Work Experience

They say that obtaining a work experience placement these days is as essential to a graduate as it is difficult to obtain. Finding a willing director and studio to participate in this most important of processes requires great effort - and perhaps a bit of luck.

I always envisioned my email as another unwelcome disturbance in a petulant director's mailbox. Baby sitting a student is probably the last job they want to take on as they struggle to reach their real world deadlines. Despite the possibility of a week's free work, there is no guarantee that the student is either a competent designer, or even willing to put in the effort. In spite of this, I persisted to badger studios until I received an offer.

Firstly I want to acknowledge the effort of Elevator for not only sending a reply - which so many others failed to do - but also for understanding the situation of a third year student and giving me the chance to experience the industry. I was aware of Elevator's work from the Link project. Although I was not part of their team, I felt that they had a strong portfolio of brand communications (for me, one of the most interesting fields of design).

During my week at Elevator, I was pleasantly surprised how Steve trusted me to work on live briefs with the rest of the team. It made the placement a valuable experience as I participated with real clients and real deadlines. I emphasise the word 'real' in the previous sentence, as the placement contrasted alarmingly with the projects and processes of the Graphic Communication course at CSAD. We are made aware of this difference by the tutors, but it becomes difficult not to question why the difference exists.

In conclusion to my view on the value of a work experience placement, I have to admit that I have changed my opinion. I have heard stories of students pointlessly trawling blogs for weeks and calling it a placement on their CV, but my experience was extremely valuable to me. If you are lucky enough parcipitate in real work in a studio then it is certain to have a positive effect on your progression as a designer. The success of such a placement appears to be down to the student. As I had taken the time to learn how to use Flash and other software to a high standard, I found that I was equal to the challenges set before me, and am grateful for the positive comments offered to me by Steve Braham. I would like to thank Elevator for replying to my email and making the placement happen, it was a worthwhile experience.