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Types of jobs

types of jobs on brown

Volunteering is considered to be work experience, a stepping-stone to paid employment.

Work experience and volunteering can:

  • Help you find out what job you might like to do
  • Create opportunities for paid work
  • Provide a chance to learn new skills and practise existing skills
  • Lead to being more confident
  • Add to a CV (a document that tells people what you can do and work experience you have)
  • Provide references
  • Lead to new interests and routines

Organisations that could help you volunteer

Working for someone else

This is when you have paid employment (you get a wage) working for someone else or working for an organisation. This could be working for a large company such as a supermarket, or a small company such as a newsagent.

Working for yourself

Fourteen per cent of the population is, or would like to be, self-employed, including people with a learning disability. Some people set up a small business in addition to some part-time work. Working for yourself can offer opportunities that meet your needs by providing:

  • Pace - the work can be done at a speed to suit you
  • Pattern - at a time of the day/of the week to suit you
  • Place - where you want it to happen

Organisations that could give you information on working for yourself:

  • COBRA (the Complete Business Reference Adviser) can give you guides and factsheets to help you set up your own business
  • Nwes is an enterprise agency that advises and helps startup businesses in the East of England
  • The New Anglia Growth Hub provides information on business startup and business support in Norfolk and Suffolk
  • The Prince's Trust has an enterprise programme for 18-30-year-olds and lots of useful information and downloadable guides
  • Shell LiveWIRE is the UK's biggest online community for young people (aged 16-30) who are starting or running their own business