Types of jobs

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

Jobcentre Plus can help you if you are unemployed and looking for work. 'Work Together' is a volunteering programme designed to help you get back into work
Norfolk Industries for Disabled People offers voluntary work experience placements to disadvantaged people within the community
Talent Match for young people aged 18-24 who live in Norwich, who have been out of work for over twelve months
Volunteering Matters who have a Futures Project in Norfolk
Voluntary Norfolk who will help you to find volunteering opportunities that match your interests, whatever they are

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