Finding Work Experience: Internships, Shadowing and Volunteering
The catch-22, and the way out
Every young person hits the same wall: you need experience to get a job, and you need a job to get experience. It feels like a sealed loop. It isn't — the way out is work experience that isn't a job: internships, shadowing, volunteering, one-off projects. These are how you get the first experience before anyone will hire you for it, and they do three things at once — teach you what the work is actually like, give you something concrete for your CV (CR-01) and portfolio (CR-03), and build the network (weak ties) that leads to the actual job.
The other thing nobody tells you: most of these positions are never advertised. People take on a shadow, an intern, or a helper because someone asked at the right moment — not because they posted a listing. Which means the skill isn't scanning job boards; it's making a good, low-friction approach to the right person. This lesson builds you a target list and the pitch to reach them.
What you'll have at the end
- The four types of experience and which to aim for
- Where the unadvertised opportunities actually live
- A target list of 10 places and a tailored message ready to send
The four types (aim wider than "internship")
- Internship — the most structured, sometimes paid, most competitive. Worth pursuing, but don't make it the only target; the formal ones are the hardest to get with no experience yet.
- Shadowing — spending a day or a few days watching someone do the job. The easiest yes to get, because it asks almost nothing of them, and it's gold: you learn what the work really is and you make a contact. Underrated and underused.
- Volunteering — real responsibility, real skills, a real reference, and causes are usually desperate for help. It counts as experience and often converts into more.
- Projects / freelance-ish — doing a small real piece of work for someone (a website for a local shop, running an event's social media). You can create these yourself, and a finished project is proof you can do the thing.
Early on, breadth and getting in beats prestige. A day shadowing plus a volunteering role teaches you more, and builds more network, than holding out for one competitive internship you may not land.
Where the opportunities actually are
Job boards are the smallest and most-crowded source. Look wider:
- Your existing network first (weak ties). Family, friends' parents, teachers, tutors, people from clubs — not because it's who-you-know cheating, but because a warm introduction dramatically raises your odds, and people genuinely like helping a motivated young person. Tell everyone you know what you're looking for; opportunities surface from surprising places.
- Direct outreach to organisations you admire — even ones not "hiring". A specific, easy ask ("could I shadow someone for a day?") often gets a yes precisely because it's small and no one else thought to ask.
- Professors, careers services, alumni — paid to help and connected to people who take on juniors.
- Local and small organisations, not just big-name ones. A small business, charity or startup will give you far more real responsibility than a big brand where you'd photocopy — and they're much easier to reach.
The approach: make it a small, easy yes
The move (this is a specific application of cold outreach, CR-05):
- Ask for something small and concrete. "Could I shadow you for a day?" or "Could I help with X for a few weeks?" beats "Do you have any opportunities?" — the small, specific ask is easy to grant; the vague, large one is easy to ignore.
- Tailor every message — show you know what they do and why them specifically. A copy-paste blast reads as a copy-paste blast and gets deleted. (Full method: CR-05.)
- Lead with genuine interest, and make it about learning, not "give me a job". People help the curious.
- Follow up once, politely, after a week. Most non-replies are "busy", not "no" — a single nudge converts a lot of silence.
Expect a low hit rate and don't take it personally: this is a numbers game with a good message. Ten tailored approaches beat one perfect one you never send.
Getting the most out of it (once you're in)
- Say yes, be useful, be easy to have around (warmth + competence, SO-05). The reference and the "come back next summer" come from how you were, not just what you did.
- Ask for one real piece of work you can point to afterwards — for the CV and portfolio.
- Build the relationship for later — stay in touch (CR-02); today's shadow-host is next year's reference or lead.
- Reflect on fit. Experience that teaches you a field isn't for you is a success — you learned it cheaply, before committing years.
A note on unpaid work
Some experience is unpaid, and a short shadow or a volunteering stint is normal and fine. But be wary of long, unpaid roles doing real work that should be a paid job — that can be exploitation, and it also quietly excludes anyone who can't afford to work for free. Value your time; a genuine learning opportunity is different from being free labour. (What you're actually owed in a role is a jurisdiction-specific legal question — worth checking locally, not guessing.)
What this means for you
- The catch-22 breaks with experience-that-isn't-a-job: internships, shadowing, volunteering, projects.
- Most positions are never advertised — the skill is a good approach to the right person, not board-scanning.
- Look widest at your network and small/local orgs; direct outreach to places you admire, even if they're "not hiring".
- Ask for a small, specific, easy yes (shadow a day), tailored every time (CR-05), and follow up once.
- Breadth beats prestige early — getting in and learning the field is the win.
- Value your time — a short unpaid shadow is fine; long unpaid real work often isn't.
Exercise (40 min, verifiable output)
- Pick a field or two you want to learn about (you're exploring, not committing).
- Build a target list of 10 places — a mix of your network, small/local orgs, and admired organisations. For each, note the specific person or route in if you can find one.
- Write one tailored outreach pitch (using CR-05): a small concrete ask (a day's shadow, a few weeks' help), why them, and what you'd bring.
- Send at least three this week (personalise each — don't blast the same text).
- Set a reminder to follow up once after a week.
✅ Finish check: a target list of 10 realistic places with a route in, one tailored pitch, and at least three personalised messages actually sent.
Summary card
- Break the experience catch-22 with internships, shadowing, volunteering, projects — shadowing is the easiest yes.
- Most opportunities are unadvertised — approach the right person; don't just scan boards.
- Widen the search: your network (weak ties) and small/local orgs give more real responsibility than big brands.
- Make it a small, specific, easy yes, tailored every time (CR-05), follow up once. It's a numbers game.
- Breadth beats prestige early; be useful once you're in (SO-05) and keep the relationship (CR-02).
- Value your time — long unpaid real work is a flag; what you're owed is a local legal question.
Sources
- Granovetter, M. — The Strength of Weak Ties, 1973
- NACE — Experiential Learning and Employment Outcomes
- Bolles, R. — What Color Is Your Parachute?, 1970
Next lesson: CR-07 — Freelancing: Pricing Your Work and Writing a Proposal That Wins (L3) Related: CR-05 Cold Email · CR-01 The CV That Gets Read · CR-02 LinkedIn · SO-19 Networking Path: related — the "get your foot in" lesson