There’s no denial about the fact that the past few months have been hard for many. Most sectors were affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and entry-level jobs, internships, examination, and schooling have also had their great share of this massive impact.
Many students affirmed that the protocols of the lockdown on their education negatively affected them in the pandemic and this was the same major problem a number of young people affirmed they confronted. However, internships have now been made easy with employers getting easily matched with students by Speakers for Schools since 2010.
Before the world experienced the pandemic, most people were oblivious of the phenomenal virtual work experience. And, this “new normal” is gradually getting adjusted to as organisations and young people are thriving to adapt to this and, the insight and data given by Speakers for Schools help to see this clearly.
Transitioning from school to the work environment has been made easy for students as they can now enjoy getting the life lessons they need, getting provided with the needed first-hand skills, and procuring the first-hand perspective of their desired industry through school work experience reports.
Work Experience Placements are on the Rise
Several work experience placements have been affected in the past 10 years with the matching of students with employers by Speakers for Schools; an initiative established by Robert Peston, the political editor of ITV, in the year 2010.
Many people seeking placements, especially students and employers, met great difficulties because of the pandemic challenges but now, organisations are enjoying the natural progression of virtual work experience with the success of remote working. And, it’s actually applauding that throughout the pandemic, several organizations survived and even thrived more, despite being forced to operate remotely because they never thought they could go remote.
Virtual work experience has made it easy for workers, students, and young people to enjoy great job opportunities and even benefit from jobs that are not at their location. Many youngsters who have been longing to work with the prestigious music streaming service, Spotify, can now do so especially since Spotify increased its placements by 4,168% in London.
Why Virtual Work Experience is Important
- Insight purpose and avoidance of costly errors.
A lot of effort, money, and time can be wasted when one makes a wrong decision, especially when applying for a university, undertaking a lengthy apprenticeship, or applying for roles.
Before any big decision is made, students must have a better understanding, and this is where online work experience comes in. Serving as a means to gain full and better insight, students can have a feel of what it’s like working in a prospective job environment related to their field.
By undertaking school work experience, students can be exposed to factors like physical and mental strain, pressure, hours, and the likes and get better at improving their response to some of these stressors.
- Professional skills.
No employer is interested in hiring employees with no professional skills, knowledge, or a little bit of practical exposure. In fact, it could be somewhat shocking for some people when they go straight from school into the cold, working world.
We can always learn the professional skills we need to thrive as fast-rising professionals with work experience and young folks can be sure of what is expected of them when they oblige to virtual work experience.
The knowledge accrued from this experience can even furnish them with the confidence they need for their interview.
- Location isn’t a problem.
Gone are those days when you had to be able to commute to big cities or live close to them before you could be one of those engaged in one of the most sought after work experience placements.
Regardless of wherever you’re in the country or even the world, you can enjoy undertaking a placement at your convenience. It appears more like virtual experience has come to stay; looking at how it’s been on the rise since the pandemic struck, and considering the fact that people can now do what they have to do from the comfort of their home without having to commute to any other large city or move to go ‘work’ in London, the location penalisation has fostered more windows of opportunities to be open for rural students.
- Building a C.V.
Your employers will know that you’ve worked while in school if you took a part-time job then because, without relevant experience, it could be difficult to land a role after leaving education. Now, understand the word “relevant” there. When applying for jobs, candidates can be put ahead of others when they present themselves to their recruiters as passionate and eager individuals, and a great way to show this is via work experience.
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