Employers are modernising their approach to work experience. Stephanie Bishop, Early Careers Senior Manager at AMS explores why and what the new model may look like.
Work experience has long been an important first step into the workplace: an early opportunity to explore a career, build skills and gain confidence.
But as organisations work to widen access, support social mobility and demonstrate tangible outcomes, the traditional model is becoming outdated, resource-intensive and difficult to scale.
A webinar with ISE and AMS explored the current challenges and the pathway to a modern work experience programme.
A blended approach
As previous work experience models have mostly been delivered in person, students without the right location, finances or personal network can find it harder to access. The result is a familiar tension - strong intent to widen access, set against a delivery model that creates an administrative burden that grows with every student.
Employers are increasingly adopting blended models that combine virtual, hybrid and in-person elements.
Just as importantly, these programmes are moving beyond passive workplace observation towards structured learning experiences that build skills, map career pathways and create meaningful engagement.
Digital delivery is central to this shift. It allows organisations to reach further, engage more diverse cohorts and deliver a consistent experience at scale.
For employers with diversity and inclusion commitments, that reach translates directly into a stronger and more diverse early talent pipeline.
From education initiative to talent strategy
Work experience is evolving from something employers simply offer young people, into a genuine component of their talent strategy.
Engaging students early helps shape how they perceive an organisation, well before they formally apply for a role. Done well, work experience can become an important first step towards apprenticeships, internships and graduate programmes.
Early impressions can last - how a young person experiences an organisation at sixteen or seventeen can shape how they view it years later.
What makes work experience effective
Scale only delivers value if the experience behind it is strong. The most effective programmes give students:
- Clear learning objectives
- Hands-on experience of real workplace challenges
- Direct engagement with employees
- Work readiness skills
- Exposure to a diverse range of career pathways
- Built-in reflection and feedback
- Ongoing engagement beyond work experience
Get these elements right, and students come away with more than a certificate - they gain confidence, workplace readiness and a clearer sense of their potential career path.
Where this is heading
The future is unlikely to be purely virtual or in-person, but a deliberate blend of both. For employers, the more significant shift is one of mindset - from placements as a fixed cost to placements as a measurable investment in their early talent pipeline.
The success of programmes will increasingly be measured not just by how many students attend, but by the skills they develop and the return on investment for the organisation.
Employers that modernise their approach now, building programmes that are scalable, inclusive and outcomes-led, will be better placed to remain front of mind for skilled young people when they look for their first permanent role.