Siemens’ virtual work experience giving young people head start to STEM career

@Siemens has transformed its work experience programme for young people during the pandemic using a virtual delivery platform.

Like many other organisations, Siemens had to cancel and postpone in-person events in response to the coronavirus outbreak. 

It used the challenge to redesign and rethink its work experience strategy and programme offering, increasing diversity and inclusion, and overcoming the limitations and barriers of conventional work experience placements such as geography, mobility, financial, and inflexibility due to school or employer timings.

Partnering with Springpod, a careers platform which connects young people with employers and education providers, Siemens launched a bespoke and interactive, two-week programme, which included modules filled with activities, pre-recorded videos, quizzes and live webinars.

The first two-week virtual work experience programme, which ran from April 6 to 16, introduced 700 young people to the world of engineering and technology and showed how Siemens is paving the way towards a more sustainable future.

Now a second round of virtual work experience for 14 to 18-year-olds will be running from June 28 until July 11.

Brenda Yearsley, Education Development Manager, Siemens GB&I said:

“Work experience is an essential step for young people to test-drive and get insights into their future career and develop the skills necessary for the workplace.

“In more ordinary times, we would host students through in-person work experience to facilitate this demand. But the pandemic made us rethink how we could continue to offer this valuable experience to young people.

“It has been fantastic working with Springpod to deliver a programme which has been able to reach more young people, increase diversity and inclusion, inspire a career in STEM, and showcase Siemens as a career path.

“There has been huge demand for our programme from all corners of the UK. We are delighted to be able to offer more school and college students the opportunity to learn about what we do at Siemens.”

During the two-week programme participants will cover the following areas:

• Welcome to Siemens – an overview of the company, its core values and six lines of business;
• Engineering – an introduction to the field of engineering, the various disciplines, sustainability in engineering and the design process;
• Technology – an introduction to the world of technology, the different pathways within the sector and what roles in tech involve;
• Other Business Services – an introduction to the other business services at Siemens: sustainability, legal, marketing and finance;
• Early Careers at Siemens – an overview of apprenticeship, internship and graduate schemes at Siemens;
• Getting Career ready – an introduction to employability skills, how to build a CV and how to apply for a role at Siemens.

There are live webinars to get involved in, but these are recorded and can be watched on-demand.

The programme involves around 10 hours of activity which can be completed over two weeks, meaning students can fit it around their schedule, whether that be school or college. 

Once complete, students earn a certificate which can be used for a CV and Personal Statement.

Sam Hyams, Managing Director of Springpod said:

“This virtual work experience programme will be invaluable to young people considering a career in the world of engineering and technology, and I’m delighted that due to our successful partnership, Siemens have chosen to host the programme again with us later this month. 

“We’re proud to be supporting Siemens in their mission to strive towards building a more sustainable future and are fully committed to bridging the gap between education and employment in order to up-skill the next generation of diverse early talent.”