The team behind Porsche Centre Hull have helped a Ron Dearing UTC student grow in confidence and set her sights on a social media marketing career.

Year 13 student Lily Knight completed a three-day work experience placement at Porsche Centre Hull in Hessle, one of the UTC’s Major Partners.

She shadowed the front of house team and immersed herself in the social media marketing side of the business as she aspires to secure an apprenticeship or paid work in the sector when she leaves the UTC this summer.

Abbie Jackson, Digital Marketing and Events Manager at Porsche Centre Hull, said: “Lily was really keen to get involved with front of house and share ideas with the team to create social media content for the dealership.

“After a couple of days shadowing the team, Lily soon built up confidence to answer phone calls, greet customers and complete admin tasks. She started as a showroom host at the beginning of the week before moving to different departments within the business to see how they work together.

 

“Lily had a really positive experience with us and soon became part of the team. She was keen to help out with dealership events outside of her work experience and popped by to say hello, which shows the impact the experience had on Lily.”

Abbie said work experience is vital to give young people a true insight into the world of work.

She said: “We believe hands-on experience is so important for young adults because it helps to build motivation and confidence which is vital before moving on to further education or into the workplace.

“We’ll continue to take on as many work experience students as possible. We want them to experience all departments to give them a good overview of working life.”

Lily, 18, who is studying Photography and Creative Digital at Ron Dearing UTC, said: “I shadowed the showroom hosts on the front desk, listened while they answered the phones so I could then do the same and transferred calls to the right place.

“I greeted and made tea and coffee for customers, created videos of the cars for social media and marketing and drafted social media posts in line with the brand.

“It was a great placement and I really enjoyed it. I was offered further work but I needed to concentrate on my studies first.

“The placement helped me to realise I’d like to work in social media marketing and I like talking to people. I got a real insight into the day-to-day running of the business.”

Other Ron Dearing UTC students also completed work experience in the automotive side of the business at Porsche Centre Hull.

Lisa Regan, Assistant Principal – Horizons Professionalism at Ron Dearing UTC, said: “Lily thoroughly enjoyed her time with the team at Porsche Centre Hull and clearly learnt a great deal during her placement, which is wonderful to see.

“The fact Porsche wanted to bring Lily back for some additional work alongside her studies is testament to the impression she made on them during her work experience placement.

“We’re looking forward to working with the team at Porsche centre Hull to offer similar opportunities to some of our other students in the future.”

Ron Dearing UTC students are now securing work experience placements for this summer. Businesses that would like to offer opportunities are asked to email Lisa Regan via lregan@rondearingutc.com

A Ron Dearing UTC sixth form student has helped design marketing material for Hull’s Centre for Digital Innovation (C4DI) tech hub during a two-week work experience placement.

Harrison McLaughlin, 17, completed the placement, working on a brochure to promote the business to corporate clients.

Linsey Brown, Head of Partnerships at C4DI, one of the UTC’s Major Partners, and Tina Swann, C4DI’s Community Engagement Manager, said they were impressed by Harrison’s approach to the placement and response to the brief they set for him.

Linsey said: “Ron Dearing UTC students are so mature and have great confidence when they leave school, which ensures they’re work-ready.

“Harrison went through an interview process for his work experience placement, so it felt more formal and enabled him to sample what it’s like when applying for a job. We treated him as a member of the team for the whole placement and he was so enthusiastic.

 

“We’d definitely consider taking on one or more Ron Dearing students for work experience in the future, looking at mini projects and tasks at C4DI.”

Year 13 student Harrison, who is studying Maths and Physics at Ron Dearing UTC, will be acknowledged in the marketing material when it is printed.

Harrison said: “It was a great two-week placement during the summer holidays and kept me busy doing something I’d never tried before.

“I spoke to various business owners at C4DI about my future and what I wanted to do when I leave the UTC, which helped me to network with lots of people.

“I enjoyed choosing the colours for the marketing material and designing it to ensure it keeps the reader’s attention for longer. I learnt a lot and I would 100% recommend C4DI for work experience.”

Lisa Regan, Assistant Principal – Horizons Professionalism at Ron Dearing UTC, said: “This was the first time C4DI took on a Ron Dearing UTC student for a work experience placement and it worked brilliantly.

“Harrison loved working on their corporate client marketing brochure, managing the product from start to finish with various members of the team.

“This was a step outside of Harrison’s usual comfort zone and he said it helped him to become more confident in the knowledge he is skilled in a wider range of areas than his current academic focus.”

Ron Dearing UTC students are now securing work experience placements for this summer. Businesses that would like to offer opportunities are asked to email Lisa Regan via lregan@rondearingutc.com

A Ron Dearing UTC student who aspires to become an architect says work experience with a Hull-based architecture company has opened her eyes to a world of possibilities.

Jess Sanderson completed a three-week placement at Studio Six Architecture.

The company, based in Hull’s Centre for Digital Innovation (C4DI) tech hub in the heart of the city’s Fruit Market, provides unique and sustainable architecture and creative designs for homes and businesses.

Matt Riley, Director at Studio Six, said: “It was the first time we’d offered work experience to a Ron Dearing UTC student and Jess was great.

“We interviewed eight students who were all very good and they demonstrated their excellent 3D modelling and engineering skills. We immediately knew Jess was very artistic and also excellent in a customer-facing role.

 

“We gave her some marketing tasks to complete and she came up with various ways we could improve our online and social media presence, so we were able to learn from her too.”

Matt said providing work experience opportunities to young people is imperative as they make decisions about their next steps.

He said: “When I was at school, I was told you couldn’t do an apprenticeship in architecture even though that was the path I wanted to take. I managed to do it anyway and I want to provide that opportunity to other young people.

“You don’t have to follow conventional routes in architecture and you can work for a few years first to see if you like it, or see which area you’d like to specialise in.

“We were as honest as possible with Jess about what’s involved in the day-to-day job because it’s not just about drawing pretty pictures.

“Jess was very enthusiastic, punctual and keen to learn. We would consider further opportunities for Ron Dearing UTC students in the future.”

Jess, 17, who is studying Art and Design and Creative Digital in Year 13 at Ron Dearing UTC, said: “The placement was amazing and the Studio Six team couldn’t have been any more welcoming and helpful.

 

“They showed me so much and took me on a visit to see what they do when they’re measuring up in people’s homes.

“I completed drawings, write-ups and learnt more about heritage statements, which are needed when you have to ask the council for permission to make certain changes to homes.

“I loved every moment of the placement and I found out more about the technology and software used in the industry. I learnt a lot and it will be great to include on my CV.”

Lisa Regan, Assistant Principal – Horizons Professionalism at Ron Dearing UTC said: “The architecture placement was a very popular one for our students and Matt also offered advice support to the students he wasn’t able to provide a placement for.

“Applicants were asked to interview at C4DI and took along a few examples of work such as drawings, 3D models and sketches.

“It was a brilliant experience for Jess and one which will help her as she plans for her future.”

Ron Dearing UTC students are now securing work experience placements for this summer. Businesses that would like to offer opportunities are asked to email Lisa Regan via lregan@rondearingutc.com