Placement Q&A’s 19 – 20
This year’ s students share some of their thoughts, experiences and hopefully give advice to those of you who may well be looking to follow the same path.
Sarah Gregory
Which company(s) did you do a placement with and how long for?
Glorious Creative (2 months), Next Big Thing (4 months), Purple Creative (1 month).
What’s the most important thing you learnt from your placement(s)?
Experiencing how the creative industries work and increasing my speed of working. An agency is much faster paced with a lot more deadlines than what you’re used to at university, so I had to learn quicker ways of doing things in order to keep up.
How did you find accommodation and how much did it cost?
I found both my places in Manchester and London through Spare Room. My accommodation in Manchester (I lived in Chorlton) was £450 per month (bills included) and my accommodation in Limehouse, London was £600 per month (bills not included).
What were you asked in the interview?
My interviews were very chill and felt more like a chat about my portfolio than anything. I was sometimes asked my reasoning behind my work and sometimes about what I knew about the agency in question – it’s important to research!
What did you ask in the interview?
I didn’t have any pre-written questions, but we had a chat about what would be expected of me as a placement student.
Did you get paid and roughly how much?
Yes, at Glorious Creative I was paid £600 per month. At Next Big Thing I was paid around £1300 per month and at Purple I was paid £1000 per month, however I was working from home at that point so had almost no expenses.
What was the most unusual thing you did?
DEFINITELY had to be working from home. I was in London during the midst of lockdown and had to take the Mac home with me and create my own workplace set up. An experience I will never forget!
What experience from your placement(s) are you going to put into practice, now you are back at university for your final year?
Not getting so hung up over an idea you’re not sure will work and being capable of explaining and defending your work when you do have an idea. Moving through the design stages faster and being more precise when constructing your work from the get-go. “Measure twice, cut once”. It gives you space for making less mistakes further along the design process. And possibly the biggest one for me – file organisation! I look at my old “file organisation” (if you can call it that) from first and second year now with horror and will be re-organising it all eventually!
How important do you think a placement has been to help further your design education?
VERY important. I have learnt so much this past year it’s crazy, even with losing some time in London due to the pandemic, I know so much more than I did this time 12 months ago, more than I would have ever learnt trying to teach myself.
With hindsight, what advice would you give to a fellow student embarking on a placement?
Ask questions. If you don’t know how to do something, or see something that somebody else has done and want to know how they did it, just ask. You’re an intern and you’re there to learn so don’t be afraid to ask questions. If you don’t ask you might never know. Be curious – if you’ve finished your work, go around and talk to people and see what they’re doing, but don’t be annoying! Go to events – nights out, pub lunches, Friday drinks – take every and all opportunities to chat and get to know your team. Don’t always expect you’re going to leave bang on time, deadlines and pitches happen and sometimes you’re going to be there late. Everyone loves it when you offer to make brews, so get your tea and coffee making skills up to scratch!
Holly McNicholas
Which company(s) did you do a placement with and how long for?
2 Months with Glorious Creative.
What’s the most important thing you learnt from your placement(s)?
Don’t underestimate yourself, you’ll have more to give the people around you than you realise when you start and all the stuff like working fast will just come naturally with time.
How did you find accommodation and how much did it cost?
I used the website Spareroom which was brilliant for finding a room to stay in when it was for shorter periods of time opposed to a full year. I found a room for £450 a month in Eccles for Manchester but there were cheaper (and way more expensive options), it just depends where exactly you go and what you’re after.
What were you asked in the interview?
It’s good to have an idea about your favourite projects and why, but the most curveball question I got asked was about what my projects said about me and I’m still working out the answer to that. The main thing I found however is that the interviews tend to all be quite relaxed and any questions you get are just an opportunity to chat and let the interviewer get a feel for you as a person. I even got some advice on my projects which was nice!
What did you ask in the interview?
I asked about their availability on taking placements and if what they offered was paid. It can feel cheeky but it feels important to know where you stand if you feel up to it, all the agencies I asked were honest with me and weren’t offended as long as it’s conversational and not too abrupt.
Did you get paid and roughly how much?
I got paid £150 a week/£600 a month at Glorious.
What was the most unusual thing you did?
I ended up having to order loads of paint swatches to find a way to translate the logo we had made from digital into Dulux paint because the client was working in the colours they were physically painting their space. I have never spent so much time looking at a paint website in my life.
What experience from your placement(s) are you going to put into practice, now you are back at university for your final year?
It’s changed the way I will be approaching work in the sense that I will spend less time debating over ideas and more time developing them and researching further. Also so many keyboard shortcuts, they make everything happen that bit quicker and it really feels like it adds up.
How important do you think a placement has been to help further your design education?
You get what feels like a headstart on what you’ll do when you graduate, you’ve met people in the industry and have tried out the workplace before you need to commit to anything, it also really puts working through uni into perspective and changes to way you work to something closer to an agency studio even in day to day design. For me it gave me something really solid to aspire toward because you get to try it, go back to uni, and are left itching to do it again.
With hindsight, what advice would you give to a fellow student embarking on a placement?
Relax into it, the placement wants you there if you are interning there, but also equally if you’re not getting anything back or struggling it’s not always a reflection on you personally. (...Sometimes it’s a global pandemic.)
Andy Wilson
Which company(s) did you do a placement with and how long for?
True North (6 months)
Butterfly Cannon (1 month)*
SQUAD (3 months)*
* Cancelled due to Covid
What’s the most important thing you learnt from your placement(s)?
That you find creativity and ideas literally anywhere.
How did you find accommodation and how much did it cost?
I just searched the web for places in Manchester and came across somewhere in the city centre, it was quite pricey, around £1000 a month. But given I’d been saving up money from working the year prior, the money from my placement and not having to shell out on travel, it worked out quite nicely.
What were you asked in the interview?
Just the usual things you’d expect, what was the brief, how’d you come to the solution, what you liked and disliked, etc. Although I was thrown a slight curve ball once about one of my projects, so I had to stand my ground and use my knowledge of the project to verbally defend it. So it’s always great to show belief and know your work inside out.
What did you ask in the interview?
The question I found myself asking a lot on interviews was, what was their favourite project they’ve worked on? Or what are they currently working on? With so many people in the industry being past UCLan students it’s nice to hear what projects they worked on whilst in your position, and any tips they can pass onto you.
Did you get paid and roughly how much?
I was paid £433.33 a month
What was the most unusual thing you did?
In terms of actual work, I found myself lugging and photographing cardboard boxes around Blackpool on a blustery cold November day on my own, as these were to be used as mockups for Blackpool’s SHOWTOWN. It was a painful and frustrating day given conditions, however seeing them feature on design blogs such as Design Week and Creative Boom made it all worth it.
What experience from your placement(s) are you going to put into practice, now you are back at university for your final year?
Work smarter not harder, before placement I was like a dog with a bone when it came to an idea, I’d run an idea into the ground because I had tunnel vision for it. That kind of mentality will get you nowhere in the industry, you’ve got to know when to cut ties and move on to the next idea, because the next one is always the best one.
How important do you think a placement has been to help further your design education?
Extremely important!! Placement really made my initial thoughts concrete, that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. And the people you meet on placement are only more than happy to give you little nuggets of advice, guidance and connections with people in the industry that you wouldn’t otherwise get, so you literally cannot put a price on your placement year (unless you study at UCLan, then the price would be £9000 a year).
With hindsight, what advice would you give to a fellow student embarking on a placement?
The best advice I can give would be the advice I got from Steve Royle at True North on my first day. “There is absolutely no pressure on you whatsoever.” Which you already know heading into your placement yaear, but having someone in the industry take you to one side and tell you that, it just settled me down and allowed me to do my best work. Also never stop questioning things (be a sponge), you’re there to learn at the end of the day, even simple stuff, ask so you need not ask again.
Dominik Dzik
Which company(s) did you do a placement with and how long for?
Saffron, 11 Months
What’s the most important thing you learnt from your placement(s)?
A different way to look at branding. I originally saw it essentially as a coat of paint across a company. But now I realise it can be more than that, something that express the entirety of the company, their goals, it can be guidance for how they should move forward, how they should engage their staff, etc etc. The visual side is only part of the picture.
How did you find accommodation and how much did it cost?
At first, I stayed in a hostel, but then found a flat with other people on placement, about £450 a month excluding bills
What were you asked in the interview?
Questions about my projects, how I came to my ideas and where I could push them further. Seeing how much I know about branding, and also seeing if I would be a good fit socially, I assume.
What did you ask in the interview?
About their work mostly, how some of my favourite projects of their’s came to be.
Did you get paid and roughly how much?
Yes, £1252 a month.
What was the most unusual thing you did?
When it came to decorating the new office, with things like bike racks and vinyl logos on the door, I did both the measurements and lay outing but also had to physically take pictures of the spaces and make accurate photoshop mockups so everyone can see exactly how it would look. Using mockups to visualise the end product obviously isn't unusual, but it was cool to have to measure out each bike and figure out the best layout, visualise it accurately onto images exact to a centimeter, and then see the results of it immediately (which I just missed, hopefully they put the bike rack up :) )
What experience from your placement(s) are you going to put into practice, now you are back at university for your final year?
Definitely having a much wider view of what branding is. When I'll be approaching a branding project, I won't just think visually, but also about the wider brand concept and strategy, their values, I'll try to make the apps more realistic and make sense. The ads follow some kind of actual brand guideline rules. Just in general, try to raise my work up to an industry standard.
How important do you think a placement has been to help further your design education?
Essential, I think. I've learnt a huge amount in university, which meant I had a foundation of knowledge to fall back on, but being put into the pressure of a real life brief and projects with deadlines and having to deliver actual real projects definitely helped me build on that foundation.
With hindsight, what advice would you give to a fellow student embarking on a placement?
From what I heard of stories of bad interns, it mostly comes down to being unreliable, and if you manage to be an intern they can trust to deliver, you'll be set. This is advice I got from Craig and Drew too, so it's backed up. Things like don't be late, try to create something amazing for each piece of work they ask you to do, and if you can't at least deliver something that's at a working standard. Deliver everything on time. If you put yourself in their shoes, you'd want an intern who you wouldn't have to worry about.
One more thing, try your best not to stay in a hostel. They're cheap, they're usually fine, but never having any private space and time really drains you creatively. Physically you'd be totally fine staying at a hostel, but mentally it will slowly take a toll and you don't want that on your first year of the industry.
Dylan Carr
Which company(s) did you do a placement with and how long for?
Pearfisher for 3 weeks
Butterfly Cannon for 1 month
Squad for 1 month and a half
What’s the most important thing you learnt from your placement(s)?
This question is too hard to answer. Placement is worth its weight in gold and everything I learned was as important as the next.
How did you find accommodation and how much did it cost?
I was extremely lucky. Joe Leeney, a fellow student, let me take his floor for my entire time at Pearlfisher and Sarah Gregory and Dom Dzik had a spare room going during my time at Butterfly Cannon and so we split their monthly rent between the 3 of us while I was there. I think it cost me £240 for the month which is just stupidly cheap for London.
What were you asked in the interview?
I was asked what my favourite project was in every interview I had. Studios seem extremely keen on hearing your answer to that and you reasons why. I lost a placement at Music in Manchester because of that question.
What did you ask in the interview?
I wanted to know how I would be used if I was to get the placement. I didn’t want to go through the stress of relocating and all the rest of it if I was going to turn up to the studio everyday just to sit there and make tea. I made sure they promised I would be working on real projects. They seemed to enjoy the fact that I was relishing the chance to get my teeth stuck in.
Did you get paid and roughly how much?
Pearlfisher was £280/w
Butterfly Cannon was £320/w
Squad was £100/w bearing in mind it was in Manchester
What was the most unusual thing you did?
I was asked to go to the tailor to pick up a senior designers coat. I hated that. I felt that the request implied that I was dispensable to the studio and so I stepped my game up big time after that and I was never asked to do anything like that again.
What experience from your placement(s) are you going to put into practice, now you are back at university for your final year?
It’s actually comical how much your mindset changes on placement. You’re constantly trying your best to prove you are worthy to the studio and so you never let your work level drop. Im bringing that work ethic back with me.
How important do you think a placement has been to help further your design education?
Again, worth it’s weight in gold. I cannot tell you how important it has been, not just for my skillset but my mindset.
With hindsight, what advice would you give to a fellow student embarking on a placement?
Look for accommodation early.
Accept you are going to make mistakes, it is how you learn.
Although immoral and I’m sure illegal, be prepared to work after work hours without overtime pay.
Be yourself, coming from a lad in Liverpool, trust me, DO NOT HIDE YOUR ACCENT. Be you. They love having a breath of fresh air in the studio. Research the studio’s in which you have interviews at,
You will be asked questions about their work and if you sit there in silence because you haven’t taken the time to look at their portfolio, not only will you not get the placement, you will most likely be told to leave.
If you don’t know how to do something, it isn’t a weakness to ask, it shows you want to learn.
Gareth Rothwell
Which company(s) did you do a placement with and how long for?
Williams murray hamm for 2 week, Vivid for 6 month
What’s the most important thing you learnt from your placement(s)?
Time management, working in a team, being able to drop ideas which are (babys)
How did you find accommodation and how much did it cost?
Stayed at home for the 6 months
What were you asked in the interview?
Favourite project, skills you’ve want to enhance, little a bit about myself what design do I like and enjoy.
What did you ask in the interview?
How could you have more sustainable packaging at your studio (wmh)
What sort of work I could be working and what I would like to improve whilst interning as said studio?
Did you get paid and roughly how much?
Williams Murray Hamm- £300 a week
Vivid- was £50 a week managed to change it to £100
What was the most unusual thing you did?
Help carry a Christmas tree through Manchester town, get ask to be a homeless person in a video for vivid.... I hadn’t shaved my heard in 4 months. Play dodgeball after work with vivid dressed as 80’s Miami vice people.
What experience from your placement(s) are you going to put into practice, now you are back at university for your final year?
The work rate, the going with your gut feeling, being able to drop ideas when needed. When to give and receive criticism, how to be as a better designer, shortcut keys!!
How important do you think a placement has been to help further your design education?
Massively as it’s given me insight into how to be as a designer in the studio how to work and how to be in a studio as even though work has got to get done can still have a laugh.
With hindsight, what advice would you give to a fellow student embarking on a placement?
To go in with a open mind, be a sponge no matter where you go as you will learn a heck of a lot out on industry which you may never know when you might need that information. To never say no as you never know what it could lead to. Always remember to make brews, don’t be a dickhead.
Joseph Leeney
Which company(s) did you do a placement with and how long for?
Boundless 1 Month
Manasianandco 3 Months
Magpie Studio 1 Month
Williams Murry Hamm- 2 weeks Covid Cancelled
Forepoint Preston 5 Months Covid Cancelled
What’s the most important thing you learnt from your placement(s)?
Apart from Adobe Knowledge: Ask Questions, socialize, don't say no to free pints.
How did you find accommodation and how much did it cost?
My Accommodation was not the greatest, but It was near my friends and studios, I made it work. £700 a month (not the best).
What were you asked in the interview?
To explain my portfolio. They want to know you, not read through a PDF.
What did you ask in the interview?
Anything that was not on their website. Do your research, get to know the company, you should be Interested so act like it.
Did you get paid and roughly how much?
Never work for free, at least get travel and food necessities. Payment ranged from minimum wage to 500 a month.
What was the most unusual thing you did?
Slept over at the company, weird things will happen In London.
What experience from your placement(s) are you going to put into practice, now you are back at university for your final year?
Fast Paced work, staying past home time and Adobe skills.
How important do you think a placement has been to help further your design education?
Vital. Mainly just to know how to do an Interview properly. I can confidently sell my work to other designers. Placement will make you feel behind and that should encourage you to work faster and better; It will make you want to learn.
With hindsight, what advice would you give to a fellow student embarking on a placement?
Expect to be the tea guy, the desk building guy, the carry these boxes over here guy. But keep smiling, try to Impress your peers and get to know them. Your boss could be a great friend.
Bring plenty of money to London.
First Impressions are everything.
Do not be late.
Stay behind after 6.
Go crazy on weekends.
Do not stop asking questions. Learn as much as you can while you are there.
Bring Preston thinking to London.
Sam Holcroft
Which company(s) did you do a placement with and how long for?
Boundless Brand Design - 1 Month
Manasian&Co - 3 Months (but offered further 3 months)
Next Big Thing - 3 Months (Postponed due to COVID)
What’s the most important thing you learnt from your placement(s)?
Opinions are everywhere. Everyone will have an opinion on your ideas and the work you will produce. Something I had to embrace and fully understand was no ones opinion is correct. You should listen to everyone, the designers, finance, the cleaners and the person behind the counter at Pret then make your final decision.
Extra Point – Ideas are so important but it’s only the starting point. You need to learn to polish and refine your work once you have cemented an idea, you will probably realise once you get in the studio you don’t know much about the software compared to the rest of the team. But you are there for your ideas, speak up and be heard.
How did you find accommodation and how much did it cost?
I took an unusual approach compared to the rest of the class. I would probably recommend looking into flat share on the website SpareRoom as it’s the most cost effective option, maybe group together with a few of your class mates.
However, I decided to look into Airbnb and it worked out great for me. You are paying considerably more but I think you are paying for convenience. I’d say it was definitely worth it as I was located right next to Shoreditch High Street Station, so basically in the middle of the art/design centre of London. It was only 5 minutes walk to work every morning! I believe I was paying £1000 a month, but you can find a flat for probably £650 on SpareRoom, but the location probably won’t be as glamorous!
What were you asked in the interview?
I was asked to to run through my portfolio, both in my folder and whatever I had on my laptop. I’d recommend bringing a few physical things for the person doing the interview to look through. Just to highlight, just a few! Don’t do what I did at The Chase, I had about 15 physical things for them to look at and it got really complicated!
What did you ask in the interview?
I asked what sort of work they would have me doing and how involved I would be in the design process. Experience is experience but you should make the most of placement year, making tea is great but you want to get stuck in and learn!
Did you get paid and roughly how much?
Yes, I was in London so pay was considerably higher than anywhere else. At my first placement I was paid £280 a week. And for my other placement I was paid £500 a week.
What was the most unusual thing you did?
There was a few experiences which surprised me. At my first placement my boss brought his baby into work and he kept placing her on my shoulder which took my by surprise when I was busy working on a design which was due in 30 minutes. Another was in March, when everyone started working from home, I had to take out 25 iMac boxes from the garage, which were hidden right at the back of the top shelf.
What experience from your placement(s) are you going to put into practice, now you are back at university for your final year?
Trust in your own opinions and ideas. Something from placement sticks into my mind is when I was presenting my design in front of the whole design team. Someone questioned something about the design and didn’t agree with something I did, so I told the individual that I still believed what I did was correct and explained why.
If you stick up for your ideas and fight for them that’s exactly what teams are looking for, it’s like selling to a client. After the meeting I spoke to a colleague and asked if what I did was out of line but I was offered an extension of 3 months because of that meeting.
How important do you think a placement has been to help further your design education?
Vital as it basically shows you what you need to improve on. For me it confirmed that my ideas are sound but technically I was a bit behind everyone else in the room, which is normal as they are years ahead of you. It teaches you how to act and behave around professionals, and that they work a lot faster than you.
With hindsight, what advice would you give to a fellow student embarking on a placement?
Drink, ask and make things. I learnt the most inside a pub, wether it be about the industry, potential opportunities and what things they believe you can improve on. Also as Andy B says every week, read Designweek, Brand New & Creative Review! Whilst talking to colleagues in the pub & in the studio you will sound a lot more knowledgeable and interested if you mention pieces of work you have seen. Tell everyone what you think of it (even if you hate it) and be involved.
From what I gathered people don’t expect the world from you just yet. Just come with some fab ideas, a good attitude and a can do attitude and you’ll be super!
Good luck!
Sara Esat
Which company(s) did you do a placement with and how long for?
T-PW Design Consultants – 1 month
WPA Pinfold – 2 Weeks
Glorious Creative – 1 month
True North – 3 weeks (got cut off because of Covid)
What’s the most important thing you learnt from your placement(s)?
Managing time (efficiency) and becoming more confident in my own work.
How did you find accommodation and how much did it cost?
I stayed at home and travelled around the North West/East by train.
What were you asked in the interview?
I was asked a lot of ‘Why’s?’ It is best to make sure you know the reason why you chose a certain target audience or a certain colour for a logo, know your work like the back of your hand.
What did you ask in the interview?
Mainly feedback, which was really helpful even if I did not get the placement, because I always knew where to improve on for next time.
Did you get paid and roughly how much?
I got paid for ¾ of my placements, and the remaining placement (WPA Pinfold) covered for my transport since it was costing £70 a week travelling to Leeds!
What experience from your placement(s) are you going to put into practice, now you are back at university for your final year?
Communicating my ideas has always been a struggle as I fear embarrassment when demonstrating a (possibly) weak idea. Presenting and explaining my work to my fellow colleagues has significantly helped me overcome these fears. Even the weirdest and most absurd ideas are the best sometimes.
How important do you think a placement has been to help further your design education?
Very Important (in my case). There is just so much you learn when in practice that you cannot quite grasp in University. Before undergoing this year, I did not have many aims since I had not known exactly what to expect and how my experience would turn out to be. My main focus was to gain a better understanding of branding, since I felt it was a subject area I wanted to improve on. I discovered that brainstorming ideas with a team proved to give better results, as we can bounce off ideas each other easily. I have developed and acquired knowledge in a multitude of areas, these range from improved efficiency to confidence in communication, and even better awareness of what pantone colours are.
With hindsight, what advice would you give to a fellow student embarking on a placement?
Initially I did not consider taking on a sandwich year as I felt it would be a waste of valuable time, where instead I could be progressing in my final year. However, after engaging with older students, I realised that the stronger work had all been designed by students with experience in the workplace. I also felt that a placement year was the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the contacts that University has, on the grounds that in the end it will provide me with a head-start in the industry.
