Recognising the value of work experience for young people

Work experience for young people at Cumulus Outdoors

As well as providing a great opportunity to demonstrate their commitment and enthusiasm, work experience provides students with an opportunity to learn more about themselves and their career aspirations while it can also be good preparation for any other opportunity that’s closer to what they want to do.

This year we were happy to have the opportunity to take students from local schools; The Purbeck School and The Thomas Hardye School and further afield from the Davenant Foundation School, working with a maximum of 4 students per week from school years 10, 11 and 12, covering a week in February and 3 weeks in July.

Student’s Schedule

The students’ programme with us comprised the following:

• Welcome on first day, distribution of Cumulus uniform to become part of the work team for the week
• Site tour to familiarise students with site layout, facility locations and site activities
• Meeting key staff members and team leaders to understand the importance of each team in the overall running of the business
• Assist with site preparation for incoming schools and learning about planning and thinking ahead
• Join schools on activities both on and off-site, assisting staff with tidying the dining room and social areas, helping with general site maintenance and gardening, learning about kit care and storage, looking at company paperwork and beginning to understand risk assessments and keeping clients safe
• Complete and present a project to a small number of Cumulus staff to show understanding of the company’s ethos
• De-brief to include feedback from both staff and work experience students

Let’s hear from the students!

The students all appeared to enjoy their experience as much as we enjoyed having them with us. This is what they had to say about their work experience at Cumulus:

“I really enjoyed everything we did throughout the week, whether it was activities or site work and overall had a really great time.”

“Cumulus Outdoors allowed me to not only experience and make many enjoyable memories, but also allowed me to accurately depict the management and teamwork required for a company to run.”

“From my time at Cumulus, I have learnt how everyone works together doing different jobs and different things everyday. How the instructors interact with the children and encourage them to take part in the activities. I’d love to work here in the future.”

“Overall this was a good experience, everyone I met were supportive and friendly, I was able to take part in some of the activities and help set up the equipment.”

“I really enjoyed my work experience time at Cumulus, working around site preparing for schools and learning how different teams work together. I also enjoyed the activities which were great fun.”

Interested in a work experience with Cumulus Outdoors?

We were delighted to have such a great group of young people join our team, even if it was only for a short time. We are always looking for more students to join us as well as new staff. Please get in contact if you would like to arrange a work experience placement with us, call 01929 422480 or email info@cumulusoutdoors.com

If you’re 18yrs old and interested in working with us at our Tented Villages or Residential Centre in Swanage, follow us on our social media or keep checking our website for new vacancies. We’re looking forward to welcoming new faces to the team!

We also have a blog article that explains how to become an outdoor instructor.