About Work Experience
Work experience is a great way of developing and proving your potential to future employers. You can develop skills, improve your confidence and try out different career options. It should also be fun and interesting. Employers often cite work experience as one of the key things they look for in their graduate recruits.
There are different ways of getting work experience:
- Part-time jobs - Paid or unpaid
work whilst you study
- Industrial placements - Specific
periods of work experience, often arranged as
part of your course
- Vacation work - From working
abroad to casual jobs in the UK to internship
placements with big companies
- Voluntary work - Gain valuable experience while contributing to your community
- Projects - Often done as part of your course, you can also arrange your own projects etc.
Disability Friendly Employers
Some companies actively encourage applications from disabled students. Companies signed up to the Two Tick scheme guarantee disabled students an interview if they meet the job criteria. Employers display the 2 ticks logo/disability symbol on their vacancy information. The scheme is run by the Job Centres. Contact your Disability Employment Adviser through your local job centre for a list of companies signed up to the Two Ticks scheme..
www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/cms.asp?Page=/Home/Customers/HelpForDisabledPeople/DisabilitySymbol
The Employers Forum on Disability also provides a list of companies working to improve the work prospects for disabled people.
www.employers-forum.co.uk
Work Experience Schemes for Disabled Students
Many schemes are specifically designed to help disabled students find work experience
EmployAbility
www.employ-ability.org.uk
Work with disabled students and graduates to direct them towards internships, graduate programmes and other roles. Advise and support students throughout the recruitment process advising on: disclosure, successful applications, interview skills etc.
Civil Service Summer Placement Scheme
www.diversity.faststream.gov.uk/index.asp?txtNavID=133
6 – 8 week placements in the civil service
Bar Council
www.barcouncil.org.uk
Offers a ‘matching’ process to link students and graduates with barristers with a similar disability.
Shaw Trust
www.shaw-trust.org.uk
Offers vocational training, work tasters and work preparation for disabled people.
Employment Opportunities
www.opportunities.org.uk
Matching scheme that provides additional help and support with finding a range of vacancies.
Blind in Business
www.blindinbusiness.org.uk
Helps visually impaired students and graduates to identify and achieve their ambitions and helps them into careers. It now runs an Employment Service for visually impaired graduates seeking their first job after university.
Other general sources of vacancies for disabled people (some of which may be suitable for work experience) are:
Disability Now
www.disabilitynow.org.uk
Newspaper covering disability issues, including some job vacancies.
Jobability
www.jobability.com
Website of job vacancies for disabled people.
Remploy
www.remploy.co.uk
Tel: 0845 8452211
Textphone: 0845 6009228
Fax: 0800 1367657
Remploy offers a work experience programme relevant to students and graduates with disabilities. Their Interwork programme also offers individual support for job-hunters.
Four All
www.channel4.com/fourall
Channel Four website aiming to get more disabled people in TV.
Ready, Willing, Able (RWA)
www.readywillingable.net
Unique online recruitment bulletin for disabled people.
Youreable.com
www.youreable.com/TwoShare/getPage/08Work/Site/Introduction
General website for disabled people with some jobs listings.
The Arberry Profile
www.arberrypink.co.uk
Publication specifically for disabled graduates, published in the autumn
Finding Work Experience - General Links
Numerous sources of assistance and advice can help you find different kinds of work experience. Many opportunities are out there and it's illegal for employers to discriminate against you because of your disability.
www.secureyoursuccess.com - STEP scheme 8 week summer placement programme.
www.work-experience.org - National Centre for Work Experience - national placement vacancies.
www.placementuk.org - Helping place European students in UK companies.
www.nases.org.uk - Comprehensive listing of institutions offering student 'Job Shops'.
www.yini.org.uk - Helping students make the most out of their year in industry.
www.internjobs.com - Offers internships of varying lengths to students.
www.summerjobs.com - Summer work.
www.do-it.org.uk - The home of volunteering on the web.
www.yearoutgroup.org - Opportunities within the UK for people taking a gap year.
www.gapyear.com - Information for students looking into taking a Gap Year.
www.gowales.co.uk - The most popular provider of work experience placements in Wales.
www.business-bridge.org.uk - Work experience with small and medium-sized businesses in Merseyside.
www.bridgenortheast.org.uk - Work experience with small and medium-sized businesses in the North East.
www.shadowing4success.com - Work shadowing opportunities in London open to school and university students (NB A cost is involved in this service).
www.manchester.ac.uk/careers/workexperience - For University of Manchester students.
www.nwsago.com - North West student and graduate online.
Overseas opportunities
To go overseas for work experience, you need to be proactive and start planning early. Many paid and volunteering options are available.
Remember, disability and employment legislation varies from country to country. Some American states lead the way internationally on this, and there is plenty of variety even within the EU.
Here is a selection of useful websites.
General sites
www.yearoutgroup.com - Year Out/Gap Year: Brokerage dealing with a range of Year Out and Gap Year organisations.
www.vacationwork.co.uk - Vacation Work Publications.
www.goabroad.com - Useful work and study abroad information.
www.prospects.ac.uk - Work abroad section has country-specific information for over 50 countries.
www.manchester.ac.uk/careers/workexperience/finding - The University of Manchester's site includes international opportunities.
www.eurochambres.be - Chamber of Commerce addresses worldwide.
www.AIESEC.org - International student organisation with access to placement opportunities.
www.IAESTE.org -International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience.
www.wse.org.uk - Excellent listing of opportunities for voluntary work overseas in development - gives some indication of which organisations are disability-friendly.
Specific organisations
BUNAC - www.bunac.org - Opportunities in Canada, USA, Russia and many other locations
Council on International Educational Exchange - www.ciee.org - Organises placements in several locations including USA, Australia, Thailand, China, New Zealand, Canada.
Raleigh International - www.raleigh.org.uk - International expeditions and programmes
The Global Volunteer Network - www.volunteer.org.nz - Non-profit organisation that supports local community organisations in developing countries by placing international volunteers. Locations include China, Ecuador, Ghana, Nepal, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Thailand, and Uganda. Volunteers can participate in various educational, environmental and community aid programmes.
Disability-specific
Mobility International USA - www.miusa.org - Largely targeted at US citizens, but loads of useful information and links for disabled students looking for opportunities abroad. Appears to have strong focus around development issues. Welcomes dealing with personal queries.
Europe
www.eures-jobs.com - Links to all of Europe's job centres. Also gives details of EURES advisers who can give personal advice on opportunities in Europe.
www.talent4europe.com - Country by country listings
www.careerseurope.co.uk - Mainly for advisers but has some useful information about working in Europe
www.europa.eu.int/comm/stages - European Commission stages information - bi-annual recruitment to start in October and March. Graduates only.
USA
www.internjobs.com - A database of internships for students, recent graduates and career changers.
The Peterson's Guide on www.petersons.com/summerop - includes US and other international internships/summer programmes.
www.AIPT.org - Placement opportunities in the US.
www.studentsource.com - San Francisco employment agency.
Disclosing Your Disability
Deciding whether or not to disclose your disability to a prospective employer is a decision you will have to make at some point. It's often difficult to know when and how this information should be conveyed.
Decisions you make about these issues will be personal to you. There are likely to be positives and negatives connected with each choice.
Disclosing Disability
An excellent discussion of all issues associated with disclosure produced by Interact disability mentoring.
(pdf format, visit Adobe.com to download Acrobat Reader)
Skill has
produced an excellent handout on disclosing disability:
www.skill.org.uk/info/infosheets/emp_disclose.doc
