Work Experience - School and Young People Guidance

As part of the national Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) agenda, The Highland Council, Schools, Colleges and DYW Regional Groups are working in partnership to develop and increase work-related learning opportunities for young people through employer engagement.

The DYW initiative gives work-related learning a high priority and looks to increase the work-related learning options on offer to all young people. Over the years our young people have had some amazing work experience opportunities thanks to the time, expertise and goodwill of our local employers. We wish to build on this model, therefore a new process has been developed to meet the needs of the DYW agenda and to address some of the feedback we have received from employers and schools. We are now asking young people to demonstrate their interest in the opportunities by completing an application form. This not only equips young people with a realistic taste for the world of work, but also allows employers to gauge the interest and suitability of each applicant and to consider how they can best support future career aspirations.

The process is detailed below:

1. The Hi-Hope work experience tab captures information about the live opportunities on offer from employers in Highland. We will make every attempt to ensure that the opportunities listed have valid Employers Liability Insurance and a workplace assessment in place. This tab can be used by pupils to explore the work related learning opportunities that are available by tag words, sector, school, age or opportunity. Teaching staff can also use Hi-Hope to search and arrange work related learning opportunities with the employers such as visits to the workplace, career talks, mock interviews, work shadowing, career and business fayres etc.

2. Pupils can create their own account to access the work experience user dashboard to browse jobs in particular sectors or to seek opportunities linked to the skills appropriate for their career aspirations.

3. Pupils can browse hi-hope either within the classroom environment, during one to one discussion around individual skills and interests with their guidance/subject teacher or at home in their own time. The pupil can come to a decision independently with advice from their teacher to decide the right time/placement.

Pupils then apply for their chosen placement by completing an application form which will include sections where they can detail their personal skills, interests and motivations. This allows employers the opportunity to gauge the interest and suitability of each applicant, and to consider how the placement can influence career aspirations.

4. The pupil will develop core employability skills by learning about the application process and how they can articulate their current skills linking with their profile. It also allows the opportunity to reflect on their abilities and aspirations.

5. Once complete the application form is completed by the pupil it will be submitted to the Link Teacher. The link teacher will receive a notification via email that one has been submitted and can access the application through their Hi-hope account.

6. Link staff can then check over the application with the pupil and either return to the pupil for amendments and/or add a reference or a supporting statement before submitting to the employer. Click on review application to add your reference within the pupil application form before clicking email to employer.

7. If the employer does not make contact within 10 days a follow up phone-call should be made by the school following submission of the application form. In all instances the link teacher should discuss the details of the placement and the suitability of the pupil including any additional support needs required during placement.

8. The school should keep a record of all opportunities that pupils are applying for - this can be done in 16+ notes or on a database/spreadsheet. The school should also keep a record of pupils who are accessing any work-related learning.

9. Requests for placements with employers who are not on Hi-Hope are subject to a workplace assessment visit and annual employer’s liability insurance updates. These requests should be passed to DYW regional groups or Work Experience Administrator. Regional groups and the Work Experience Administrator will follow up to get these employers on to Hi-hope.

We are not able to work with employers who do not agree to the terms of the data-sharing agreement, as we would not be able to share their information with partners

10. The timeframe to be expected for a new employer to be checked and cleared for work experience is a maximum of 30 days. There are a number of factors outwith our control to consider that may cause a delay in some cases- schools should plan to this timescale. Once the employer is 'live' on Hi-Hope the Work Experience Administrator will inform the school and the pupil can apply directly.

If you are interested in finding out more or have any questions contact the Work Experience Administrator - details in the sidebar.