HERTS SME first to support Workplace Experience Project
Detector Testers – an SME based in Welham Green - became the first employer in the county to welcome a group of school students to visit them as part of a pilot programme that models Workplace Experiences
The objective of this programme is to reduce the burden on both schools and employers to try and shoehorn traditional 5-day work experience placements thereby providing more sustainable and more impactful experiences that will ultimately improve both the quality and quantity of workplace visits.
Year 9 students from Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School made the short trip to Detector Tester’s buildings and were provided with a site tour, an interactive demonstration of the processes involved and the chance to meet with several members of the team performing a variety of different roles. The activity ran from 9:30 – 12:00 with 14 students from Year 9 attending.
Morgan Fink, Detector Tester’s People Adviser had been keen to find ways of engaging with local schools and students as part of their mission to build local awareness of them as a business and employer while also starting to attract their future workforce.
As part of our ESG strategy, we knew we wanted to engage with schools and young talent in STEM, particularly girls interested in engineering, but it can be hard to know where to start. Working with Herts Services for Young People streamlined the process of connecting with a local girls’ school and facilitating the logistics of setting up a work experience day. It was easy to sign up and they were very flexible to accommodate whatever opportunity we as the employer were willing and able to commit to – whether that be an hour onsite or a week-long experience. Our company really enjoyed hosting a group of Year 9 students for a half-day engineering work experience event and we look forward to partnering with Herts Services for Young People to host similar events again in the future.
The students’ visit brought a real buzz of excitement to the organisation. One of the students told us:
On Monday the 11th of March my group and I travelled to Detector Testers and got to experience a day in the life of an engineer as well as celebrating International women's day. To kick off our day we were welcomed into a meeting room where we discussed travel, the economic state of travelling and most importantly what was the most useful. Not only did we discuss this we also discussed what gcse the members of staff took to become engineers and how Women of Engineering are the future.
After our meeting we went onto our next adventure of the day, seeing the product in action. The product itself was a Smoke Alarm Tester called ‘Testifire’, the reason for this product is to make sure your alarms are ready and set for your comfort and safety, the main buyer for this product is usually for companies, families and workers in the industry of fire alarms.
Not only did we see the final product we got to see all the behind the scenes of how these products were made. We got to see the initial idea through to the prototypes and testings, the stages to create the tester was
- Designing ( all on a computer! )
- Prototypes ( ALl 3D printed to perfection to check sizing )
- Testing ( using the prototypes to test the initial idea works)
- Selling ( producing mass products and selling the worldwide )
Being able to see the behind the scenes made my teams and I realise how much engineers put in to get the final product that is a simple click away for their buyers. So many different jobs are needed to create one project is mind blowing, we even got to try to be engineers by building structures made of our splints and straws to hold eggs and weights. The staff helped us along the way giving us helpful tips and support speeches throughout our building process.
When the day came to an end, my team and I decided to review the day and see what we have learnt.
In conclusion what we had learnt was that so many months go into one idea and many different people who have talents in all aspects of engineering help to make the idea a reality. Over all it made us have a glimpse of the engineering world or if our dreams lead us somewhere else. Either way we found the day very helpful to understand what engineers actually did and how they went about it, we thoroughly enjoyed it.
Julia Higgins – Careers Leader at Bishops Hatfield was equally as impressed with the visit.
Our girls got so much out of this workplace experience. They discovered a local employer that they had never heard of before and by being able to physically visit helped them to understand that local opportunities exist. The session was really well planned and allowed the students to experience a real-life working environment. The Detector Tester team were very friendly and generous with their time. The experience has been really impactful and the girls have been keen to tell others about what they saw and heard about.
Gareth Dace – Careers Hub Strategic Lead said:
We’re delighted to learn about this workplace experience and how it has generated such great impact for both employer and school. When well-planned, a one-off experience like this can be just as impactful as the traditional 5-day work experience. I hope that more employers, particularly SME’s who want to engage with schools will be able to take this blueprint which will lead to mutually beneficial relationships going forward.
Before the end of July 2024 Hertfordshire Careers Hub, in partnership with Services for Young People is tasked with providing 2000 students with a workplace experience. A workplace experience allows a student to see first-hand a working environment while gaining knowledge and understanding of different career roles and pathways. If you could offer a similar experience please contact us…..
Challenges addressed:
- Increasing employers’ awareness of innovative practices relating to experiences of the workplace and recognising best practice.
- Bespoke support for SMEs to deliver experiences of the workplace models which align with their capacity to engage.
- Overcoming logistical barriers associated with experiences of the workplace such as timing, duration and model of delivery.
