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Work Experience

Work Experience

Work Experience and Volunteering are highly beneficial, for your university or apprenticeship application. Taking up a work shadowing or voluntary position will help you develop your skills, boost your confidence and greatly enhance your employment prospects in later life.

While you are at Queen Mary’s College we will highlight opportunities available to you. Many courses have compulsory work experience, we can also help you to find placements outside of College time. Opportunities are both varied and diverse to cover a wide range of career aspirations.

As a college, we are proud to offer our students both physical work experience placements, as well as our new hybrid model. The hybrid approach provides the opportunity for students to complete an industry led project onsite, whilst gaining support from the work experience team with vital employability skills for future progression and confidence.

Sophie Chenery

One thing I took away from work experience, was the adaptation to working in the real world, meeting with new people and deadlines. Also attending meetings and managing working hours which we aren’t used to due to College.
I really enjoyed the Marketing Work Experience, I am wanting to go into TV presenting someday, so i enjoyed seeing the insight of how Marketing is run at the College.

Ellen Bartlett

I thought Work Experience was very interesting to see how the QMC Marketing Team work and what actually goes on and how they post on social media. Also to see how much work is put into something that goes out to all the students  and parents at the College.This experience has also taught me that the creative side of projects can be quite time consuming to put together, and to create a consistent brand and professional looking graphics, takes time and talent.

Morgan Keane

I learnt that having teamwork is very important, that communication is the key to every team. I’m very grateful to my colleagues for helping me with the subtitles for the Tik Toks we created and making me feel heard.
It felt like a proper working day, I totally forgot that i’m in for the work experience.

Work Experience Feedback

Allied healthcare virtual Live Event - Biology

 Anna Soccard

Course/courses studying or studied at QMC: Biology, PE and Health and Social Care

What kind of Virtual Work Experience did you take part in?
Allied healthcare virtual live event

What did you think of the work experience?
It was great! Very informative.

Was it beneficial?
I want to go into healthcare in the future, so this was good for me to see different job roles within healthcare.

What did you learn?
I learnt how the different professions work together and individually to support the patient. Also, what each role involves for example, there was a nutritionist who treated a patient as a part of the scenario and then afterwards spoke about how they got into the role and what it is really like.

What did you take away from this experience?
It made me think about different professions I could go into within healthcare, not just the ones we would normally think of.

“QMC really supported me into doing this and I had a meeting arranged with the work experience coordinator who told me all the different options available to me so I can get the relevant experience. My tutor also was very supportive, and we discussed further what roles I may want to go into during my 1 on 1.”

Basingstoke Volunteer - Health & Social Care

Alice Masters

Course/courses studying or studied at QMC:
Photography, Criminology and Health and Social Care

What kind of Volunteering did you take part in?
Hospital, Meet and Greet Volunteer

What did you think of the work experience?
It was interesting and I learnt a lot

Was it beneficial?
Yes

What did you learn?
I learnt how to interact with the general public and in a professional environment

What did you take away from this experience?
That I can communicate effectively and interact with the general public

Media Work Experience with ILM - Media, Film Studies & Computer Science

 Tommy Clayton-Eustace

Course/courses studying or studied at QMC:
Media, Film Studies, Computer Science.

What kind of Volunteering did you take part in?
I took part in being in a Film industry environment for the day, which gave me a real outlook of what my future could be like in the film industry.

What did you think of the work experience?
It was great and very informative.

Was it beneficial?
Yes.

What did you learn?
I learnt a lot about the film industry, and all the different careers that are available within it. I also learned

What did you take away from this experience?
That I would be interested in a future career in the film industry.

“QMC helped me get this work experience, which was very beneficial as with everything going on at College, looking for work placements can be quite a challenge at times. With the support from those around me, my teachers and friends, I feel like i have the confidence to take on any ideas or dreams I have in life.”

Industrial Light and Magic - VFX - Media, Fine Art and English

Angel Richardson

Course/courses studying or studied at QMC: 
Media, Fine Art, English Language

What kind of Volunteering did you take part in?
Industrial Light And Magic – VFX

What did you think of the work experience?
It was very insightful into the wide range of avenues within the VFX and animation industry 

Was it beneficial?
Yes

What did you learn?
How certain animations and storyboards are put together, with reference from previous films the company has made; and information into a wide range of potential paths within the industry

What did you take away from this experience?
There’s always room to change paths at any point, so you don’t need to put so much pressure on yourself to figure out exactly what specific job you’d like to pursue. You can always move around. 

“I got a lot of help and support from my media teacher when applying to this experience which helped me fill out my application to the best of my ability.” 

Medics Mentor's Virtual Work Experience - Biology, Chemistry & Psychology

Taeshayla Marie Copage

At QMC, I am studying Biology, Chemistry, Psychology and an EPQ in perspectives on science.

What kind of Virtual Work Experience did you take part in?
I have taken and am currently still taking part in Medic Mentor’s virtual work experience for aspiring medics.

What did you think of the work experience?
I think Medic mentor’s virtual work experience is so amazing as doctors and health care professionals have given up their time, even in this pandemic, to make this for work experience for us. I think the case scenarios are so amazing to watch as you really get an insight into how the doctors and specialists handle each situation and how they interact with each as part of a multidisciplinary team and you are taken on a journey on the patient’s recovery which is very satisfying to see. Even though it is virtual, there is still the element of interactivity, as if we are really there as it is live and we are able to ask questions to the doctors in real time using slido and we even get to take part in quizzes which is so fascinating as we get to learn new information! For example, I learnt that a GP consultation is only allowed to take 10 minutes. Also, what is so valuable about this work experience is that each scenario incorporates the skills of a doctor. For example, so far, we have seen team work, communication skills and leadership in already and we are only half way through.

Was it beneficial?
I think this work experience is so beneficial as not only do we get to understand in depth about different roles of doctors in their specialty e.g., GP or Intensive care specialists, but also, we get to see the key skills of a doctor being shown and how the doctors interact with their patients, which is so valuable as when we become doctors, we can use this work experience and apply it for the future, remembering the key skills of a doctor. As well as seeing the skills of a doctor, which is very important for aspiring students like myself to understand. Another great thing is that we have breakout sessions which really helps to consolidate what we can take way from each session that can be written about in our personal statement and the homework activities are so beneficial as it allows us to practice reflecting use Gibbs reflective cycle on the session we have seen. It is also very beneficial as for each session, the doctors give you new knowledge e.g., about Gillick competence and so gives you potential ideas for wider reading, which is also very important in interviews to show commitment to the subject.

What did you learn?
Taking part in this work experience has taught me a lot. For example, the different areas you can go into with medicine which I didn’t realize before how broad it is. I also learnt the key skills of a doctor, the NHS constitutional values and the quality-of-care domains, including the four ethical pillars which must be abided in the work of a doctor. This is very useful as this knowledge can be used not only for interview practice when trying to get into medicine at University as the interviewers will expect students to know the ethical principles in healthcare and the key skill of a doctor, but also can be used when practicing the works of a doctor, to always keep these ideas in mind to ensure the best care is given to the patient. So not only is the work experience so relevant but also so inspiring as it motivates you to want to become a doctor. I also learnt the Gibbs reflective cycle, which is the way that doctors themselves reflect and this is so beneficial to learn as this concept can be used when writing personal statements, which is great preparation practice when getting into higher education and when we become doctors, we will be using this, again emphasizing the relevance of this programme. I have also learnt invaluable insights from medical professionals themselves, discussing their career and giving a real insight to what it’s like to work in their profession e.g., we had a GP talk to us about the day in the life of his job and the good and bad things about being a GP. For example, the case scenarios, as well as what the GP actually said taught me that this line of work has a variety of patients and you just don’t know who is going to enter the door so it’s quite an interesting career as you never know what to expect.

What did you take away from this experience?
From this experience, I have learnt that a career in medicine is challenging but is so rewarding and I have learnt key knowledge which will really come in handy, especially in interviews and when I actually become a doctor. Sometimes, with work experience it’s hard to find the relevance and what you can take away from it and how it can be applied to real life, but with medic mentors, it is relevant not only currently but also for the future when we actually become doctors!

“This experience has been so amazing as its what also allowed me to immerse myself in all of medic mentors’ other opportunities for aspiring medics and QMC really helped me make this a successful experience as they introduced me to it and when I had difficulty getting a place, they emailed medic mentor and because of that I was able to get onto the work experience programme. Also, QMC’S work experience coordinator advised me to make a note of what I was leaning and keep a log which I have been doing.”

Basingstoke Hospital - Volunteer

Rhiann Gillman

Course/courses studying or studied at QMC:
Film Studies, Media Studies and Photography

What kind of Volunteering did you take part in?
It was an online virtual work experience where we had talks from industry professionals who work in the visual effects industry and we learnt about all the different roles in the pipeline of visual effects. We also made in depth moodboards and planned a redesign of an iconic scene from Jurassic park, and then we presented it at the end of the week.

What did you think of the work experience?
It was really interesting and educational and I learnt a lot about all the different roles on the VFX pipeline.

Was it beneficial?
Yeah, I now know about loads of roles that I could one day work as in the film industry and how to achieve them.

What did you learn?
I learned about how many people and how much work goes into visual effects and about all the different jobs that people have to do to achieve good VFX.

What did you take away from this experience?
There are so many more jobs in the film industry than I  originally thought, and I could choose from loads of different fields while still working with film as a medium. 

“My film studies teacher Niamh helped with my application and was the one who told me I got accepted onto the experience so she was a huge help.”