Questions about Not Impossible

Not Impossible sets up free, one-hour virtual microplacements between young people aged 16 to 25 in Bristol and Bath and professionals at more than 50 employers. You don't just chat. You work on a real task from the host's actual job, get feedback, and leave with a contact who knows what you can do. It's free for young people. Employers pay for their staff to take part as hosts.

A microplacement is one hour of online work experience, one to one, with a professional in a job you're curious about. You work on a genuine task from their day, such as preparing a pitch, analysing their social media or building a simple prototype, and they give you feedback on it. You also get time to ask your own questions. It's real work, not a talk or a tour, and it fits around lectures and shifts.

Not Impossible was founded by Luke Ashman. The team is based at Gather Round in Bath and works with young people and employers across Bristol and Bath.

No. Not Impossible runs independently of any university, school or careers service. A careers service gives you advice. Not Impossible introduces you to a real person doing the job you're curious about, for an hour, one to one. Many schools and colleges work with us and nominate their students, so it sits alongside the careers support you already have.

Yes. Young people never pay to use Not Impossible. There are no fees and no hidden costs. Employers pay an annual fee so their staff can host, which is how microplacements stay free.

Register at teamnotimpossible.com/for-young-people and pick the sectors you're curious about. Not Impossible then starts lining up hosts for you. It takes a few minutes and it's free. If you're under 18, you join through your school or college instead.

Because the work is real, even online. Before your microplacement, Not Impossible gives you a short task based on your host's actual job. You work on it beforehand, then go through it together in the hour and get feedback from someone who does that work every day. The rest of the hour is for your questions. If you and your host both want more, some hosts then offer an in-person day at their workplace.

You won't need to fill the hour with small talk. Your task gives the hour its shape: you talk your host through your work and get their feedback. Before the microplacement you also pick the questions you want to ask, and you can add a mock interview, a CV review or a LinkedIn review. If you don't have a CV yet, you can start one together.

One hour for the microplacement, plus some time on your task beforehand. It's online, so it fits around lectures and shifts. Not Impossible does the matching, the scheduling and the reminders. The microplacement is transcribed, so you don't need to take notes. You get a written summary of what you talked about afterwards.

You don't need a CV, contacts or previous experience to do a microplacement with Not Impossible. You choose the employers and roles you're curious about, and Not Impossible introduces you to someone who works there. If you're 16 to 25, live near Bristol or Bath and are eligible, it's free.

Usually two to four weeks from signing up to your microplacement with Not Impossible. It depends on your hosts' diaries and the times you're free.

Let Not Impossible know as early as you can and we'll find a new time with your host. Hosts sometimes need to move a microplacement too, so it's not a problem. Microplacements run on weekdays.

Not Impossible works with young people aged 16 to 25 who live near Bristol or Bath, have the right to work in the UK, and were state-educated or home-schooled. It's for young people from backgrounds where the right contacts don't come easily. We check this with the postcode you grew up in, or with your background, for example if you're a care leaver, a young carer, first in your family to go to university, or got free school meals.

No. You can sign up whether you're at school, college or university, working, or none of those.

Not yet. Microplacements are open to young people who live near Bristol or Bath. It's where you live that counts, not where you study. If you live somewhere else, you can join the waitlist.

Not Impossible uses the postcode where you grew up as a starting point. Postcodes in the 60% most deprived areas of England (deciles 1 to 6 of the Index of Multiple Deprivation) qualify straight away. If yours doesn't, you can still take part if you're a care leaver, a young carer, first in your family to go to university, got free school meals, or have a refugee background. A postcode doesn't tell the whole story, which is why those options exist. If none of them apply, you can join the waitlist.

Yes, if you're 16 or 17 and your school or college works with Not Impossible. Under-18s join through a partner school or college, not on their own. If your school hasn't signed up yet, ask your careers leader to get in touch at hello@teamnotimpossible.com. Once you're in, we keep a parent or carer informed and copy your school or college into emails about your microplacement.

Yes. A microplacement lets you try a specific job before you choose it: you do a real task from that role and get feedback from someone who does it every day. It complements the work experience you already have. You can do several to compare careers before choosing one.

Every microplacement is a one-hour video call on Microsoft Teams that Not Impossible sets up, and it is transcribed. Hosts agree to clear rules before they join: they don't share personal contact details, they only contact you through Not Impossible or LinkedIn, and they never arrange to meet outside the placement without approval from your parent or carer and your school or college. Not Impossible has a written safeguarding policy and a named safeguarding lead. You can report any concern to safeguarding@teamnotimpossible.com.

Tell us when you sign up or in your prep form. You can share any health, access or support needs, and we only pass them to your host with your consent, and only what they need to know. The prep form also asks what you're nervous about, so your host knows how to make the hour comfortable.

Not Impossible uses your questionnaire answers to match you with hosts. Your host and their employer see your name, the strengths you chose to describe yourself, your questions and, afterwards, your feedback. We remove contact details from your CV before anyone sees it, and we never share your ethnicity with employers. Your information is kept for three years after you stop using Not Impossible.

Your microplacement is transcribed so you don't need to take notes. Not Impossible uses the transcript to write a summary of your conversation, which you and your host can both read. AI tools help with the typing-up and the summary, and under our agreements those companies can't use it to train their own systems.

Not Impossible hosts work in engineering, law, green energy, tech, consulting and more, across more than 50 employers in Bristol and Bath. If the exact job you want isn't there yet, tell us: trying a task from a nearby role is often just as useful, and plenty of young people find a career they hadn't heard of.

It can. You leave every microplacement with a contact who knows what you can do, because they've seen your work, not just your CV. Employers use Not Impossible to meet young people they might hire, judged on the task rather than on who they know.

Yes. Your host writes you a reference, and you earn a Not Impossible award to list on your CV: Bronze after one microplacement, Silver after two, Gold after three or more. You can share it on LinkedIn too.

You can book another whenever you like, with a different host or a different career. If you and your host both want to carry on, they may offer an in-person placement at their workplace, from a morning to a full day, and Not Impossible organises it.

It's one hour, with no ongoing commitment on either side. Some hosts offer a follow-up in-person placement, and you can stay in touch through LinkedIn and some offer ongoing mentoring too.