Features: Easter experience

Students are constantly being told to get experience and this doesn’t have to be directly related to your degree. From bar work to volunteering it just has to help build those employability skills. Prospects looks at why the Easter break is a good time to get some experience.

When thinking of work experience or volunteering you probably think of two weeks filing or clearing up rubbish. The majority of the time this isn’t the case and in fact what you’re already doing can be just as worthwhile as a formal placement. It’s about deciding what skills you have, what skills you want to gain and how you can fill this gap.

Where to look

To organise a formal placement to fill your Easter holiday you could search for schemes through the Graduate job search or contact companies directly and see if they offer work experience.

You might think that a potential employer wouldn’t be interested in the fact that you can pull a good pint and stack shelves but anything that shows your skills and makes you stand out is key. In most part-time jobs it is likely that you will be improving on those sought after employability skills such as good communication, motivation and adaptability.

Like work experience, volunteering can be set up through formal organisations which run projects that need a number of volunteers to help them run successfully. While projects where you go abroad and help build a school will probably take a little more planning and are unlikely to happen in the two week break you have at Easter it is still possible to make a worthwhile contribution that looks great on your CV.

Prospects.ac.uk has a ‘Volunteers wanted’ section where organisations list the opportunities they have available and the area of the country these can be found in. Take a look and see if there is something that you like the look of and you could improve your employment prospects as well as giving something back to the community.

There is also the option of sorting out your own volunteering by contacting organisations and seeing if they require your services. Detail your skills, what you think you could bring to their organisation and when you would be available to help them.

Making it worthwhile

There’s no point in spending your two week Easter holiday doing something that you dislike and are gaining nothing from just because you can put it down on your CV. You have a short space of time and so it is important to know what you want to get from the experience.

Before you start, think about what you want to get out of the volunteering or work experience whether this is to improve your people skills or try out a new career path and note down some objectives. These will not only benefit you but the organisation will be able to give you more suitable jobs while you are with them in order to make sure you are both happy.

This is also an excellent opportunity to network especially if your degree is related to the placement. However, even if it isn’t you never know who the people you are working with might be friends with, so never rule anyone out. Make a good impression and ask worthwhile questions.

For more information pick up a copy of Prospects Work Experience magazine or visit the Work experience page.