RGU Placement Gains Valuable Experience with Denis Law Legacy Trust
Denis Law Legacy Trust asked Jenny Thomas, a Robert Gordon University Communication Design student, to write about her time on placement with the charity…
Looking back on her experience, Jenny said “as a third year Communication Design student from Robert Gordon University, I was keen to get an industry-based placement with Denis Law Legacy Trust in my second semester.
The idea of placement can be daunting… working with a new environment and team, so I was a little nervous at first. But after the first week I immediately felt like a part of the team!
The team at Denis Law Legacy Trust were welcoming and are truly amazing to say the least. In the ten week placement I got to work directly with the Communications and Marketing Officer, but also the operational team who manage the charity’s many programmes and activities. The atmosphere in the office allows for a open environment, making it easy to openly discuss projects and ask for input.
Throughout my placement I have been able to develop a range of skills. Notably, I have improved at communicating and decision making, as the pace of a work environment has helped me naturally progress projects.
My time working with Denis Law Legacy Trust has been fantastic for personal development. For example, a week before my placement began I was asked if I would like to learn more about social media and marketing, as this was something that I was interested in. From there, I had the opportunity to run all of the official Denis Law Legacy Trust social media accounts for a week, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, which allowed me to create content and understand how it is digested through different demographics and platforms.
As the Communication Design market is always changing, being able to equip myself to adapt and develop my skills in a range of ways such as social media and marketing is great for any future role.
I also, took on responsibilities for each of my projects. I was in charge of the planning, emailing, time keeping and organising of each of my projects as well as carrying them out in their entirety.
The Denis Law Legacy Trust team ensured I had all the necessary support I needed with weekly timetabled catch ups to keep track of progress and to offer any extra support that was needed.
I thoroughly enjoyed taking on the tasks given to me throughout my placement. I got the chance to go to Streetsport sessions and practice on location filming which allowed me to see more of the communities the charity works in and experience working with a client on real life projects.
The project I especially enjoyed working on was a video for Denis Law Legacy Trust’s youth forum, Granite City Speaks. The commitment of the young people on the forum has truly blown away all of my expectations. During the project I got to film, interview and work with the young people, including recording professional audio in the Robert Gordon University’s audio suite at the Gray’s School of Art.
It was a pleasure to not only to learn about the equipment but to share that experience with the youth forum. The video will be out later this year, it is something I hope they can be proud of!
After my placement I have had time to look back at all of the projects I have undertaken and the experiences which I have gained. I am incredibly proud of all I have achieved and truly sad to be leaving. That said, I’m looking forward to working with the charity again in future!
Thank you to all of the team at Denis Law Legacy Trust for making my experience such a positive one!” - Jenny, Communication Design.
During placement, Jenny received her drone license.
From the whole team at Denis Law Legacy Trust… thank you Jenny for all of your hard work!