Work experience placements and internships are the best way to give yourself an edge in the jobs market. Whatever industry your experience is in, you'll gain important skills that will help you in any career. At the very least, you'll have something to talk about in interviews.

But work experience placements are increasingly competitive and are becoming increasingly hard to come by. Which is why we've written our Essential Guide to Work Experience.

As well as tips and exercises to help you find work experience and make the most of it, this guide contains success stories from candidates who have landed jobs through work experience placements. You'll get inside knowledge on how and where to get a placement and how to ensure that you emerge with your prospects enhanced at the end of it.

For a limited time you can instantly download a digital edition of the Essential Guide to Work Experience for free (rrp £9.99). Either individually or as part of the GraduateCoach Get A Job Pack.

What is included in the Graduate Coach Essential Guide to Work Experience?

• Each part of the work experience process split into easily understood chunks.
• Easy to follow step-by-step instructions.
• Activities which will help you get work experience.
• Checklists and contact forms that you'll find easy to manage and complete.

Work experience is essential when looking for a job

A few weeks' free experience gives you an essential advantage when it comes to applying for jobs. Your skills and knowledge, not to mention your confidence, will immediately place you above many other candidates, so you'll have a much better chance of earning a larger salary in the long run.

There really isn't a downside to putting a work placement on your CV. If it is in the same industry as the job you are applying for it will show initiative, commitment to the professsion and passion. Even if the placement is undertaken in a completely different industry, it's a demonstration of how quickly you can learn and how proactive you've been in sorting out your future.

The guide includes the following chapters

• Why is work experience so essential?
• Do work experience placements really help your career?
• Before you have a placement
• How and where to get work experience
• How to start securing work experience
• Deciding where to apply
• Deciding which companies to apply for
• Using contacts for networking
• Networking checklist
• Contact details form
• Planning for your placement
• Securing work experience
• Adapting your cover letter and CV
• CV tips
• Cover letter tips
• When you've sent your application
• Interviews
• CV and cover letter checklist
• Trouble getting a placement
• Before you start
• The myths about work experience placements
• During your placement
• If you want to leave
• After you've finished your work experience

Turning Work Experience into a Job

One in five people that complete a work placement are offered a job in the same company, every employer is looking for talented, enthusiastic people to take on. Work experience is one of the best ways of discovering whether, after a bit of scrubbing and polishing, you will slot nicely into one of their swivel chairs. If you know how to it is easy to work this situation to your advantage and get the job of your dreams. You can show any employer that you are the perfect person for the job if you secure the right work experience and complete it in the right way.

This guide will show you how to secure the right work experience and complete it in the right way.

For a limited time you can instantly download a digital edition of the Essential Guide to Work Experience for £9.99. Once your debit or credit card is approved you will be take to a special download page where you will download the ebook.

For a limited time you can instantly download a digital edition of the Essential Guide to Work Experience for free (rrp £9.99). Either individually or as part of the GraduateCoach Get A Job Pack.