Work experience

Salford Futures work experience is aimed at residents aged 16 and over who are not currently in work or education. Whether you have worked in the past or not, we offer support to those who are keen and willing to work but feel held back due to lack of workplace knowledge and/or skills. You may be lacking in confidence, or a situation in the past has stopped you from being able to work, or just the lack of experience within an area in which you want to work. We aim to assist anyone who needs a little help to get them on their feet and into a stable and paid job.

Salford Futures work experience provides people with little or no recent work history the opportunity to do so in a friendly and supportive environment. It consists of a two to four day work placement for eight weeks, where you are given the chance to develop appropriate workplace skills necessary to move into paid work.

We review your placement with your host managers and yourself mid way through your placement, to ensure the placement is going well and meeting your personal development goals. Following which we hold a final review session to evaluate how you viewed the placement overall. This will include feedback from your host manager which can be used as a reference for employment. Getting a good reference from an employer whilst you are on placement may make your job searching run smoother; a work experience reference can help you demonstrate your motivation and commitment to employer despite the opportunity.

Whilst on the work experience we will offer travel support to get you to and from your placement in the form of bus passes; (you may be able to get bus passes from your local jobcentre if you are entitled to do so). Additionally, if you successfully complete the programme you will receive up to £80 in One4all vouchers.

If you are claiming any out-of-work benefit (Jobseeker's Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Employment Support Allowance, Universal Credit or Income Support) and are offered a work experience placement you are advised to inform your Jobcentre Plus adviser to check if this will affect your benefits.

Salford Futures work experience may give you the chance to improve or use your skills in:

• Communication
• Team working
• Customer service
• Telephone skills
• Time management, including prioritising workload
• Problem solving and working on own initiative
• Health and safety awareness
• Equality and diversity awareness
• Develop existing IT skills (Windows, word processing, databases, spreadsheets)
• Ability to work with an organisation's processes and procedures, such as data protection and confidentiality. 

We encourage you to put your existing skills into practice alongside developing and enhancing new ones.

Salford Futures has many different work experience placements available in areas including administration, finance, customer service, catering, childcare, teaching support roles, estate management, fashion and health and social care. For more information, please take a look at our work experience placements booklet at the bottom of this page. 

Please note a Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check may have to be carried out depending on the nature of the job.

Salford Futures run three work placement intakes each year, which normally take place in February, June and October.

Applications for the next intake are now open and close 6 October 2023. The start date will be 30 October 2023.

Once you finish your placement and if you are still looking for employment, we will support you by:

• Registering you with Salford Employment Hub
• Referring to other employers
• Sending you job and apprenticeship opportunities
• Helping you prepare for interviews

If you're interested in applying for a work experience placement, please complete our online form.

Apply now

However, if you have a few more questions and would like to be sent more information, please email Salford Futures.