Gerry Jeffers of the department of education, NUI Maynooth, offers some advice on getting the best out of work experience.

Over the coming weeks, thousands of Transition Year students will enter the workplace for their first work experience module. Transition Year work experience not only gives students a taste of the world of work, it also provides an opportunity to explore career interests. Even a placement that is not a success is beneficial if it helps students to eliminate certain jobs from their wish-list.

For a placement to be a worthwhile learning experience, students need to be well-prepared beforehand and thoroughly debriefed afterwards. Giving students plenty of time for verbal and written analysis of their placement ensures that students get the best out of their work experience module.

Keep a diary

• Describe the company and what it does

• Describe the workplace

• Name all significant people and describe their roles

• List your duties

• Detail any training received

• What did you do at lunch?

• What did you learn about safety?

• What did you learn about trade unions?

• How did you get on with your fellow employees?

• What difficulties did you encounter and how did you deal with them?

• What did you like best/least?

• What was the high point/low point of the placement?

• How do you think you were rated by the boss?

• What did your family make of the placement?

• Are there any job opportunities at the company?

• What school subjects, if any, did you use during the placement?

• What did you learn about yourself as a worker?

• Has the placement influenced your plans for the future?

When you return to school

• Talk individually to a class tutor, guidance counsellor or work experience organiser about your experience

• Make an oral presentation to the class

• Ask your employer to address your class

• Write a personal account based on the diary you kept during the placement

• Write about your experience in a language other than English

Teachers - ask the following

• Did the students' placements meet their expectations?

• Did they value the experience?

• What did they learn?

• What are the skills or personal qualities required for different jobs?

• What differences and similarities are there between work and school?

• Any unexpected outcomes?

• What should a student do next to build a career in the areas they are interested in?

Reports from employers are powerful components in the debriefing process. Where there are serious discrepancies between what the employer's report seems to be saying and the student's account, a follow-up phone call to the employer can help to clarify matters.