Work Experience
WS Planning & Architecture provide different types of work experience through our Work Experience Programme. Whether you are an aspiring Planner, Architect, or Architectural Technician we hope to provide an inspiring placement with our Practice. As well as offering work experience in house at our Reigate office we also regularly attend local Careers Fairs and Enterprise Days.
We provide opportunities for 1 week of unpaid work experience at our Reigate office for Students at Secondary School or Sixth Form College throughout the year. We also aim to provide 2 paid work experience placements of up to 6 weeks in the Summer months for Students enrolled on a relevant Degree Course.
If you are interested in the Apprenticeship route to qualification, please follow the link in Why Architecture? below.
For Architectural Graduates (Part 1) seeking a “Year Out in Practice” job, please refer to our Careers page – we are planning to take on graduate as a Part 1 Architectural Assistant from July 2020.
Latest News
June 2020: After a thorough risk assessment, our Reigate office is now partial re-opened in a COVID-secure way to allow for essential work and meetings, However, due to the limited numbers that can use the office and the non-essential status of Work Experience we are still not providing in-office work experience Placements. If you have already secured a Placement then we will be in contact with you soon to discuss whether we can provide the experience remotely or alternatively, when it might be able to go ahead in-office.
Older News
April 2020: Due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak our offices are closed and we are working from home. When we are able to re-open our offices we will be offering work experience Placements initially to those whose Placements had to be cancelled. If you have already secured a Placement then we will be in contact with you in due course to discuss when it might be able to go ahead.
March 2020: Due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, we are no longer accepting Work Experience requests. If you have already secured a Placement then we will be in contact with you shortly before your Placement to confirm whether or not we are able to provide the Placement.
Late February 2020: All unpaid work experience Placements for Easter and mid June through to the end of July 2020 have now been taken. Other Placements are available throughout the year (except the Summer academic holiday period).
January 2020: We have received a large number of enquiries for our Work Experience Programme, from a wide area. We are now only considering Students from the East Surrey, Croydon, Sutton, and Bromley area. Please note that work experience is offered at our Reigate office (and not currently from our Croydon office).
September 2019: We are now welcoming requests for Placements for 1 week of unpaid Work Experience from Students at Secondary School or Sixth Form College for the 2019-2020 Academic Year. We are also happy to receive enquiries about our paid work experience Placements of up to 6 weeks in the Summer months for Students enrolled on a relevant Degree Course.
Over the last 12 months we have provided 10 work experience places for students at Secondary School or Sixth Form College and 1 paid work experience placement over the summer. We have previously attended the Beacon School Careers Fair in Banstead and The Warwick School Enterprise Day in Redhill where we participated in an Apprentice-style workshop with 160 Year 10 students. The Beacon School’s Business Teacher thanked the volunteers from the local business community for making it happen and it was great to hear that the feedback from students was fabulous.
On Friday 8 November 2019 our Planning Director, Spencer Copping, attended The Warwick School to help with Mock Interviews for Year 11 Students. Mrs Loughran, the Business Teacher at The Warwick School thanked all of the volunteers on the day for helping to carry out 160 interviews between 9am and 1pm. She also said “Our students were shining with pride and purpose as they came our of their interviews. They’ve had a really valuable experience, and their confidence boosted; they all took something away to improve on whilst still feeling a sense of achievement. Almost all of them were pretty anxious beforehand, and some were literally vibrating with nerves. This has shown them what they can do.”
It’s great to help out such a forward-thinking school and also very rewarding to work with such an enthusiastic group of students.
The Challenge
Every summer since 2013 we have been involved with the National Citizen Service, which is powered by The Challenge. The Challenge is the UK’s leading charity for building a more integrated society. They work on a local level to bring together people from all ages, ethnicities and walks of life, connecting communities and building trust. Through their three programmes, National Citizen Service, HeadStart, and Step Forward, they bring together people from different backgrounds, building trust and developing young peoples’ employment and life skills.
Our involvement is two fold:
Firstly, we are Enterprise Challenge Partners and meet with an entire NCS Wave (typically 45-60 young people who are split into Teams) and provide information regarding our Practice and how we run our business. In turn we set the wave a challenge to complete in their Teams. Each team then presents the findings of their research and help to provide practical solutions.
Secondly, we assist with the Team’s Social Action Projects by attending their Pitch towards the end of their NCS journey. As a Pitch Advisor we take on a Dragons Den style role whereby each Team will pitch for funds towards their Campaign Day, Sponsorship Day and Volunteer Day.
It’s fantastic to be part of such an enthusiastic organisation that continues to offer amazing experiences for the young people involved from all walks of life. The NCS are always looking for more businesses to step forward and help in their local area so please get in touch if you are able to give even a few hours of your time to help with the NCS programme.
National Citizen Service
Powered by The Challenge
EXAMPLES OF STUDENT WORK AT WS
