Case Study - Lucy Porter

Age: 21

Degree course and graduation year: Three Dimensional Design graduate 2005

Where did you do your placement?

Jo Vincent Glass Design. I was a creative assistant involved in designing contemporary lighting. The placement lasted eight weeks.

What made you decide to do a placement in the first place?

Experience, inspiration for my third year, money.

How did you go about finding and securing your placement?

It was a part-time position advertised on the STEP website. I went for an interview and Jo offered me a full-time eight-week STEP placement.

What did the placement involve?

Designing and realising initial contemporary lighting concepts, developing the design and manufacturing the product.

Do you feel you had enough tasks to complete and responsibility in your role?

Yes I was given a lot of responsibility.

What did the work experience make you feel about your career choices?

Very certain. I am now interested in starting up my own business similar to Jo Vincent Glass Design.

What did you find the differences were between being a student and working?

Set working hours. I had to have a more professional attitude.

Was the placement enjoyable?

Yes.

Were there any problems during the placement, and if so how did you overcome them?

No, not really. There were certain aspects I struggled with such as CAD drawings and some of the more technical engineering aspects.

What kind of skills did you develop (either through official training or just generally) and do you feel that these will be useful in your working life after university?

I learned craft skills such as glass manufacture, CAD skills and I feel I have developed my skills as a designer.

How well do you feel you interacted with your colleagues at work? Did you find it difficult because they were older than you were or find that you did not have much in common with people?

I got on really well with my work colleague. I admire her work and respect her as my boss.

Do you feel that your work experience was valuable?

In this business you have to have experience to get experience, so I have a valuable step on the ladder.

How has your work benefited the company, i.e. what kind of projects did you carry out and what kind of a contribution did they make to the company?

I designed a new product and enabled the business to market larger scale products.