The ‘Best Summer Job Ever’ scheme offered four-week paid internships to aspiring creatives from across Staffordshire. After a competitive application process, five Staffordshire University students from across Graphic Design, Cartoon and Comic Arts, Illustration, and English Literature and Creative Writing secured places.
The initiative is run by advertising agency VCCP’s Stoke Academy, B2B marketing agency Lesniak Swann and creative content agency i-creation. All three are based at the Spode site in Stoke-on-Trent and work for a range of national and international customers including, Cadbury, Virgin Media O2, JCB, Michelin, DS Smith, Autoglass and the NHS.
Lynsey Monroe, Head of Learning & Development at VCCP, said: “It has been another successful year for the VCCP Stoke Academy ‘Best Summer Job Ever’ and we were delighted to have another group of incredibly talented students from Staffordshire University take part.
“The energy that they brought to the internship each day was infectious and they didn’t waste a moment, throwing themselves fully into the opportunity before them. Each intern has been offered a VCCP mentor following completion of the internship and we look forward to staying in touch and seeing how they develop in their respective careers.”
Hayley Horrigan, Isabella Rawnsley and Daisy Jackson spent their internships with VCCP. The students worked on briefs for clients such as O2, Co-op, Cadbury and Honda Motorbikes, as well as attending a myriad of training sessions to help them learn about the full creative advertising process.
They also attended workshops at TikTok, learned valuable employability skills such as presenting with confidence, CV writing and interview skills, and met some more of Stoke-on-Trent’s thriving creative businesses including Popcorn Media and Inspired Film & Video.
Their final week culminated in a pitch sprint for Charlie Bighams, with the senior client attending their presentations
Hayley, studying BA (Hons) Graphic Design, said: “My brain just soaked up everything, it’s incredible. There was lots of networking and it was brilliant to contextualise what I have learnt in uni to real working life. I’m enthused to get stuck back into my final year of study.”
Molly Dean and Eleni Hardman had chance to spend their placement with i-creation, completing live client work with their design team, learning about specialist software packages and a few “tricks of the trade”.
Molly said: “This internship significantly enhanced my skills before my final university year. It offered practical knowledge and refined my design process beyond textbook learning. I'm eager to demonstrate my growth to my tutors, showcasing a more nuanced understanding of professional creative processes.
“Graduating with real agency experience will give me a significant advantage, providing genuine understanding of agency dynamics, client expectations, and professional creative work. This pivotal experience has shaped my career aspirations and boosted my confidence in my chosen path.”
Andy Jackson, Founder of i-creation, added: “We loved having Molly and Eleni join our team for a month this summer. We worked with them to co-design their learning schedule, but we were just as excited about what our team could learn from them.
“We enjoyed their fresh and free approach, how they use tech tools and their fascinating view of what we’re all about. Thank you to them both for such an exciting contribution.”
Fellow Graphic Design students Louis Jardine and Gurpreet Singh also secured a two-week placement at London based ad agency Wieden + Kennedy this summer, working with the design department on live briefs; interpreting briefs, problem solving, lateral thinking and pitching their creative work.
Sam Owen, Graphic Design Award Leader at Staffordshire University, said: “We’re super proud of the students who secured placements and it has been a brilliant chance to practice interview skills for those that didn’t secure a place. It has been great hearing about their experiences we look forward to the successful interns showcasing their new found skills with their peers when they all return in September.”
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