About Trident work experience

About Trident

Trident is a work experience scheme that all Jersey secondary schools take part in. It is a unique opportunity to experience working life while still at school.

Trident is part of your school curriculum and gives you the chance to:

work alongside adults as part of a team
develop and practice a range of new and essential skills
become more confident in your abilities
relate your school curriculum and qualifications to the work place
make more informed decisions about your future
gain a real understanding of working life and employers’ expectations
build contacts that may help you with future employment

Trident work experience dates

The duration of the placements is two weeks (full time).

School	Dates of work experience 2023
Hautlieu School	30 January to 10 February
Beaulieu Convent School	6 March to 17 March
Les Quennevais School	20 March to 31 March
Grainville School	5 June to 16 June
Victoria College	5 June to 16 June
Le Rocquier School	19 June to 30 June
De La Salle College	19 June to 30 June
Haute Vallee School	10 July to 21 July
Jersey College for Girls	10 July to 21 July

What to think about when choosing your placement

Trident is about gaining basic employability skills.

The most important thing is that you choose something that really interests you. It may be something you are thinking of doing when you leave full time education and you want to see what it's like. Or it may be something you have always wanted to try even though you may not want to take it up as a full time job.

Things to consider:

would you like to be in an office environment or would you rather be outside doing something practical?
would you like to do something that is customer facing or be behind the scenes?

You have to make six choices and you should be willing to be placed at any of your choices.

Some opportunities are seasonal and not all are available for every placement period.

How to apply for Trident

If your placement takes place in the spring or summer terms, you will be asked to make your choices in September or October before your placement.

You will have a briefing at school explaining the scheme and showing you how to access the Trident website to view the available jobs.

You will receive a letter from your school with your username and password. This letter will include instructions on how to apply on the Trident website.

You will be asked to make six choices from a database of around 500 jobs.

It is important that you will be happy with any job you are allocated as once a placement has been confirmed it can't be changed.

Once you have your password you can access the Trident website below to start the application process.

You will need to complete the Trident application form and hand it in to your school.

The Trident website

Arranging your own work experience placement

If the job you want is not in the scheme you can approach an employer to ask if they would consider offering you a work placement. You will need to have all the facts ready including the date and length of your work experience.

You will be able to either download an ‘own placement form’ or your teacher will be able to give you a copy.

Don't forget to attach your completed own placement form with your Trident application form and hand both of these in to your school.

Choosing again

About 20% of students will be asked to choose again. This is because an employer can't take the student at that time.

You will receive a letter sent to your home address from Trident, with instructions. You will need to go online back on the Trident website and look at which opportunities are available.

Once you have make new choices, print your reselection form and return it to the Trident office in the pre-paid envelope provided. You will need to do this as quickly as possible as the remaining jobs are reducing in number all the time.

If you need help to make new selections you can contact the Trident office for advice.

Next steps once your Trident placement has been confirmed

Your information pack will contain:

a blue agreement form
a job description
an information sheet
a letter to your parents

In order to make a good first impression, it's important that you contact the employer as soon as possible to arrange an interview. You will need to get the blue agreement form signed so that you can return it to school in good time.

It's often difficult to get through to people and if so, speak to your teacher or the Trident office.

If you haven't returned the blue agreement form to your school or Trident, you won't be allowed to start work.

Getting the best out of the experience

Remember, having a work experience student is not easy for your employer. There may be times when they need to catch up on their own work. If you find yourself without much to do, don’t complain that you’re bored. Think of something helpful to do and suggest it to your supervisor / team member.

Being interested and enthusiastic are the best attributes you can have. This makes the employer feel that the effort they are putting in is worthwhile and you in turn will get the most out of your experience.

Don’t forget, your employer isn't a teaching establishment there for your benefit. In most cases the employer is a commercial organisation that is expected to show a profit and meet deadlines and targets.