A MAJOR employer is offering virtual work experience to give young people a head start to a STEM career.

Siemens has redesigned its programme to overcome the barriers of conventional placements such as geography, mobility, financial, and inflexibility due to school or employer timings.

Partnering with Springpod, a careers platform which connects young people with employers and education providers, Siemens is running an interactive two-week programme.

This includes modules with activities, pre-recorded videos, quizzes and live webinars.

The first virtual work experience programme ran in April and introduced 700 young people to the world of engineering and technology, showing how Siemens is paving the way towards a more sustainable future.

Now a second round for 14 to 18-year-olds will be running from June 28 until July 11.

Brenda Yearsley, education development manager, Siemens GB&I said: “Work experience is an essential step for young people to test-drive and get insights into their future career and develop the skills necessary for the workplace.

“In more ordinary times, we would host students through in-person work experience to facilitate this demand. But the pandemic made us rethink how we could continue to offer this valuable experience to young people.

“It has been fantastic working with Springpod to deliver a programme which has been able to reach more young people, increase diversity and inclusion, inspire a career in STEM, and showcase Siemens as a career path.

“There has been huge demand for our programme from all corners of the UK.

"We are delighted to be able to offer more school and college students the opportunity to learn about what we do at Siemens.”

Participants will cover areas such as engineering, technology and business services such as legal, marketing and finance.

Apply at www.springpod.co.uk/experience/siemens-virtual-work-experience