Work Experience (year 10) for son who wants to join the army.

Tiddlywinks

There is some good information here:

http://www.army.mod.uk/join/Getting-yourself-ready.aspx

A lot of applicants fail the fitness tests because lifestyles now are less active than they once were... so your son needs to make sure his fitness levels meet the entry requirements.

Also, what does you son actually want to do in his career? Soldiers mostly have trades... does he want to be a mechanic, a surveyor, an engineer, a medic etc? He needs to give this some thought.

Also, what is your son's temperament like? Is he able to follow instructions, is he a team player etc? If not then he needs to develop in this area before thinking of applying.

Finally, is he interested in joining as an Officer or a soldier? Will he be OK with the numeracy and literacy entry tests?

Swampy3k

I was once in the very same situation as your son. My father was ex-army and I grew up hearing his stories, watching Soldier Soldier and Sharpes Rifles and from a young age I knew the army was for me!. If there is no army cadets near you then have a look for Air Force Cadets or Navy Cadets... (ok maybe not the Navy) :P Any form of military like establishment between now and him joining (if he decides he still likes it) will greatly assist in giving him a good foundation in joining. Unfortunatly 2 weeks work experience won't quite be the same as I dare say he will be handled with "kid gloves" and not get a true feel for how the green machine works.

But please please PLEASE reinforce to him to get a trade in the forces. I am a Military Policeman (sexist?, its a title..) and have gained qualifications which will assist me in many walks of life, my cousin who is 8 years older and recently left the infantry summed it up in one "I wish I'd got a trade, I was a great shot but thats not what civilian employers are looking for"

Gloomendoom

Good advice above. My cousin was in a similar situation and has really struggled to find a niche, flitting from job to job with periods of unemployment in between. Another cousin and two uncles all left with transferable skills that set them up for their careers in civilian life.

princeofpounds

I am assuming he has no aspirations to be an officer?

Cadets would have been my first suggestion. If he cannot do that, it is certainly worth doing something like Scouts or DofE Award. They are not militaristic but they will teach directly transferable skills and relevant experiences like navigation, teamwork, leadership, camping, cooking etc.

Definitely agree with the point on trades. If he thinks he may want to go down a particular route then work experience in that area will be helpful e.g. if he wants to be in REME then try anything mechanic-based, large-scale building would help for RE. Even horse riding might help if he wants to be in the 'cavalry' (armoured corps).

If he wants to continue his education then AFC Harrogate is the army 6th form college for soliders. He will get all the training and lose out on none of the academic stuff.

If it's just the chance of some exposure you are after, phone up the nearest recruitment office and ask what they might have. They are very friendly places.

WantToBeSE

Thanks everyone for your ideas and advice.


He is going to phone the nearest Army Careers Office on Monday after school and get their advice.


If they don't have anything suitable, he was thinking about applying for WE in the Police force instead, but imagine he'll have similar problems doing that (security, confidentiality etc).

Spendless

My son is the same age and will do WE next summer. At a meeting about it, we (as parents) were told not to get too hung up about them doing their experience in a place relevant to their desired job, because having to turn up on time, get on with different people from all walks of life, put some effort in etc, were all transferable skills.I think my son will also struggle to do WE in the field in which he wishes to work (science/health related) but a job in a shop, might give him relevant experience for a part time job that he can do whilst supporting studying later on.

peachyprice

Spendless wrote: »

I think my son will also struggle to do WE in the field in which he wishes to work (science/health related) but a job in a shop, might give him relevant experience for a part time job that he can do whilst supporting studying later on.

This is what my son did WE in, he managed to get a placement in one of our local hospitals in the radiology dept, but because of his age (15 at the time) he couldn't really do much at all, just filing, making coffee etc., it was very disappointing, if he'd have been 16 it would have been very different, he's have been able to actually shadow a radiologist and learn far more.

I wonder sometimes why they bother in yr 10, now that they all have to stay in education until 18 it would be much more useful of they did it once they turned 16.

Errata

WantToBeSE wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your ideas and advice.


He is going to phone the nearest Army Careers Office on Monday after school and get their advice.


If they don't have anything suitable, he was thinking about applying for WE in the Police force instead, but imagine he'll have similar problems doing that (security, confidentiality etc).

Perhaps he needs to think about what he needs to experience that would be similar to the armed services: time keeping, obeying instructions, team playing, initiative, all of these can be experienced in many settings from shelf stacking to being a gofer at the local branch of AgeUK.

chiefpossession

I have spoken to our school police liaison officer in the last couple of days about work experience for one of my students. They do take students, but over 16s only. There are a lot of checks that have to be carried out before they can allow students to work with them as well. I would imagine that the over 16s rules applies everywhere but you could check.

Is there a work experience coordinator at the school? We actually have a programme with the army whereby students in year 10 go to army camp for a week during their work experience. Maybe there is already something available if he asks - perhaps he could speak to his Head of Year.

themull1

WantToBeSE wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your ideas and advice.


He is going to phone the nearest Army Careers Office on Monday after school and get their advice.


If they don't have anything suitable, he was thinking about applying for WE in the Police force instead, but imagine he'll have similar problems doing that (security, confidentiality etc).

My friends son went to the police force for a weeks work experience at 15, she did an arranged one with the school for example in an office, then a couple of other ones in the school holidays , one in police force.