What's more, voluntary work is generally easier to get than other work experience because it requires you to have fewer existing skills and the application processes are much less competitive than for paid work or
formal work experience placements.
The majority of
formal work experience placements, such as industrial placements or summer internships, are aimed at current students rather than graduates.
You could end up applying for
a formal work experience placement, or even a graduate job, with an employer you already work for.
Not exact matches
As part of the traineeship, the students embark on a four - week
work placement which provides valuable
experience of a real - life engineering environment and are given the chance to secure a
formal interview at the end of the programme.
Having said that, whatever skills or other
experience you have, having done a directly relevant
formal work placement will always be a huge advantage, particularly for more competitive roles.
In reality, if you want either a
formal placement or a graduate job in a professional area of retail, such as merchandising, logistics, retail management or fashion design, recruiters will expect you to have some
experience of
working in a store.
However, some of the larger organisations, such as Arriva, Transport for London (TfL), British Airways and DHL offer
formal work experience through industrial
placements of up to one year or internships during the summer break.