FAS work experience coming to an end

Hi all,
My brother has been out of work for a few years after collage. He recently started a work experience "thingy" whereby he can claim his JS and get some experience.

As it currently stands, he likes working in the company and they appear to like him. He is busy and enoying working life again!

His 6 months is nearly up. And he is wondering how to approach the boss in terms of "is there a role for me after 6 months???" .. Not as easy as you may think, in that this is quiet a small company with minimal privacy whereby my brother could quietly call the boss asside...

What is the best way to approach this topic? Or should my brother even ask this question??

Cheers P

This programme has been extended to 9 months. If the company is willing then there should not be a problem.

Oh cheers ElderDog, thats good news..

You might like to think that the boss would ask him to stay regardless but your brother should certainly ask anyway. What's he got to lose?

I'd agree that you need the right environment to raise the issue and that it wouldn't be productive to "ambush" the boss if he/she was busy. However, he could he at least tell the boss that there's something he'd like to discuss and make an appointment to speak privately (somewhere outside the premises if necessary).

Don't forget that the boss is effectively getting free labour at the moment so the decision to keep someone on, even at the minimum wage, wouldn't be taken lightly.

Cheers Staples, I have suggested that - it is hard as there is shared email, no meeting rooms - tiny office.. So it is diffiicult...

I was in this position over 20 years ago. The FAS lecturer or ANCO as it was then told me to tell the employer in a very humble/supplicant manner to take me on as an employee for a few extra months as it would be terrible to be let go with xmas coming up.I was on a course where we were told by the lecturer that he would definetly get everyone jobs so I was disappointed that his strategy came down to this.Anyway I made my case to the employer but was declined.
Was not really surprised as the employer had made it clear at the start. Also all the factories in the estate were inundated with FAS applicants willing to work for free so why put someone on the payroll.

Hi Sunrock, cheers for your response, that is one worry I thing we (my brother and I) have, is that the employer just keeps getting unemployed people to work for him!!

No harm in asking.If there is a 3 month extension,maybe one could go for this...but ask yourself this first.
Would you be willing to work for the extra 3 months of work experience just for the JS with zero chance of been taken on after that? I suppose that depends on how valuable the work experience is.If you are just doing more of the same work you are not learning anything new.Also how related is your work to your qualifications and what are the prospects for work in your industry.
Either way you are going to have a chat with your employer or you could try to get your FAS counsellor to telephone him first to see how the ground lay.You are then going to pull the employer to one side sometime and make your pitch to him that there is a 3 month FAS extension possible and would he be O.K. with that but ideally you`d like another paid month after that i.e. 4 months.Then wait and see what he says.If the employer says O.K. to the extended FAS 3 month only, you know he doesn`t value your work experience that much....he is probably thinking he can get another FAS JS applicant to do the work.If he agrees to the extra paid month then you are onto something in that once the 4 months are up you can ask for anther extension and so on.
It`s a tricky situation for the employer also, as his buisness may be under financial pressure and his employees are probably nervous about you as an unpaid worker doing their work.That said if your work helps the buisness make money...that is the bottom line. Needless to say you must be as pleasant as possible to everyone and impress in your work in what could be your probationary period.

Person should definitely approach the FAS counsellor he has been dealing with to ask about possible extension of WPP or better still if the employer could now take him on as an employee. If the approach comes from FAS the employer will know that if he lets your brother go and then seeks another WPP at least some questions will be asked.