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SOME DEGREES INCORPORATE work experience as an integral part of the course.
If your career aspirations lie in a particularly competitive field you may wish to explore the work experience opportunities that might be available to you as part of your course choices.
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What kind of courses are most likely to include some work experience?
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You are most likely to have some kind of compulsory work experience component in 'job-related' courses.
In addition, sandwich courses include an extra year (or part of each year) in which you are placed with an employer.
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How can I find out which courses offer or require work experience?
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Check the entry profiles of courses that sound interesting to see what they say about work experience. If there is no information, call or e-mail the university or college to find out what’s on offer. Ask how work experience is arranged, and have a look at the programme specification for the course and any feedback from current or former students about their work experience.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) advises institutions on placement learning as part of its code of practice. This includes guidelines on good practice for universities and colleges and covers work experience that contributes towards final qualification.
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What alternatives are there to courses that offer work experience?
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An alternative would be to consider taking a two-year Foundation Degree. These courses are specifically designed by universities, colleges and employers together to include work-based learning.
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How can I find out about graduate employment rates for my institution or course?
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To find about graduate employment rates for your chosen institution or course,
ask the university or college and the department in question.
Some of the newspaper league tables do include employment rates among their criteria, so you could look at that too. Additional data will also appear on the Unistats website.
Graduate Prospects
produce a survey of graduate destinations - What
do graduates do? 2005 - which might also prove useful.
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Are there other ways of getting work experience or developing my skills?
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It's worth looking into whether or not a university or college offers the opportunity to be involved in an institution-wide skills development scheme – one which is not an integral component of a course although, of course, you can get work experience by taking term-time employment, as many students do.
Lots of universities and colleges offer work on campus and some have job agencies of their own. The vast majority of jobs taken by students to help costs are low grade, but all kinds of work experience can help to enhance your ‘employability’ – that set of skills good employers want.
This means confidence in your ability and understanding; communication – reading, writing, speaking and listening; analysis – numerical and literal; problem solving; decision making; teamwork; flexibility/adaptability; self awareness; willingness to learn. Without this full set of skills, your career possibilities may be limited.
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We welcome your comments and feedback on this article.
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