Work experience is forced on all
school pupils at one time or another, at least in
Britain. The idea is that the pupil will find out what working in the real world is like. As such, she or he is thrust into a business, pretty much at random, for one or two weeks. They don't get paid, and are usually expected to perform all kinds of
menial tasks.
In effect the experience is almost nothing like the experience of working in the real world, unless you have a great hankering to have a job making tea or coffee for the rest of your life.
Some students are lucky, and find themselves in a business that makes a good attempt to provide an authentic working environment for them, and doesn't treat them as lackeys. The Guardian is famous for this.