By Ben Ward, at Wardraw CAD Servives
This week, my son joined me at Wardraw for his school’s work experience / take your child to work program.
It’s been brilliant having him around — seeing what actually goes on behind the scenes, getting a feel for how projects evolve, and realising that “work” isn’t just about sitting at a desk.
It’s also been a good reminder for me. When you’ve been in the industry for a while, you forget how exciting it is to see things through fresh eyes — when someone’s seeing CAD isnt just a drawing for the first time, or when they finally “get” how a design becomes a real thing or how the documents can be used.
But it’s also made me think about how rare this sort of experience has become.
Years ago, I regularly took on A-Level students. They’d come in for a week or two, I’d show them the basics of CAD, and get them involved in small parts of live projects. It was hands-on and practical — the kind of learning you can’t get from a textbook.
If they showed interest (and a bit of initiative), I’d offer them work over the summer. Some stayed on longer. One even went on to take over from me when I left my role at a previous company!
That kind of opportunity used to be the backbone of how many of us got started. You learned by doing, by being around people who’d been there before you, by understanding how a business actually runs.
These days, though, it’s not that small businesses don’t want to offer work experience — far from it. Most of us would jump at the chance to help young people get their start.
The problem is the sheer number of hoops we now have to jump through just to make it happen. Insurance requirements, safeguarding rules, risk assessments, paperwork — each year it feels like there’s another layer added.
And while every rule has good intentions behind it, together they create a system so tangled that many small firms simply don’t have the time or resources to navigate it.
To make matters worse, many schools and colleges are now turning to “virtual” work experience or running in-house work experience days on campus. While these might tick a box on paper, they just can’t replace being in a real workplace — hearing real conversations, seeing real problems get solved, and understanding how what you learn in school connects to the real world.
That hands-on exposure is what engages young people with their own passions. It helps them see the link between what they’re studying and how those skills actually get used. Without that connection, it’s hard for them to see why their education matters — or what they could do with it.
My Son was lucky! It’s only because I have recently set up Wardraw that he has been able to do it. Otherwise he too would have been stuck on pretend Zoom meetings.
And that’s the real shame. Because for every student who misses out on that early exposure, we lose a bit of momentum. Work experience gives them confidence, perspective, and sometimes even direction for the rest of their career.
It’s also how you build the next generation of talent — the curious ones who ask questions, learn the ropes, and eventually take things further than we did.
So it makes me wonder — have the regulations designed to protect students actually ended up holding them back?
Of course, keeping young people safe is essential. That’s non-negotiable. But there has to be a middle ground — a way to make it easier for small businesses to open their doors without drowning in red tape.
Because if we make it too hard for young people to get that first glimpse of working life, we’re not protecting them — we’re limiting them.
