Turning working from home into work experience from home

Volunteers offer support with #virtual work experience from home 

It’s been almost two months since schools and colleges across the UK had to close their doors to many students, and some young people are coming to terms with missing out on major milestones. One important event students may miss is work experience.

While teachers might be concerned about the impact of the pandemic on curriculum learning, we also need to ensure that lockdown doesn’t deprive students of this fundamental part of their careers education.

We’ve created our own virtual work experience week to give students an insight into working at a charity like Future First. Students have the chance to ‘meet’ team members through our video series, and engage in tasks from sorting data to writing social media posts. These activities aim to help students build on the skills and experience they’d need for many careers, not just the charity sector.

Our volunteers have also stepped up and offered advice on what students can do during and after lockdown to gain experience for various sectors. A Deck Officer advises students to gain knowledge of first aid during lockdown, while a marketer recommends using free online design courses.

Beth Goddard, Director of Programmes at Future First, urged people to sign up to volunteer and provide support and advice for current students at their former state school by clicking the sign up link on www.futurefirst.org.uk.

She said, ‘We cannot stress enough how valuable work experience is as young people enter the world of work. It features as part of the Gatsby Benchmarks of good careers education. For students, it’s a nerve-wracking but worthwhile rite of passage and we want to ensure that the pandemic doesn’t mean they miss out.’

Future First is a national education charity with the vision that every state school and college should be supported by a thriving engaged community of former students who help schools do more for current students.    

Future First has worked in more than a thousand state schools and colleges across Britain enabling state schools and colleges to harness the talents of alumni to inspire and support current students as career and education role models, work experience providers, mentors and e-mentors, governors, donors and fundraisers and as volunteers more widely.