Nowadays, doing work experience is pretty much essential if you want to get a job. Most young people will do a spot of work experience at some point; although far fewer will end up doing paid work experience. Let’s face it, there’s a lot of unpaid work experience out there.
When we talk about work experience, we are referring to a week or two spent gaining experience at a company, institute or organisation. For longer periods, or more structured work experience programmes, check out our internships section and unpaid internships article.