A study identified young people's perceptions of types of activities and other factors at employer sites that lead to excellent and relatively poor learning experiences. Participants in the study were 1103 secondary students in 18 experience-based career education programs in 16 states. The questionnaire administered to the students included open-ended questions on student activities at the site and questions regarding the career being explored and personal career preference. Respondents indicated the degree to which they valued various factors that contributed to a community site being an excellent or poor learning experience. Findings showed that activities at learning sites considered excellent tended to include hands-on experiences, adults who were friendly and helpful, and tasks that had a moderate to high level of responsibility. Discriminant analyses of student responses were also conducted to show different value patterns related to sex, ethnic background, grade point average, and job preference. There were, however, no significant differences in the proportion of site experiences viewed as excellent by different categories of students. Implications for employers focused on improving student tasks--for education practitioners, on student needs and making employers aware of them; and for researchers, on studying paid work experiences and use of the indepth interview format. (YLB)