A year in industry

We’ve had two degree students Sam and Harvinder (Harvy) working with us for almost a year now and as their placements near their end we thought it would be worth taking a little time out to ask them about how they got on during the year, some of their likes, dislikes and most importantly how good they are at making tea!

How have you found your placement year at KMP?

Sam

Great, I’m sure that it might surprise some to hear me say it, with some of the muttering I do when I receive a new HTML Emails but honestly I wouldn’t change it. It has been an excellent learning experience with a steep learning curve and that’s what I wanted to get out of the placement.

Harvy

This have been a real eye opener for me. I can definitely say I have learnt more during this year than at any time at university. While university has given me the foundations in my field (coding and network systems), at work you put what you have learned to real practice. And it is not as if I have been working on just small scale projects (much like at university) I have been working on large scale systems like Manchester Airport, at first I was in awe of the scale and legacy of the system and I was scared of touching the code when it came to putting a change live, especially as the site is used by thousands of visitors a day.

So how has your work placement been different from university?

Sam

I feel that one of the main differences for me was the process involved with creative work. I initially wasn’t used to the process of having to get my work approved by another person, in university all of the work is my own or my groups and when coming into KMP and working for large clients I realised that there were strict guidelines which followed some briefs. This process was new to me and also had an impact on my time because i would produce numerous final versions where as at university I was used to sketching out ideas and only having to produce one final product.

Harvy

The main thing is that the workload is very different. In university everything is more laid back, with maybe a deadline once a week (obviously depending on the course). But here we turn things around in a fraction of the time, as this is what our clients require. I have found myself actually enjoying the pressure of conforming to deadlines. It’s like having an adrenaline rush but with the satisfaction you get from completing it on time. Also I have to interact with a variety of people, the first project I worked on involved me talking to a development team in Poland and a manager in Ireland.

What will you take from this placement back to university?

Sam

As I have mentioned I have had to improve my time management skills this year to keep up with the fast pace that the company works at. Another aspect I will take from it is my dedication to a project. I now have a realisation of how important the testing phase of a project is when you are catering for sites that such a large and varied user base.

Harvy

Definitely the time management and the pressure of working to a deadline. I will try and incorporate that into university life, along with the partying, of course. I am really surprised at how much work I have done in such a small amount of time (I guess I must have been lazy at university). I think this has provided me with motivation to do better in my course and work faster (thus giving me more time to party!).

How do you find dealing with different people in the company?

Sam

The benefit of working in a small studio is the chance to interact with all the different departments. Working within the creative team meant that I quickly got to understand their working methods and personalities and quickly found how they work differently to other departments. I have had to try understand the different roles the other departments have and try to produce work in accordance to their needs. I have learnt a lot about how people work in different ways and how a certain method of communication might not be the best for everyone.

Harvy

Having never worked in an agency before so it was interesting to see how everything fitted together. So, how you would have a sales team that would get the contracts and then CSM (client service managers) that provide the first point of contact for clients, followed by how the studio works together. The designers would mock up a page, then the development team would try to recreate the design with html and run the logic behind it. I was lucky in that I had a chance to deal with nearly all aspects of the company, so I has a chance to see how everything knitted together. I don’t think people have that kind of chance or experience.

How many tea rounds did you make?

Sam

I have dreams you know, dreams of making the greatest tea in the world. People would flock from the four corners of the earth to see me make tea but no one would be able to recreate it. Yeah that’s how good I am.

Harvy

What is this tea you speak of ROFL
One.

If you’re interested in doing a years placement at KMP then please get in touch via email or phone.