I can still remember my first work experience placement. It was at an alternative therapy magazine with a distinctly New Age-y vibe. I don’t recall the name of the publication, but I do recall that the office had a pleasingly fragrant air and there was an impressive range of herbal teas in the kitchen.
I can’t say that its style of editorial inspired my future writing, but that didn’t really matter. What mattered was that it gave me my first taste of journalism, a feel for the magazine environment and the first contribution to my clippings folder (which is still in a box in my attic somewhere).
Placements at numerous publications, local and national, followed in the months after that. I wrote pieces on subjects as various as student debt, London protests and slug infestations. I reviewed plays, interviewed writers and learned how to pursue stories. I even got to speak to Sir Ian Botham about baked beans – a bizarre story that I’m saving for my memoirs.
This crazy and crooked journey persuaded me that journalism was a colourful trade full of interesting experiences and people, and I haven’t looked back since (well, not often).
These notionally burdensome people actually required very little supervision, undertaking tasks without complaint
I’ve been musing on this a lot this week as we’ve just hosted two Year 12 work experiences at Money Marketing. I’m not going to pretend the timing was great – we’re in the middle of recruiting a new journalist, I’m knee-deep in redesigning our digital offering, and the news agenda hasn’t exactly gone quiet.
Nevertheless, when we sat down to write a schedule for our students, there was no shortage of ideas. Why not arrange some mock interviews? Could they write some news stories or features? How about getting their opinions on freelancer content? The possibilities were endless.
(Sadly, our plans to take them to an industry party came to nothing – that free, unsupervised bar being unlikely to go down well with either parents or school.)
Once they set to work, we were impressed with the quality of work that flowed our direction. These notionally burdensome people actually required very little supervision, undertaking tasks without complaint and showing an initiative I certainly didn’t possess at that age.
They even wrote a Weekend Essay each, which we’ll be publishing in the coming weeks (keep an eye out for the names Hannah Chan and Harry Dale).
What I remember are the random conversations, the titbits of advice, the offers of help or support
I would add that, for a cynical and jaded 40-something, being around two 17-year-olds was a breath of fresh air (although I’m not sure I’ll feel that when my own children reach that age). If I believed that teenagers were only interested in Marvel films and TikTok, the numerous intelligent questions from Hannah and Harry soon rid me of my prejudices.
It’s a reminder that well-run placements can be an education for both parties – we can all benefit from intergenerational exchange, as financial advisers well know.
Indeed, when I look back on my own work experience stints, what I remember are the random conversations, the titbits of advice, the offers of help or support. If nothing else, these gave me the confidence to push forward into a world I initially found overawing.
There’s surely a lesson here for the advice sector. Initiatives such as Future Financial Adviser recognise the problem of attracting talent into the profession, with only a small proportion of young adults even aware of it as a career option. If it’s true, as broadcaster Iona Bain argued at our Leeds conference, that financial advisers must engage better with younger generations, maybe work experience can play a role.
Of course, no one is arguing that it’s a direct line to a full-time job. All too often, time constrains mean that the students get a limited view of the sector – one that’s a mile wide and an inch deep. When badly managed, it could also put them off; I well remember placements that consisted of little more than filing papers and making tea.
Work experience could demystify the sector for students and persuade firms that there’s a wider pool of talent to draw upon
Others might suggest that post-graduate roles or internships are the way to attract young people. But, as John Somerville noted in our October cover feature, advice firms are still reluctant to invest time and money in developing trainees, while internships across all professions are often unpaid and skewed towards the privileged (when offered at all).
As an example of the latter, the Sutton Trust estimates that financial services have 57% fewer working-class interns than the graduate population. In this context, work experience could play a dual role: it could demystify the sector for students, and it could persuade firms that there’s a wider pool of talent to draw upon.
I repeat, work experience is not a panacea. Often, it’s a pain to organise, a chore to carry out and a headache to report back on (I don’t remember all this endless form filling when I was 18). But, on balance, it’s something I’d always offer. Handled well, it’s fun, engaging and a healthy break from the norm for both students and providers.
The lesson for advisers? If we want young people to be more interested in finance, maybe it would help if we were more interested in them.
