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How to get my Web Design Job

staffsunionI started working at Staffordshire University Students’ Union (Staffs Union) in December 2010 as one of two web designers. I’m based in Stoke-on-Trent and my colleague was based in Stafford.

Last year, Stafford based Andrew went on a placement year and I became the sole web designer for the Students’ Union.

Since then I’ve taken on all kind of tasks; from adjusting text on a page through to a full blown redesign of the site!

In July this year, I graduate from the Staffordshire University, which means it’s time for me to leave my web design job at the SU. During March/April the Marketing Department are looking for someone to fill my shoes.

When I applied for my job there were some things that would’ve been really useful to know. Not so much about myself, but about what the job entailed.

I want the person who goes in after me to have the same enthusiasm and passion for the SU’s website. So here’s some tips if you’re thinking of applying for my job.

Research the CMS/Platform

When I started I had no clue what the SU’s CMS was. It turns out it’s much much more than just a CMS and is a complete platform that not only deals with the web face, but also the whole membership system!

Before going in, know this. The SU aren’t looking for a new platform or for someone to reinvent the wheel. It’s a web design job, not a web developer job. My boss told me how when I applied (and when Andrew’s post was re-advertised) that lots of applicants talked about what great things they could develop for them. The SU aren’t moving from the system any time soon as it controls and does so much! It can be a pain in the bum sometimes, but it has fantastic power behind it.

You don’t have to have already used it or know how to do anything with it, just be expecting to learn a lot about it in a short time!

I’m not going to say what the platform is, as a bit of digging around on the current site will bring up what it is.

Be prepared to redesign

As I mentioned, I redesigned the entire website style during the summer of 2012. It is highly likely that there will be another redesign called upon. The nature of Students’ Unions is that there are new officers every year and they have a different idea of what the website should do (whilst marketing has their own!).

Think about the website now and how you’d like to improve it. Look at the current coding structure to get an idea of what might be possible. Learn what it’s on now and whether it’s good or not. Do you have a plan for how the website would work on mobile?

Again, don’t try to reinvent the wheel, just try to think differently and creatively. Show the interviewers what you can do!

Look at the site and SU as they are now

I was very interested in what the SU was doing as I was part of the student media group when applying and had previous experience of a students’ union.

You don’t always need that detailed knowledge, just have a good idea of their values and aim. What are they trying to do and how are they currently going about it.

See what the website is like right now. Explore it and try to use it without a web design head on. How is information presented? What sort of features does it currently have that help students?

If you’re apply just because it’s a web design job, you might not get too far.

Think of your ‘customer service’ experience

It’s always funny when my boss has to do a Personal Development Review and comes to the question about my ‘customer service’ performance. I don’t serve ‘customers’ as such but work with many different departments within the SU; Money Doctors, the Student Advice Centre and Activities to name just a few.

How would you interact with them and ensure you’re getting the best information from them, whilst feeding back your thoughts to them.

I personally had very little experience of this before the job, but have certainly learnt more about how to deal with people’s web design requests. What is possible and going beyond their expectations.

Be yourself, but don’t waffle

Knowing my bosses, if you get through to the interview stage, don’t waffle on!

They like getting straight to the point and it being explained in plain English. It’s no good trying to explain something in a round about way and completely missing the point of what the question was asking for. This point may be a generic job interview point, but it’s certainly worth making!

 

What I’ve mentioned are no guarantees to get you my job, but they should certainly help you!

I have loved working at the Students’ Union and will be sad to leave after two and a half years there. I just want to see the website continue to flourish and grow better and stronger.

If you want to actually apply, you can get all the relevant details on the SU’s Jobs page; just click “Job Opportunities for Students” when you get there.

 

Just so you know, these are my own views and not those of the Students’ Union. Also to be transparent, I will be helping out with the recruitment process, so I may well be helping to short list and sitting in on interviews!

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Work Experience at BBC Radio Stoke

bbcradiostoke_smallIt’s been over a week since I did my work experience at BBC Radio Stoke. I was there for five days and it was filled with lots of events going on and gave me a great chance to observe what the great journalists at the station get up to.

Here’s a round-up of what I got up to whilst I was there.

Monday 11th Februrary

In the morning I had a tour of the station and some training on how to use Quick Edit Pro (part of Radioman) and ENPS. For the afternoon I sat in the Ops Room for Paula White’s and Tim Wedgewood’s shows. Just as Paula’s show came to an end, some news came in about a death on the railways near Stoke-on-Trent. This meant all trains through the station were suspended. I assisted by answering phones about the travel chaos and also updated Tim with the latest news from the train companies.

Tuesday 12th

On Tuesday I started working with the Breakfast team (Stuart George and Katy O’Regan). After their show I joined in the daily morning meeting to see what is coming up on the next day’s show. There was a story about over 55’s who don’t always take out travel insurance before going abroad. I was asked to make some VOX pops about people’s stories of travel insurance; if they’ve never taken it out and had trouble, or even had trouble claiming whilst they’ve had insurance. Here’s that audio.

Late on Tuesday, the team at BBC Radio Stoke had found out that former Port Vale Football Club chairman, Bill Bell, had passed away after a battle with cancer. The news room was a strange place to be in as they couldn’t announce the news until they had confirmed all the family had been informed. Once the green light had been given scripts were completed and the next bulletin contained the sad news. I didn’t do much that afternoon except observe and understand what the news and on air teams did in the situation.

Wednesday 13th

As Thursday was Valentine’s Day, I created some VOX pops about people’s ‘most unromantic gifts’. It was a spin on the ‘best Valentine’s Day gifts’ and wasn’t specific to Valentine’s Day at all. It provoked some interesting answers from the people of Hanley!

Whilst I was editing the audio in the Ops Room, it started to snow across the TSA. This meant that there were a lot of travel disruptions and event cancellations. During Paula’s show and into Tim’s, I stepped in to answer the flood of calls and travel updates that followed. This took up most of my afternoon but was enjoyable as I spoke to a lot of people and once again was able to contribute to the information which was broadcast on air.

Thursday 14th

My Valentine’s Day VOX pops were played out during the Breakfast Show whilst I went out with Qasa Alom in the Radio Car. Qasa travels out most days to cover stories and regularly does a live piece during the Breakfast Show.

We travelled to a bridge renovation project near the Emma Bridgewater Factory in Hanley. Qasa explained to me how some of the equipment worked, did his piece then we travelled towards Tittensor to feed an interview back to the studio.

When we arrived we discovered that we had driven to the wrong house down the lane. Qasa reversed and got the Radio Car stuck up a steep bank. We had to wait for the RAC to come and remove the car safely from the location.

This incident, along with a similar one from Katy, prompted a talkie on Friday’s show about getting stuck. This was to be the subject of my VOX pops, to be played out the following day. Here’s me asking people about places where they’ve been stuck.

Once I had finished editing I visited the Ops Room again and assisted with phone answering during Tim’s show.

Friday 15th

My final day at the station started off with me sitting in on the last hour of the Breakfast Show. They had played my VOX pops shortly before I arrived (08:45).

During the station-wide ideas meeting I contributed a story about ukuleles and a local open day for learning to play the instrument.

In the morning Breakfast Show meeting there was talk about strike which was taking place the following Monday. The team were instructed to work towards Tuesday’s show and leave one item an hour for Monday’s show.

The horsemeat scandal had continued to develop throughout the week and that morning there had been an interesting interview with a scientist about the tests that had been conducted on the meat in food suppliers. This prompted a question from the discussion about whether the story had changed the public’s meat buying habits. I then went off into town to ask whether this was the case.

For the final couple of hours I sat in the Ops Room assisting with Tim’s show.

 

The week was varied and it was fantastic to meet such a great team and learn what they do. I couldn’t have wished for the week to have gone any better and I hope that one day I will be able to work in such a great environment.

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Making a Radio Documentary – Honorary Doctorates

For my final year project at Staffordshire University, I’m making a radio documentary on honorary doctorates.

During the 2012 broadcast of Cre8 Radio, we got a list of the latest honorary doctorates that Staffordshire University were bestowing. I tried to get some of the honoraries on the station and had limited success.

When we were asked to come up with an idea for our radio feature, I thought ‘what difference do these honorary doctorates actually make to the university?’. Thus, my radio documentary was born!

To help solidify our ideas, we had to draw together a presentation to present to our lecturers and then put together some research to ensure that we will actually have content for our feature. This also helped us ensure that we have a clear direction for it.

So how will I fill this feature. It will have three main components:

  • A history of honorary doctorates; why do universities do them?
  • Interviews with honorary doctors; why did they get them and do they benefit from the awards?
  • Vox pops with students; did they help shape the choice of which university they went to?

To start the whole process off, I posted a survey online which asked students (current and graduates) to tell me what they think of honorary doctorates. The survey is still open, so please feel free to fill it in!

So far I have conducted an interview with the Academic Registrar and Director of the Student Experience at Staffordshire University, Noel Morrison. He gave me his views on why the university gives away honorary doctorates and if these doctorates influence the choices of students when picking universities.

I also have secured interviews with Esther Rantzen and Peter Coates! Esther is well known as a broadcaster, but she also founded Childline. And Peter Coates is the owner of Stoke City Football Club and founder of Bet365 and Signal Radio.

I am very happy to have secured interview with these two distinguished figures, and they will help show the way in which universities choose their honorary degrees; one is a well known national figure, and the other more local.

Those two interviews will take place over the next month and hopefully come mid-March I will have nearly everything recorded (apart from my own narration).

I’ve also got some audio of the actual Staffordshire University graduation ceremonies from Humanoid Productions and Reels In Motion. And the University have very kindly granted me permission to use the audio in my production.

It’s all slowly coming together and there are still the possibilities of getting another interview for the documentary!

Once it is completed I hope to post it online and no doubt I will blog about it again.