School-work alternation programs have become a key component of higher education and a mandatory step towards the final state exam, regardless of whether the student is enrolled in a technical institute, a high school, or a vocational school. Work experience programs are recognized in many countries as key aspects of education.

It can be important for students to prepare a report to submit to the examining committee. This post summarizes the report's content and provides some guidelines on its structure. Often, work experience projects involve IT-related projects, but the information provided here can be adapted to different types of projects and career paths.

Structure of the Work Experience Report

The report does not have to be particularly long; the content should fit into 5 or 6 pages to ensure a good summary. The document should be written using a word processor, using simple, semi-professional formatting. The document must be divided into sections.

The sections of the report will be as follows:

• Introduction
• Process
• Conclusions

Below, we specify section by section what to include in the report, addressing the student who is about to write it directly.

Introduction

The introduction section of the Work Experience report should take up approximately 15% of the report, therefore no more than one page. It has a primarily informative and expository function and provides general data on the period in which the report was written (generally, over the three school years). The path is not always homogeneous over the three years, therefore it is recommended to delve into no more than two experiences, those that you consider to be the most relevant. significant.

For each experience, the data to be reported relates to:

• the host organization, specifying:
  • the name, location;
  • the sector in which you operate, both generally and specifically (e.g., IT, hardware and software sales and repair);
  • the area in which you carried out the activity;
• if any, the general reasons that led you to accept the experience;
• the learning objectives (what you expected to learn from this experience).

Conduct of the work experience

This section of the report should take up about 60% of the report, so 3 or 4 pages. It outlines the activities Completed and describe the outcomes. The description should focus on aspects of the experience related to your studies. The information, presented briefly, should cover:

1. If any, preparatory activities for the activity;
2. Notes on the timing of the activities (times, days of the week);
3. How you integrated into the host organization, your relationships with the external tutor, your work colleagues, and any clients or users you interacted with;
4. The activities that you performed or observed;
5. the skills learned while performing the activities, related to the professional roles and your field of study.
6. if they exist, documents or artifacts - both software and hardware - that embody the skills learned.

In particular, the report should elaborate on points 4, 5, and 6 more than the others.

Conclusions

The conclusions should make up approximately 25% of the report, therefore 1.5 to 2 pages maximum. This section should contain
an argumentative summary of your assessments and reflections on the experience.
It should consider:

1. a list of the skills you acquired during the experience
2. a list of the skills you believe would have been useful to possess, in light of what you observed
3. if there were any, the difficulties you encountered, including those related to the adequacy of your educational background and education;
4. the connection of the experience with your studies;
5. the connection of the experience with your future choices.

In particular, the report explores points 4 and 5. compared to others.

The conclusions clarify and summarize the overall educational value of the experience. In this section, you can clarify your skills and aptitudes, explore professional and/or academic aspects, confirm or refute certainties or opinions, and focus on your future study or work plans.