How one virtual insight day can change a young person’s life

Meet Dilpreet, 17, from West London

Meeting Dilpreet, you’d be forgiven for thinking that she’s in her twenties. She talks with a confidence that belies her 17 years of age and her friendly but professional manner is in keeping with someone far older and more experienced in the world of work.

Dilpreet is in Year 12, studying Level 3 BTEC National Diploma in Business and Level 3 BTEC Extended Certificate in Sport. She’s motivated to do well and has a can-do attitude that means she comes across as someone who has a plan. And when it comes to her career, she really does!

Dilpreet aims to apply for an apprenticeship in Year 13.

As part of our virtual work experience programme, she attended an interactive virtual insight session in Advertising and Marketing with international creative agency RAPP during the February half-term. Dilpreet was so inspired by the people she met and what she saw and heard, that she’s decided on the next step in her career plan already.

The virtual insight session may only have been two and a half hours long, but in that time, RAPP made quite the impression.

Dilpreet has attended insight days and work experience placements with other companies previously, but it’s this one – her first experience facilitated by Speakers for Schools and the briefest of all her employer encounters to date – that has captivated her the most.

In two and a half hours Dilpreet learnt a lot. Much more than she might have imagined.

She learnt about the different departments in the creative agency and the wide range of roles on offer across Strategy, Social & Content, Client Leadership, Project Management, Creative, Design and Marketing Science. She learnt about the sort of clients they work with – big brand clients like Samsung, The Economist and BBC Sport – and she learnt about the variety of problems RAPP solve for them.

She also learnt she could start a career with RAPP by applying for their apprenticeship scheme so that she can earn and learn without needing to go to university.

Dilpreet has a plan now, but because she knows how easy it is to apply for new experiences, she will also keep doing more with Speakers for Schools in the meantime.

She knows our virtual insight days and work experience placements are free and flexible enough to fit around her studies, so she can balance her workload and still benefit from access to UK-wide opportunities from the comfort of her own home.

She now knows what a difference two and a half hours can make to her future and she’s in absolutely no doubt that any time with employers organised through Speakers for Schools is time well-invested.

To help others like Dilpreet, sign up to host work experience.
Or if you’re aged 14-19 and you’d like to get work experience yourself, register now.