The Switch works with employers to provide Work Experience placements to around 2500 local students every year.
We offer placements in a wide range of sectors, from retail to health and social care to business and finance. This ensures every student can find a meaningful and worthwhile placement in their desired industry.
We prepare all students beforehand and support them to develop their employability skills during their placement.
We arranged for Shahla Corbett, a Year 10 student from Morpeth School in Bethnal Green, to undertake a week-long work experience placement at Bouygues UK, one of the country’s leading construction firms.
Shahla was based just around the corner from her school, on site at one of the firm’s flagship developments, the new Graduate Centre being delivered on behalf of Queen Mary University of London.
Shahla’s interest in engineering was sparked during a Year 9 “Meet the Professionals” careers event at school, run by The Switch where she had the opportunity to take part in a construction engineering workshop. Her enthusiasm and keen eye for design was noted by Bouygues UK, who were taking part in the workshop.
Bouygues UK works with The Switch to provide Work Experience placements and this year Shahla put her name forward for the opportunity.
Shahla says of her Work Experience: “The team was very friendly and I immediately felt comfortable working with them nd it’s such an interesting and impressive project. I was shown around the site office and given a set of tasks to complete each day. These included quite a lot of detailed work with the site plans, such as mapping the various routes people could take around the building, completing costings for fixtures and fittings, and colour coding positions for various types of furniture. I also got to do some research into the architect firm as well.”
Supervising Shahla during her work placement was Guive Kia, Internal Trades Manager for Bouygues UK, who highlights the importance of providing meaningful Work Experience: I’m delighted with Shahla’s progress; she is a very bright girl who grasps things quickly and she has shown great enthusiasm and commitment. It takes time, preparation, and supervision to host work experience placements but it’s something we support wholeheartedly as a business. It’s really important as through this we are inspiring the next generation of engineers, particularly young women who may otherwise have not considered a career in the construction industry. As a company we are committed to supporting diversity and part of that is engaging with young women like Shahla – we desperately need more of them in our industry and I hope one day to be offering her a job!”
If you too would like to host a Work Experience student and inspire the next generation please contact:
02076550318
