Work Experience: Why does PI-KEM get involved?
At PI-KEM, we welcome local students who are in the latter years of their education to conduct their work experience with us. We are often approached by schools and students and where we can, accept their request to come and spend a few days to a week within our office. Every year the placements are a huge success and both student and PI-KEM from these.
As a Company, we fully support and engage with local schools and students looking for work experience. We are more than happy to accommodate this, as it not only gives the student a valuable learning experience, but ourselves too. Due to us being recognised for our inclusivity, and being a Disability Confident employer, we often offer placements to students who generally find it harder to secure a placement due to access needs including neurodiversity, English as an additional language, behavioural support or a sensory disability.
In preparation for their time with us students are always invited to visit us and there is a timetable set in advance of the placement where the student will get to work with different people from different areas of the business, giving them an overall view of a business and its operations. While they are with us they will experience what happens in Sales, Operations, Finance, Marketing and other aspects of the company. Like any new person joining PI-KEM they receive initial online training which covers Health & Safety in the Workplace and Display Screen Equipment (DSE), providing them with accredited level one certifications that can be added to their CV. We usually set a project for the individual based on what they learn from their time in our Company. This is always received positively and they come up with great findings and ideas. At the end of their time with use we always carry out a review and provide them with a reference.
The benefits for both us and the student are priceless. For them, they can find out and understand more about a working environment and which areas of the company they enjoyed that may help them to decide which career path to follow. It also encourages them to communicate with different people and build their own network of contacts, as well as discovering new strengths and motivations. They can also include additional experience details and skills onto their cv.
For us, it can help our staff develop personally with their own supervising and mentoring role, helping build their professional skills. We are always open to new and innovative ideas, so welcome feedback from the students and their thoughts on how we are doing, as a Company.
We would recommend any company getting involved with apprenticeship and supporting our future workforce!
Feedback from previous Students
Thank you so much for offering this opportunity for me to have my work experience at PI-KEM, I have learnt loads from the week and have further enhanced my insight in working for a business/company. I have understood how a company functions and how everyone has to work together as a team in order for the business to succeed. With everyone helping me, I understood how different parts of the business work and what they are responsible for in order for the business to function smoothly. Internal and external communications are both equally important for the business and are required in order for the business to succeed and function properly.
Once again, thank you so much for offering this opportunity and I will use what I learnt this week wisely in the future. I really appreciate everything that PI-KEM has done for me.
I wish you all the best
My week at PI-KEM gave me a valuable insight into the world of work, and how a company operates. I thoroughly enjoyed finding out about each of the different roles within PI-KEM, and everyone there was very supportive, each offering individual knowledge and experience for me to learn from. I am grateful to have spent my week there and have improved upon skills such as communication and the ability to ask questions, which I will inevitably take into the future with me.
Thank you again
