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so i've got to sort myself some work expericence out asap , do gw in the uk ever let people do work experience and if so if there an age limit ?

i doubt it or else other wise you will have heaps of immature teens , i am the latter not the immature part trying but its worth a look

So whats the score

-Edit i'm not being all fanboy an childish about this working there is proably going to be my first career move out of highschool to pay for college and uni.


'claw

Do want to do work experience in store or at head office?

What do you want to get out of work experience? I liked art so I ended up at my local college helping out in various departments. Had a lot of experience in working in a photography studio, helping set up shoots and getting a lot of time in the darkrooms.

Either way contact GW directly, explain the situation and see what they say. maybe get your head of year to write to them, making it more official?

Thanks , i was probably going ot go for my local store as hea office is 40mins away at best and expensive to boot , my school rings and asks if its okay anyway.

Maybe I'll see you there.
Good luck

blackclaw1 wrote:my school rings and asks if its okay anyway.

Its always better do ask yourself with a written explanation from the school, it shows your confident and your willingness to work there. When my year level did work experience, most people who made the school call ahead to specialist companies never got in because the business said that if the student really wanted to work with them, especially in businesses that deal with people daily, they would have approach them personally.

Either way, ensure you are paid or at least compensated for your time... the belief in FREE work experience these days is equivalent to slavery...

Nope, afraid not.

For a start, there is little that you could do in a store. The work is a lot more intense than you might think, plus working with children you need a CRB Check, which means you must be over 18.

Sorry pal.

AvatarForm wrote:Either way, ensure you are paid or at least compensated for your time... the belief in FREE work experience these days is equivalent to slavery...

I do agree with you about the slavery thing, but depending on the school system work experience(or internships, co-op, etc...) can be unpaid. I know with the highschool system in my province, for doing a co-op, it counts as a class for your transcript, and as such, that is your compensation for working. Your 'employer' is not required to pay you, unless you do work outside of regular school hour's(Befor 8 AM, or after 3:00 PM), although they can if they wish. Also taking a co-op is entirely optional, it's not required for graduation, so there is nothing forcing you to provide free labour to a private enterprise.

Thaanos wrote:

AvatarForm wrote:Either way, ensure you are paid or at least compensated for your time... the belief in FREE work experience these days is equivalent to slavery...

I do agree with you about the slavery thing, but depending on the school system work experience(or internships, co-op, etc...) can be unpaid. I know with the highschool system in my province, for doing a co-op, it counts as a class for your transcript, and as such, that is your compensation for working. Your 'employer' is not required to pay you, unless you do work outside of regular school hour's(Befor 8 AM, or after 3:00 PM), although they can if they wish. Also taking a co-op is entirely optional, it's not required for graduation, so there is nothing forcing you to provide free labour to a private enterprise.

True, but in the same province's post-secondary system the majority of programs require you to do work placement in order to graduate, and you are not allowed to be paid for your time. The employer may be allowed to provide "bonuses" or "grants" if they wish, but they are in no way obligated to do so, so it is pretty rare that they do.

@OP: Good luck, but I really can't see it happening. Like you said, if they did work experience programs, they'd probably be swamped with requests. You're probably more likely to find an actual job in a more "normal" retail store. They love kids with little to no previous experience to compare the crappiness of the job to.

It is best to write to them or get in contact with them personally then have the school do it as if you are a immature child needing followed up. Also remember if you dont ask you dont get. Even if people say no here, they do not speak for the management and there is still a chance if you ask (compared to not asking which is a 0 chance asking might be 0.0001 but its still a chance)

For my work experience I wrote to Mercedes (the main show room and garage in glasgow) and they offered me 1 week working there full time. I worked my ass off and they gave me a Referee file to keep and Offered me an apprenticeship once I had finished my year. I was not an amazing worker to be honest but I was tidy and dammit I showed that I worked hard and It got me top of the list for an apprenticeship out of 300 people applying.

I never took the job though and carried on to 6th year then University. Silly mistake to be honest I always wanted to be a Mechanic and when I get the chance I turn it down because my family of rejects wanted someone to have a proper education.

And let that be a lesson, be up front, confident and show you want to work hard and you shall do fine. (try not to come off as arrogant it can sometimes be a very fine line)
But make sure you note what you want, dont hit them with a blank check or they might just throw you in the photocopying department!

Mr Mystery wrote:plus working with children you need a CRB Check, which means you must be over 18.Sorry pal.

Im pretty sure that if you are under 18 you can work with children without it. Thats the case in Oz here, im under 18 and dont need a working with children card to work with them.

Squig_herder wrote:

Mr Mystery wrote:plus working with children you need a CRB Check, which means you must be over 18.Sorry pal.

Im pretty sure that if you are under 18 you can work with children without it. Thats the case in Oz here, im under 18 and dont need a working with children card to work with them.

It only applies to people over the age of 18 I am sure. You can get work in Nursery's and schools here without one if you are under 18.

AvatarForm wrote:Either way, ensure you are paid or at least compensated for your time... the belief in FREE work experience these days is equivalent to slavery...

Depends some schools have an insurance policy in place that may not cover you if you are paid for the work experience. I know that was the case when I did work experience. Think of it this way it was a choice of being covered for up to $2mil in my favor or the companies (in case I accidentally break anything I don't pay them the insurance does) or probably get like $15 an hour.

The most you'll get out of work experience is experience and a possibly a new reference for your resume.

hungryp wrote:
True, but in the same province's post-secondary system the majority of programs require you to do work placement in order to graduate, and you are not allowed to be paid for your time. The employer may be allowed to provide "bonuses" or "grants" if they wish, but they are in no way obligated to do so, so it is pretty rare that they do.

Actually here in Ontario, if you're doing a work placement in any college program, they must pay you. It's only for highschool that they are not required to pay you.

Squig_herder wrote:

Mr Mystery wrote:plus working with children you need a CRB Check, which means you must be over 18.Sorry pal.

Im pretty sure that if you are under 18 you can work with children without it. Thats the case in Oz here, im under 18 and dont need a working with children card to work with them.

It's a Blue Card... I have one for the voluntary work I do at the local Youth Centre.

n0t_u wrote:

AvatarForm wrote:Either way, ensure you are paid or at least compensated for your time... the belief in FREE work experience these days is equivalent to slavery...

Depends some schools have an insurance policy in place that may not cover you if you are paid for the work experience. I know that was the case when I did work experience. Think of it this way it was a choice of being covered for up to $2mil in my favor or the companies (in case I accidentally break anything I don't pay them the insurance does) or probably get like $15 an hour.

The most you'll get out of work experience is experience and a possibly a new reference for your resume.

Actually, in Australia, IR law requires you to be compensated. If you do not request compensation because you are desperate to do Retail work, imho you arent aiming very high in life.

GW Retail ( in the UK anyway) don't permit schoolchildren to do work experience at their stores, not least as it would be illegal for them to sell the glues, knives spraycans etc etc to the regular customers.