I’ve just finished my second year at UCCA Epsom doing Graphics and Benn had done a presentation there about work experience and neoco. The agency looked really impressive, and seeing as it was a digital agency I didn’t think I had a chance to do an internship there, as I have no experience in new media. Nevertheless, I enthusiastically pursued an internship and was fortunate enough to win him over, and here I am, 4 weeks later and writing this blog. All I can say is I’m happy I got to do an internship here and not anywhere else…

Not only are they a nice, funny bunch of people, but they are really good at what they do too. They have taught me a lot during the time I have been here and made it a thoroughly enjoyable experience too. I’ve been active within the design process of real projects and included in brainstorms and client meetings. Not only that, but I haven’t made a cup of tea the whole time I’ve been here. (I bet I will once Benn reads this though!) Do you know how lucky that is? My friend, who is also doing a work placement at another agency, has been shoved in a corner on a Mac and left to her own devices all day. Whether or not I have been of any actual use to them during my time here, I don’t know. But I’m grateful that they recognized my eagerness to learn and that they gave me these chances.

Why don’t all students do work experience in their 2nd year? I suppose that the stereotypical answer is that they are too lazy and lack the initiative to try to find a place. But from my experience, I think that most students find the prospect of an internship quite daunting. It’s a brush with reality and a taste of life after uni which most of them try to avoid for as long as possible. The fact is, I feel that if I had left this opportunity any longer, I would have received a horrible shock and those who put off work experience are fooling themselves.

In my first week, I literally thought I was going to die. It was such a massive shock to the system. Having to get up early everyday, travel into central, work 8 hours and get home around 7.30pm couldn’t be further from the student way of life. I was exhausted. (No wonder so many people go on to do Masters.) If you think that sounds like hard work, the team here work even harder and still have the energy to go out and have fun on a Friday night. I found it got easier as time went by, but I really hate to think how my friends are going to cope when they do work experience. The longer they leave it the harder it is going to be for them, especially as employers are looking out for those who have taken the initiative to do work placements already and are constantly on the lookout for the most talented graduates.

Also, what is the point in doing a degree when so many students come out of university without the necessary skills to be employed into an agency in the first place? Tutors always say that it’s important not to be a ‘Mac monkey’ and it’s all about being creative. But I’ve learnt that, yes creativity is important, but it doesn’t matter how creative you are if you don’t have the skills to be able to implement your ideas then you are going to struggle. I thought that I was quite good on adobe programs before I came here, but I soon realised that I have a lot more to learn before I become anywhere near as good as Mark and LB. We haven’t been equipped with the knowledge to make the transition from education to work and you need to be motivated enough to teach yourself more than the basics.

That’s why it is so important for students to do work experience as soon as possible. University now seems like a cushioned bubble in comparison, and I’m just glad I got this insight now, before I have graduated. Leaving university completely naïve to what it’s really like in the working world, in the design industry, will leave you unaware about your real weaknesses. Students, including me, need to work harder if they realistically want to be of any use to an agency once they finish their degree. I’m just happy that I’ve been fortunate enough to discover this with another year of uni to go, to rectify my mistakes and to improve upon my weaknesses.

All I can hope is that my friends are lucky enough to work in a place like Neoco. It’s great to work somewhere where hard work is rewarded with cinnamon buns, you get to listen to music all day and play rock band at the end of a long week (and they don’t judge you even though you are rubbish at it.) It’s been fun and inspiring, but a real eye-opener too!

P.S. Good luck to Laura in whatever she might do in the future.

New research, commissioned by database software company FileMaker, has found that the IT skills of “generation Facebook” are being wasted at work. 1,000 people who have left full-time education within the last three years were surveyed, and it was found that they generally have a strong confidence in their IT skills, but the organisations they are working for don’t always make the most of these.

The research showed that 82% of the 16 to 18 year olds felt confident about their level of IT skills going in to the workplace – a much higher percentage than the 64% who felt confident about their interpersonal skills. 85% of school leavers and university graduates that took part in the survey were taught how to use PowerPoint software while in their education but only around a third are actually using it at work. Similarly, 88% learnt how to use spreadsheet software but only 65% use it in their job. And, just over half said they had actively looked for creative ways to use technology at work.

Tony Speakman, regional manager northern Europe at FileMaker, has stated: “The generation of people coming into the workplace now have had technology round them all of their lives, so whether it’s Facebook or whether it’s MSN or what it might be it’s second nature to them …” “[To a parent it may seem as though] they seem to waste so much time on these social networking sites but actually what this means when they’re put in front of technology in a business sense they’re in no way intimidated by it and it is second nature to them.” Speakman also said that the “much more positive attitude to IT” of these education leavers is good news for business, adding they are “not there to kill things [IT systems]“.

He warned that businesses are failing to make the most of this innate love of technology: “We’ve all got email and we’ve all got access to the internet and so we probably tend to think we’re completely up to date. But what we’ve tended to do in many businesses is we’ve automated a paper process rather than necessarily look at the capability of the technology that you have and ask if there are even more efficient ways to use it”. To overcome this, businesses should consider doing a skills audit of new recruits and updating job responsibilities to ensure roles are aligned with skills. Speakman said: “If you audit the technology that you’ve already invested in, audit the people that you’ve got and the skills that they have then you could really start to drive some additional productivity improvements – and that goes straight to the bottom line of any business.”

However, the research also found that there is reluctance among businesses to invest in training for graduates and school leavers. Only 12% of respondents had received some formal training at work, while 49% said they had had to make do with on-the-job or unstructured training. Speakman said: “We have a culture that does not invest in training. And it is a cost-related thing in my opinion but that is probably a false economy.” He added: “Companies that are using technology to make themselves efficient, to make themselves responsive, to cut costs and control costs will ultimately be the more successful organisations – so technology will be a significant driver so what we’re saying is let’s make sure we’re using the skills of the people we’re employing.”Businesses have a responsibility to drive IT skills forward as “education very much looks to business” when it comes to setting the curriculum, he said. “If we as businesses up the ante then education will follow,” he added.