By now, you should have sent off all your applications for work experience. If you haven’t, what are you waiting for? Keep your CV in tip-top shape and write a great cover letter to each individual company you’re interested in, and you’re done 🙂

To make the most of your work experience placement, ask as many questions as you can think of! Don’t be ashamed, people love talking about themselves and their work. After all, it’s what they spend the majority of their lives doing and thinking about.

If you are stuck for some question inspiration, here are a few strategies and ideas for questions that you can ask them.

Questions for Yourself

Before you go on the work experience, ask yourself what you want to get out of it.

• Do you want to see what it would be like in a workplace environment?
• Are you trying to see if this company would fit you?
• Do you want to get to know people who are in the position that you would like to be in the future?
• Are you just testing the waters of a particular type of job?
• What matters to you about this work experience?

It’s important to know what the point is for you to attend this work experience.

Questions about the Workplace

If you want to find out more about what it’s like to work there, here are some questions you can ask.

• What makes you proud to work at this company?
• How does your company encourage personal development and career growth?
• Does the company hold social events for employees?
• What’s one thing you would change about the company if you could?

Questions about the Job

If you’re unsure about whether the job would suit you, here is some question inspiration:

• What’s your favourite part about this job?
• What do you do in a typical day?
• What sort of problems do you usually come up against?
• Which skills are important for your job?
• What are you working on at the moment?

Questions about Careers

Here are some questions you can ask to find out how you can get a job in your desired industry.

• What did you do before you got this job?
• Did you study a degree/take an apprenticeship?
• What did you work on before you came to this company?
• What is the graduate/apprenticeship programme at this company like?
• Do you value experience in new recruits?

Don’t forget to record the answers somewhere (in a notebook, on your phone etc.) to these questions for future reference. Never be ashamed to ask questions! It’s more fun when you are proactive and engaged.

Been on work experience? Ever been ashamed to ask questions? Let me know in the comments!