Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wiktionary
n. A short unpaid period of time at a workplace, to gain experience of a working environment.
Wikipedia
Work experience is any experience that a person gains while working in a specific field or occupation, but the expression is widely used to mean a type of volunteer work that is commonly intended for young people — often students — to get a feel for professional working environments. The American equivalent term is internship.
Though the placements are usually unpaid, travel and food expenses are sometimes covered, and at the end of the appointment, a character reference is usually provided. Trainees usually have the opportunity to network and make contacts among the working personnel, and put themselves forward for forthcoming opportunities for paid work.
Many employers in the more sought after professions (e.g. TV, politics, journalism) demand that every new entrant undergo a period of unpaid "work experience" before being able to get paid work.
Work Experience is a 1989 British short comedy film directed by James Hendrie. It won an Academy Award in 1990 for Best Short Subject.
"Work Experience" is the second episode of the second series of The Inbetweeners. It first aired on 9 April 2009 on E4.
Usage examples of "work experience".
He'd taken a sneak peek at her personnel records and her work experience sure didn't explain it.
This decision should be made either after some work experience in which you naturally are exposed to a variety of careers, or through business education, which can range all the way from reading business books and newspapers to entering an MBA program.
Barbara tried to jot down some notes on her work experience on a piece of the printer paper beside the typewriter.
Furthermore, as Wah-chang was the senior of the two in work experience, it would have been presumptuous of his replacement to seek error in his counterpart's work, not to mention wasteful and time-consuming.