If you have the opportunity to complete a work experience placement then you should grab it with both hands! Completing work experience at any time of your life provides a perfect opportunity for you to gather relevant experience for a career that you want to pursue, for a subject matter you wish to study further, or simply to provide you with the experience of working in a different environment. For all of these reasons, work experience is not just for sixth form or university students, it can be a very useful tool for adding proactively to mature CVs too!

Once you have approached an employer and secured a period of work experience, you need to ensure that you are well prepared for your first day's work at your chosen company. Think about the practical tasks you can complete to ensure that you are sufficiently prepared, as well as spending a bit of time to prepare yourself emotionally too.

The questions posed here should help you in your preparations for the first day of your work experience placement.

1. Do you know what time you need to be there on your first day?
2. Do you know where you are going?
3. Do you know how you are going to get there and how long it will take for you to get there?
4. If you are travelling by car, do you know where to park?
5. If you are travelling by bus or by train, do you know where the nearest stop is?
6. Do you have a sense of what clothes you need to wear? If not, dress smartly on the first day, and then you can always tone down your dress for the rest of the time you are on your placement.
7. Do you have a couple of pens, pencils and a note pad?
8. Do you have some spare change for lunch or coffee?
9. Do you know where you need to report to when you arrive on your first day?
10. Do you have any concerns about the placement? If so, who can you speak to regarding these concerns?

Remember that your first day at a work placement may feel just as daunting as your first day at a new job. It is perfectly natural to feel nervous! Making sure that you have all of the practical arrangements in place prior to your first day will ensure that you arrive at your work placement on time, and this in its self will relax you. Try to eat breakfast before you arrive, as this will help avoid any grumbling tummies in an 11am meeting, and will also fill you with well needed energy.

Everyone's first day at their work experience placement will be different depending upon where you are completing your placement, and what type of job you are likely to be asked to fulfil. However you are likely to experience the following on your first day:

- A meeting and greeting of the person or people you will be working with
- An orientation session so that you know where the kitchen is, where the toilets are and where you can buy something to eat
- Shown your workstation and if required, provided with a computer, log in details to access the computer and a telephone
- Provided with any passes, keys or passwords you need to access parts of the building
- Been given a general outline of how you will spend your time on your work placement
- Been told of any actions you are required to complete whilst you are completing your placement