Recent reporting from the BBC highlights something many students already know too well: it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find meaningful work experience.
Often people feel that offering placements takes too much time and effort for too little return, leading to fewer opportunities for young people who are eager to gain real insight into the workplace. At Hillier Hopkins, our experience has been very different.
Over the past year, the Marketing Team has welcomed three work experience students, each bringing a fresh perspective and contributing genuine value to our activities. Their work has spanned website user experience, internal communications, and recruitment giving us research data and new insights into some of our key activities.
We’ve also seen first-hand the benefit of taking on students at different stages of their education. Two A level students joined us for short, focused placements, offering sharp, intuitive observations on website usability and internal messaging. Alongside them, a second year university student completed a behavioural science based marketing project, applying academic knowledge to real recruitment and communications challenges. Each student brought something unique, proving that meaningful contribution isn’t determined by age or academic level, but by giving young people the chance to get involved.
Far from being a drain on resources, these placements enriched our work. Students challenged assumptions, brought in new ideas, and produced insight-led research that strengthened our planning and improved our output.
Beyond the practical benefits, we believe businesses have a responsibility to create good work opportunities for the next generation. Supporting young people as they take their first steps into professional life isn’t just good practice, it’s part of our commitment as a certified B Corp™ to use business as a force for positive impact.
If more organisations opened their doors, even for a week, students would gain the confidence, experience and skills they need, and businesses might be surprised by just how much they get back in return.
As with everything, forward planning ensures you get the best out of the experience.
“My advice to anyone considering taking on a work experience student is to go for it. It’s best to write out a short plan in advance of what you want the project to achieve and talk it through with the student before hand – a quick half hour call is all it needs. It helps to ensure that they come prepared and get the most from their time with you and ultimately you get something useful from the project too.”
Karen Winrow, Senior Business Development Manager
“My work placement in the marketing department at Hillier Hopkins was a great experience, especially as a psychology student. I was able to apply my understanding of behavioural patterns to real marketing projects aimed at recently graduated individuals, while also creating content for the company. My placement helped me develop my communication, analytical and creative skills, and showed me how psychology links to marketing. I was trusted to work independently, which boosted my confidence and made really enjoy my time. Overall, my experience introduced me to new career paths and proved how transferable my psychology degree can be.”
Lucy Bolton, Undergraduate
“My time with the Hillier Hopkins Marketing Team gave me the chance to apply my psychology studies to real internal communications challenges. I loved being trusted to research, analyse and present ideas that could genuinely help improve how people connect across the firm. It was incredibly motivating to see that my perspective was valued, and it has given me a huge boost in confidence about the kind of work I want to do in the future.”
Emily Allen, A Level Student