From work experience to dream job

For me, work placements have always been enjoyable, interesting and generally fun experiences filled with new expectations, new people and new opportunities.

In January, I returned to the international gadget and men’s interest magazine, T3 to work with their website team writing news posts and features for the site. This was my fourth visit to T3 and their offices in the Future Publishing house in London’s Marylebone. On my past placements I have left with a trip to the Nintendo flat, a driving day at Silverstone and countless freebies. This time, however, I left with something of much greater importance... a job.

On this latest trip to T3, I was treated not like a work experience student but a member of the team, a member whose views were respected and whose opinion mattered. I was given responsibility and the ability to make independent decisions and as such I was motivated into improving myself as a journalist, to impress the team and put myself in good favour with the editors.

I have many highlights from my latest placement, most prominent amongst these, however, occurred when internet giants, MSN, contacted T3 requesting permission to use one of the features I had produced on their site. This was made further special for me when the feature ran as the lead article on their technology page for the entire weekend following the Consumer Electronics Show, arguably the biggest event on the technology calendar.

Following my placement I was ecstatic to receive a job offer without applying for the position. Since my first visit to T3 in October 2008, I had aspired to work for their publication and as such repeatedly returned on further placements to keep myself in contact with and in the minds of the editors for when I came to graduate.

Receiving a job offer from the company with whom I longed to work was a dream for me, after the experiences I have had with them whilst partaking in work placements, I can’t wait to return as a full member of staff at the beginning of May.