Making the most out of Work Experience

Work experience is a good chance to find out if you’ll enjoy a certain career, to gain some valuable skills and experience, and to give you practice in applying for jobs. Use the provided work experience diary to learn about the industry you’re working in and make the most of your placement in it.

To learn all that you can about working while on work experience, use the work experience diary to help you to approach your employer/supervisor and find out about:

The company you’re working for – what kind of company are they and what is their core business.

What is needed to get a job in the particular industry – do you need to pass Year 10, Year 12, or have a TAFE certificate or university degree?

What kind of training is required on the job – does the company provide training for staff when they start, or do they allow staff to get an education and work at the same time?

The rates of pay employees of the company receive and hours they work – what is the fulltime rate for an entry level position, and how many hours per week do they work?

What kind of holiday pay and award rates employees are entitled to – how much holiday, personal, family and sick leave do they receive? How much superannuation do they receive?

The health and safety measures in place at your workplace – are there any noticeable health and safety procedures in operation? Does the company have a workplace safety committee or representative on staff?

The union members at the workplace – what union do they belong to, and is there a union representative within the company?

Getting your first job – what is required to be employed by the company in an entry level position?

*Use the work experience diary to help you answer all these questions (and more.) The more you can learn and take away from work experience, the further you’ll be in deciding which direction you’re future will take. *