Work experience
 

i think this is really pathetic they've send my year on work experience at school and while we are doing it we have to go into school for an exam for about an hour then go i think they could of changed it and for working for two weeks and experiencing it we should also experience the money too i think that sounds fair :p

Re: Work experience
 

We haven't quite got the correct attitude for this, have we...

Like all things in life - learn to live with it.

Alternatively, you could go with the flow and enjoy it!

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no dont get me wrong i love workin with little kids but to say we may do more work then some of the staff we should experience the money to see what its going to be like for us when were older

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yoooh 3ft you get to much now,if you broke down what you get in a week,yer grandparents wouldnt have earned that in a month!

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Be careful what you say.! It could be mistaken for what others have said. Money? What was that? As an apprentice motor mechanic I was on a good wage of ( wait for it ) £7 a week.

O the good old days :(

Re: Work experience
 

Welcome to the wonderful world of gainful employment! A place where, unlike school, you don't get anything for free!

When I left school at 15 and began my working life as an Apprentice Baker, £7.00 per week was the wage I received. The reason being that it was all I was worth at the time because I knew nothing. When I think of the cost of the amount of stuff I ruined because of my ignorance it makes me wonder that I was kept on. The training I was given and the experience I gained while working was worth far more than the wage I was paid and has eventually enabled me to set up my own business.

Think of the staff at Buckingham Palace. They are paid very low wages, and the Palace has a fairly high turnover of staff because, the Queen, being canny, realises that with two years of training at the Palace on their CV staff can go anywhere and then reap the considerable rewards of that two years investment of their time. If you were going to employ a butler, who would you choose; someone who learned the job at their local college or someone who trained at Buckingham Palace?

In short, the people who are taking you on are doing you a favour! It would seem a little churlish to complain.

Watch Listen and LEARN! A glowing recommendation from the company taking you on will stand you in far greater stead than a few quid which will soon be frittered away.

Ohh, and by the way, good luck! I hope you enjoy the experience.

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Well Mel3ft my 7 yr old had a lad doing work experience in his class last week & for once he was quick to get ready for school as he didn't want to miss a moment of him being there. This lad made a real impression on my little 'un so if you do the same for the kids in your school is that not all the payment you need? Money is soon gone but lasting impressions never leave us. Enjoy it.

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I hope you enjoy your work experience Mel. I never did work experience at school, but I wish I had. The people who had done work experience in my year appeared to just walk into jobs when they left. I had dozens of interviews before finding a job and as a school leaver the pay was pathetic, but it does improve as you become more experienced. If you are going to work with children the money will never be brilliant anyway, but it will be more than you get now.

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I agree with most of teh other sentiments on here. Work experience is exactly that , a taster of what things are liek in the big bad world. Unfortunately that also means that occasionally things aren't fair. There are many times in my life where I have been paid less that people I worked for yet I did the majority of the work and tended to have far more knowledge of the job. Stick with it and your character will bring you to the top. You only need to be noticed once by a good manager and your career will blossom. Its up to you to make sure that one person doesn't see a whining lazy sod who thinks that life is against them. PMA, its the way forward.

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Work experience is part of your education. It isn't like going out and getting a part time job (for which you would be paid). You won't be doing the employer a favour by being there as unpaid labour believe me. I've been on the other end of it and the weeks when we've had work experience people in have been far harder work for the rest of us because instead of just being able to get on with our own jobs we've had to spend time explaining to someone else what to do and then making sure they did it right.

You are lucky that you can have this hands on experience for free never mind get paid for it. In my experience it costs an employer to accept people for work experience so be grateful for the opportunity and consider it as part of your education.

As for going into school for the exam - why not?

Re: Work experience
 

I left School in 1962 and went to work in an accounts office.......we worked 8:30 until 6pm with an hour for lunch.......I worked all day Saturday and got a half day off on a Wednesday......for this I was paid £4:50.

Enjoy your work experience, but remember whoever is giving you that work experience has to have someone to supervise you......and that may be extra to what they normally have to do. So it isn't all roses for the employer.

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left school 1963 my first wage paid £2-15-0 a week apprentice butcher,didn't have work experience in them days, also we had to work 2hrs overtime on fridays,for this we got fish@chips-no bloody money lol,i think we may have benifitted from work experiance,it coul;d possibly have given us an insight into real life! look a bit further than the money mel3ft life is all about learning,take it and get the best from it.good luck.

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Well, i only left school in 2000 and i did work experience at St. Mary Magdalen's. Not once did I think about money, I just wanted to make an impression so that all the kiddies looked up to me. I've wanted to be a secondary school teacher since I was a little girl and the buzz you get out of the children looking up to you is better than any wage. I'm studying for my BA Honours degree now and that doesn't pay I can tell you. At the end of the day I get the experience I need to go on to do what I want later on in life and get PAID for it. As of now, I struggle along.

After being in your position, all I can say is grow up, learn to live with it and most of all, ENJOY IT otherwise it will be the slowest two weeks of your life.

If I had the time then I would help out in a school for free now or anytime, its wonderful

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when i did my work experience my boss gave me £50 a week cash in hand although i did work 9am - 4pm and he let me work saturday to make some extra cash

i think kids should be paid somthing if they work even if it is work experience to teach them the experience of getting paid for a honest days graft

if you dont pay somone for working all they will see it as is that they are been taken for mug

Re: Work experience
 

I don't really agree with that. In the normal course of events Mel would be in school and therefore would not be able to earn any money......it is part of her education.
If Mel wants to earn some pocket money.......then get a part time job, or do a paper round.....and at the end of the day her work experience will make her more attractive to prospective employers

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It actually costs the employer to be able to take on people for work experience. I helped to organise work experience for the maternity unit and believe me, it is not easy. The Education Authority people came to do an inspection. I was quizzed for about an hour and a half on insurance, COSHH Regs, Fire Regs and other health and safety issues. I had to provide a list of jobs which work experience students can and cannot do and also show that we have staff willing and qualified to supervise them. After filling in loads of bumf and having to fill in paperwork for the school/college about the student (which they know nothing about), I have to admit that the whole thing was a total fag. However, now that the system is up and running, most of our work experience candidates seem to enjoy it and their placements run smoothly, but it must be borne in mind that while supervising the work experience candidates, the employee is having to work at a slower pace, therefore gets less work done. You must also bear in mind that there will be some tasks during work experience which you will be dying to have a crack at and be told no....... This is because you are not insured within the company for any resulting injury pertaining to that task.:D

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Are you seriously telling us that hordes of snotty-nosed juveniles are let loose within the clinical confines of Queens Park Hospital? What are they doing there? They can't be making the tea because you say you never have any time for any. Are they assisting in caesarians? Do they encompass the male of the species?


No wonder the NHS is in crisis when medicines' finest are having to prop up some half-baked education policy What is going to happen when MRSA breaks out into the schools, which it surely will as a result of this mad-cap scheme?

And please don't tell us they let the little buggars mess around in A & E..............

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Hehehe, we do have work experience on some of our wards and we have had male candidates too. They do not get involved in any kind of clinical procedure. They learn how the wards are run, transport samples to the lab, learn about infection control and handwashing, wash and make beds, learn how to dispose correctly of waste and laundry, help patients feed their babies (on maternity) and generally do the jobs that an auxillary would do under supervision of an experienced or NVQ qualified auxillary. They are not allowed to go to theatre to see operations, observe births, or participate in any other procedure where the privacy and dignity of the patient would be at risk, ie bedbathing or helping a patient to get undressed. :)

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I must admit I am having difficulty in envisiging a 15 year-old youth assisting in new-born baby feeding....does he advise on suckling techniques or what?

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Bottlefeeding only. Like I said, they are under the supervision of an experienced auxillary at all times. They are not allowed to so much as pick up a baby to pass to the mother without supervision. The majority of our candidates come from college and are actually 17. They are usually doing courses which will eventually take them into nursing or some other caring environment. We have only had a couple from schools 15/16 years old. These pupils had already expressed interest in midwifery training. With staff shortages in the UK we have to try to encourage people into nursing and midwifery. I wish I'd had this opportunity as a teenager. I might have chosen another path in life had I seen the chaos that reigns within the health service...:D

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I have to admit that my son was lucky enough to do his work experience at the Royal Free, at 16, on a course usually reserved for 18 year olds. He did a stint in eye theatre, assisted in A&E (he held a leg for the Orthpaedic Registrar!) and had a great time. He loved every minute of it.

Having been a school governor for years, I can tell you that it is difficult enough to get employers to take people on for work experience. If they had to pay them, forget it. There are also a great many jobs where you aren't qualified to do much, but at least you get a taster of what the work is like.

My daughter did her work experience in Battersea Park Zoo - said it was just like being at home!

Re: Work experience
 

That illustrates the point that they are not an asset but that the employer is inconvenienced by their presence and the normal working day tends to take a lot longer and is more complicated by their presence. It benefits the pupil a lot more than it benefits the employers. It's surprising they don't have to pay for the privilege. ;)

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I see nothing wrong with college/school work experience within the NHS. I don't know how much the general wards let them get involved with, but due to the intimate nature of maternity services they actually have very little patient care duties. Many of our experienced nurses started very young as cadets... These girls and boys today probably do a darned sight less in the way of patient care than the cadets did.

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As an employer I have to sat that I have had godd,bad indifferent and very bad work experience people.It's a real trial for the permanent staff in some cases.But when you do get one who is willing to pull their weight and doesn't turn up covered in love bites it's a real bonus!

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Although we did not have work experience students on our Ward(Gynaecology) we did have students doing BTEC in Health Studies........and yes they did mean extra work for the staff on the ward......and what they could be involved in was very restricted........some of the BTEC students showed interest and others just came to pass the time.
I had to fill out assessments on each of them, comment on their willingness and interest shown, I had to meet with their tutor and confirm that the Ward had the appropriate Health and Safety policies, COSHH etc.......organise health interviews with Occupational health.......so there was a lot of work involved in making sure that we provided a valid experience.

Re: Work experience
 

Many, many moons ago when i did my work experience we got paid £25 a week, 2 weeks in work, 2 in college and 1 weeks free holiday in Llandudno.

Them was the days !!! lol.