It all started last summer. I was due to undertake a professional training year as part of my degree. I applied to over 35 different companies went to several interviews and struggled to get anywhere. The only response I kept getting was an email saying “Thank you for attending the interview, but sorry on this occasion your application has been unsuccessful.
Sound familiar….. then carry on reading.
After much consideration I still wanted to gain more experience related to my course International Hospitality & Tourism Management. I decided a bold decision, that if I couldn’t secure a placement, I would try to undertake as many smaller work experience placements as possible.
I found WEXO on my Universities Intranet site and browsed a couple of blogs and reviews then eventually decided to sign up. I thought “£10” that doesn’t sound that much in comparison to what I had already spent on train fares and previous interviews all I had to do was save £10 on a night out and it wouldn’t affect the bank balance.
From the word submit, I gained a couple of responses from companies that actually wanted me and eventually I landed my first job with Ecommo, a website development company for holiday accommodation providers. I was allowed to work from home as their offices were in Dundee and I lived in Southampton (bit of a long commute!). I worked on a marketing strategy project to gain as many new sales for business as possible. I combined this with my current job working three days a week at the golf club.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, although I did have the odd problem to overcome for example, when I made telephone calls through my Mobile. This is something to look out for.
From there I applied to STA Travel and with a bit of luck I eventually landed a role as a Marketing Assistant. Although this was an expenses only placement, I became part of a strong marketing team and my role included coordinating metro adverts and communicating with the 44 branch managers nationwide. Whilst working for STA I gained a number of important skills as well as meeting many new contacts. Luckily for me as a consequence of my networking skills I secured an internship with one of their Social Media agencies 1000 Heads.
I didn’t stop there. I had a few months before my internship was due to start so I managed to secure a job at the golf club where I worked as a Promotions Executive. I combined my duties behind the bar with gaining as many new golf days and function bookings for the club as possible. This again was a unpaid placement. I eventually went and worked for 1000 Heads where I have to say I gained a variety of skills in the Social Media field. I found it very useful. Although my superiors didn’t take much interest in what I was doing due to there very busy schedules. I decided to use my initiative and talk to other people in the business which eventually led me to do a number of roles for the company including writing a blog.

I am now currently working for Larch Computer Services as a Telemarketing Executive and broadening their social media presences, a skill I developed at 1000 Heads, which without STA Travel, which I applied through WEXO, I probably wouldn’t have achieved! Again this is an unpaid scheme but if my sales technique works then I will receive commission on my sales.
During this summer and I am going to be working for Macmillan Cancer Support another job highlighted on WEXO as a volunteer for the Worlds Biggest Coffee Morning.
You can probably see an underlying theme running through all of my placements – I didn’t get a buck for working for them, but it was the experience I was after and you can’t put a price on experience. It wasn’t all that bad though as I decided to fund my work experience through other means such as eBay (have built up a feedback rank of 50) and car boot sales. In total I have made about £1000.
I have gained a number of new skills too from my work including website design and have recently developed a website of my own and also websites for other clients too, putting into practice what I have learnt. I also enjoy trying out new things, and this summer I have launched a drinks catering service near where I live. I delivered 50 leaflets, offering to serve drinks etc at garden parties. So far I have 5 confirmed bookings. All of these skills have been built from my experiences and entrepreneurial spirit.
To this day I still think, Work Experience is somewhat of a grey area and in some instances it is over exploited by some companies as an opportunity to get in free labour.
I am due to go back to University this October. I have thoroughly enjoyed doing this last year. I have gained more experience than a typical 9 – 5 job would ever have done as I have been allowed to test out my strengths and weaknesses. In comparison to my peers on placement schemes I have done a lot more than just work for one company. I have worked for several different companies in a mixture of industries across a range of marketing roles.
Right that’s enough about me!
What advice would I give to any prospective student who is in my position this year, well yes I have been lucky, but not without instinct. The general perception of students in this day and age, is that we are lazy, this is certainly not true. If you actually can be bothered to motivate yourself then what I did can be achieved.
WEXO has been great for finding a stepping stone into the Industry. Would I say it is worth £10? Yes and No. Yes, as it is great stepping stone to showcase yourself, easy to use and find prospective jobs. No because I think it is unfair for students to have to pay to use it. In most case’s recruitment companies charge the company the fee, I guess it reduces competition amongst students as they will find alternative sources, but in total I think it is unfair that students have to bare the brunt of fee in most cases it is the other way round.
So WEXO is the first stage, once inside the company you have to show that you’re actually worth employing, have a positive attitude and never say no to anything. In addition don’t be afraid to network with as many people as you can, you never know what it might lead to, even if it is a just a beer, a chat or maybe even another job prospect it is well worth it. Without these skills and experience you probably won’t get very far amongst other competitive graduates.