How to find work experience (when nobody's advertising)

Ask directly, and make it easy to say yes

A short, specific email to a local employer works far more often than people expect. The trick is making it small enough to be an easy yes:

Hi — I'm a Year 12 student at Fairfield College, studying maths and physics. I'm hoping to go into engineering and I'd love to see what the work is really like. Would you be open to me spending a day or two with your team over half term? I'm happy to do anything useful, and I can fit around whatever suits you.

Two days is easier to grant than two weeks. Name the person if you can find them. Send it to a real address rather than a generic inbox where possible.

Use the connections you already have

Most first placements come through someone known: a parent's colleague, a neighbour, a teacher's contact, a family friend, the manager where you have a Saturday job. This isn't unfair advantage-seeking — it's how the labour market works, and the fix is to ask more people rather than to opt out.

Tell everyone what you're looking for. Most people want to help and simply don't know you need it.

Virtual and structured programmes

A growing number of employers run virtual work experience — free online programmes where you complete realistic tasks. They're genuinely useful when travel or cost is a barrier, and they give you something concrete to talk about at interview.

Large employers also run formal insight days and summer schemes, often opening months in advance. Check the careers pages of employers you'd like to work for directly.

Count what you're already doing

Before hunting for more, take stock. A Saturday job is work experience. Volunteering is work experience. Helping run a family business, coaching a junior team, doing the books for a club — all of it demonstrates exactly what employers are checking for.

The gap is usually not experience but the ability to describe it. See what to put in your profile.

Turn a placement into something that lasts

• Keep a note each day of what you did and what you learned — you'll forget by the time you're writing applications.
• Ask someone for their email and connect on LinkedIn before you leave.
• Send a short thank-you message afterwards. Almost nobody does, and it's remembered.
• Ask directly whether they take apprentices, and when they recruit. A placement is the strongest possible route into an application.

Common questions