!
- It’s a key part of your study programme
- You get to “try before you buy” the industry you have an interest in
- You get that valuable work experience and skills that employers are looking for
- You may even get offered a job from it!
As Marketing Campaigns Manager at the College I’ve interviewed a lot of people in the past as part of my role, and quite a lot of people will apply for the same job with similar qualifications. So how do I shortlist candidates for interview?
Well the main things I’ll be looking for are:
- Do they have the skills and qualifications I’m looking for?
- Is their application full of lazy spelling mistakes, or do they clearly have attention to detail and actually put effort into their application? (Effort into application = effort at work!)
- Have they completed relevant work experience in the past?
And that’s before I’ve even met the person!
So if we take a role that is predominately events and marketing, and I have two identical candidates that have applied for the post:
Candidate 1: Has the right qualifications, has put effort into their application and then has clearly sat at home for a year doing nothing
Candidate 2: Has the right qualifications, has put effort into their application and has also volunteered for a local charity’s marketing team, worked as event staff at local events such as Under Siege in Rochester and has proactively sought training in design software.
Well which candidate would you choose?
I know it can be difficult to get work experience sometimes, but drop by the work experience team here at the College, get volunteering or take a part-time job – honestly it all counts in the long run.
Putting “watching TV, sitting at home or playing video games” on your CV really won’t impress employers I’m afraid!
Need help with your work experience?
Contact the work experience team at the College today (
