Work Experience

[madferit101]

Anybody in the North West/Manchester area know of anywhere suitable to fulfill 90 hours worth of work experience in a industry related environment? Cheers, Madferit101.

[ferretwrangler]

Doing what? In other words what areas do you want experience in?

 

Also are you over 18? It makes the chances a great deal better if you are.

[madferit101]

Sadly under 18... It's needed for my BTEC production arts course so anything related to Technical Theatre. Even hire companies count as industry related.

[gareth]

Lots of options around Manchester - venues and hire companies. Who have you been in contact with so far?

[paulears]

Interesting - wonder why they put this requirement into your course, when it's clearly impossible for so many people? 90 hours is also a HUGE block of your time, and not required by the programme, so it's very nice to get it, but by no means essential. Many venues also severely restrict the activities anyone under 18 can take part in, which although understandable, is a shame.

 

You can also drop a big clanger like I did, with a 16 year old, when the show content is a little er, awkward - and you didn't expect it. Hence why some venues are less keen.

[Jivemaster]

Also Theatre joins abotiors and a few other places that are prohibited for the employment of young people. A hire company may be a help.

[scjb]

<cynic> Well that's 90 hours of course content that doesn't have to be created... </cynic>

[paulears]

With such a push on reducing contact hours, I'm somewhat on the fence on this one - and the problem with prohibited places only applies to those in full time education - although the Theatre Royal in Norwich have never heard of this bit of the law, nor have Norfolk County Council who send school kids under 16 there for work experience, totally against the law because nobody knows!

[andy_s]

I'd say most people working in the work experience industry are ignorant of this "law" (in quotes because it seems it's honoured more in the breach than the observance). When I was venue-based (in London) we would get many many requests from teachers and agencies (and parents, godparents, friends of friends etcetera ("don't worry dear, I know someone in the business and will pull some strings for you"***) for work placements for pupils in what I persist in calling the fourth and fifth years (pre GCSE).

 

90 hours doesn't seem terribly excessive for a work placement to me, it's not much more than 1 day a week for a term. That would mean the tutors still had to think up content for the other four days in the week ( assuming it's a full time course)

 

*** I will hold my hands up to being entirely guilty of this as I once gave a work experience placement to my cousin when she was seventeen, at the request of her dad, my uncle. She was very keen, did performance and youth theatre stuff, volunteered as a steward at her local theatre in Brighton, etc etc, but she hasn't pursued a career in theatre, far from it. Maybe the experience put her off!

[madferit101]

Thanks for all your advice, it looks like hire companies or Am Drams!

[top-cat]

Have you actually asked the theatres themselves rather than the internet experts?

 

The big theatres in Manchester have more than likely had a lot of requests before. Someone there will know the official answer. Ring the stage door, see if the SM can give you a call back at a good time, if they have any system in place for technical work experience, the SM will know what it is.

 

You also have the O2 academies there, and then there are of course some hire companies. Rob at Audile is a top bloke and even if he can't offer you anything he's the sort of person who will provably try to help you rather than just putting the phone down.

[the kid]

Dept for schools children and family, produce a bunch of rules on what is allowed and not allowed as EMPLOYMENT, specific bylaws may dictate in some areas that is is ok to employ.

 

HOWEVER it does say about health and safety "involving a risk which cannot be recognised or avoided by young persons because of their lack of attention to safety or lack of experience or training; this is likely to mean that any employment involving the use of sharp knives or slicers will be prohibited;" so that depends on how it is seen by someone else.

 

It's worth noting that the rule I have always known is "if you are likely to see an animal dead or be killed, or a person dead or naked/in a state of undress, you cannot do it as work experience. "

 

 

You will most likely find your establishment has a contact who knows the local rules, we had a bunch of issues as no one knew them inside out. Remember Risk assessments have to be done possibly D&B checks, etc etc. BUT as a company if you are cleared you can have people all you like. I think there are even companies who JUST deal with work experience now, remember checks have to be made even for a 2 week block of experience.

[vinntec]

Thanks for all your advice, it looks like hire companies or Am Drams!

There at least three "Little Theatres" in Manchester. Have you tried them (lookup Little Theatre Guild)? These are theatres which are owned by an amateur society - some of them are quite large (at least one of these if I remember correctly). You would probably have to be a member and might have to be >16 to be covered by the normal insurance but worth having a look at?

[paulears]

Perhaps a daft question, but if your college are suggesting 90 hours of work experience, maybe they have some contacts in place to make it happen. If everyone is looking for work on the course to satisfy the rule, they're going to be stuck, without some kind of system in place.

 

Biggest snag will be explaining you want to do real work, not just be there which is the school version? After all, at 17 you could be working properly, with money!

[Junior8]

I agree with Paul. IMHO it is not you who should be looking for the placement. The institution offering the course should have these available ready checked and so on and assign students to them. Without this they have no idea a) whether there will be sufficient availability at all and b) whether the venue that takes you on will provide the kind of experience you need. I think you need to go and ask the course providers some very clear questions about just what they are expecting you to do and what help they will give you. Otherwise you could easily devote 90 hours to getting yourself fixed up! I was in at the start of work experience in the maintained sector and I can tell you it was never intended to be an initiative test for the participants!