At ITDev, we are passionate about the work we do and the impact it has. Recently, we had the pleasure of welcoming a bright year 10 pupil, Laurence, for a 7 day work experience placement. His enthusiasm and eagerness to learn were truly inspiring, and we are excited to share his reflections on this experience.
This blog post highlights Laurence’s experience, some of the skills he developed, and the insights he gained during his time with us. While we are not currently able to offer regular work experience placements, we hope that his story will inspire others to pursue their passions and explore the many opportunities within our field.
We invite you to read about Laurence's experience and join us in celebrating the potential of the next generation:
For my work experience, I worked at ITDev for just under a week and a half. Over that time, I have received many invaluable experiences and insights about the working world and the engineering industry.
Upon entering ITDev, my first impressions were of a team of friendly, hard-working and passionate people who were ready to help me and would answer any questions I had. The workplace itself was a great environment to work in and exceeded all my expectations for what I thought work was like. These elements combined gave me the perfect opportunity to learn all about electrical engineering design and development, project management, and company life. However, the most interesting aspect was understanding the inner workings of a company, its organization, the importance of good communication, and how it compared to school, what I was used to.
Additionally, observing and being a part of the team dynamics within the company was another useful learning experience to see the importance of teamwork within the workspace, something the entire ITDev team excels at showing. This aspect of the company culture particularly stood out to me because of how central it was to the company values such as trust and empathy. In addition, another point I feel is important to mention is the diligent work ethic all the team share. All my interactions with other team members were extremely positive; everyone was happy to help and offered constructive advice for any challenges I potentially faced.
On that note, to give an example of one sort of challenge I faced – during a programming task such as when I was using an API to generate and update profile pictures on Gitea (privately-hosted GitHub), I often ran into errors which I was unsure of how to fix, this was a great experience of problem solving in the workspace. Eventually I was able to solve all these issues, whether by researching the answer online or with a little trial and error or asking a helpful team member. At points like these, and more so when completing a task or seeing my code run correctly, I would describe these moments as the moments of success or triumph during my work experience. One thing which made these points particularly satisfying is knowing it is somewhat useful and is a thing I enjoy doing.
Overall, this work experience placement has helped me better understand and decide where I want to take my own career – whether I want to pursue a similar field to ITDev or do something else. It has also influenced my perspective on work and education, so I have a better idea of what to expect in my years to come.
I would absolutely recommend ITDev to other students looking for similar work experience to me. I would also tell them to try and get the most out of their work experience here by not being afraid to ask for help, trying to learn as much as you can (there are plenty of valuable lessons to take away) and to ask lots of questions – the ITDev team are very supportive and are happy to help.
We hope you enjoyed reading about Laurence's experience with us. We strongly encourage students to seek out similar opportunities with other businesses. Work experience is invaluable in gaining practical skills, understanding different industries, and shaping your future career path. Don’t hesitate to reach out to companies in fields that interest you – the knowledge and insights you gain will be well worth the effort. Best of luck in your future endeavours!
For undergraduates, if this has raised your interest in working for ITDev, take a look at our current vacancies, or drop us a line to register interest in any future internship or graduate opportunities.
For those interested in learning more about an ITDev internship we have a variety of blogs from Joseph, Matthew, Claudine and Ben on their experiences and takeaways.
