Talk to your family, their friends and colleagues, or your friends’ families. They might know someone who has a job or who works somewhere that interests you, and who can arrange work experience for you.

Other options for finding work experience include:

• If you’re at secondary school, your school careers counsellor or coordinator can help you find suitable work experience
• If you’re a TAFE or university student, you can search for vacation or work experience opportunities (new window) in your industry of preference
• If you’re a TAFE or university student you should also check with your student administration or career counsellor – they should know of places that provide work experience opportunities
• Contact the Human Resources department of a company or organisation where you would like to work and ask them about available work experience opportunities

Places that offer work experience

Many Federal and Victorian Government departments and agencies, as well as non-profit organisations, offer work experience opportunities.

The following is only a sample of the kind of organisations that offer work experience opportunities – there are many more. If you have a particular kind of workplace in mind, use a search engine – or even the Yellow Pages – to find local businesses that you’d like to work for.

• Hospitals and doctors’ surgeries
• Universities or TAFEs
• Vet surgeries
• Primary schools and kindergartens
• Courts of law and lawyers’ offices
• Museums and galleries
• RSPCA shelters
• Sports organisations
• Theatre companies
• Public libraries
• Newspaper offices
• Television and radio stations
• Hairdressers
• Accounting firms
• Factories and manufacturing plants

You could also try to find a work experience placement with or through your own local council (new window).

Remember, there’s no guarantee you’ll get the exact work experience position you want, but you might be suprised to find yourself enjoying a work experience position that you hadn’t previously considered.

Work experience opportunities overseas

It’s possible to gain work experience while travelling overseas, particularly for university graduates. Take a look at our Working overseas page for further details.

Work experience links

Intern Abroad – International Internship Opportunities
Information and listings for international internships, paid and volunteer, academic and non-academic internships, and tertiary credit practical training programs around the world.

JobSearch – Australian Careers Search
Discover what different jobs are like and choose which jobs, industries and employers you will approach for work experience.

Resourse: Youth Central